Alberta marked the start of Foster and Kinship Caregiver Month with a flag-raising on the legislature grounds Monday. The province has approximately 1,500 licensed foster caregiver homes and 2,100 approved kinship care providers.

Alberta’s children and family services minister addressed caregivers Monday morning, highlighting how everyday interactions can influence a child’s life. “You know better than anyone that caregiving is built on those everyday moments. While a child may not remember every appointment or every car ride, they’ll remember how you made them feel. They’ll remember the adult who showed up day after day after day and after day. The person or people who believed in them made them feel safe and helped them feel like they belonged. Those memories can shape a child’s future for a lifetime and beyond.”

Carmen Legge, president of the Alberta Foster and Kinship Association, said raising children is a community responsibility. She described the need for caregivers to have both practical support and chances to connect with others, particularly in rural communities with fewer resources.

“A village doesn’t simply appear; it has to be built. Sometimes a caregiver needs professional advice or help navigating a system, and sometimes what they need is much simpler. The chance to share a story, a challenge, a moment of joy, a moment of embarrassment, a moment of fear,” Legge said.

She said caregiver connections should be deliberately developed as part of caregiver support. “If we believe that having a village makes caregivers stronger, then we need to be intentional about helping that village grow. It starts by making caregiver connection part of how we support caregivers, creating regular opportunities for them to meet, making it easier for new caregivers to connect with an experienced caregiver, and supporting the local and regional groups that are already bringing caregivers together.”

Based on reporting by CTV News Edmonton.