Cut after cut, family resource centres in New Brunswick are still struggling to stay open.
In a social media post in late May, the Kings County Family Resource Centre in Sussex announced it would temporarily close for ten weeks this summer — starting June 22 — due to budget constraints and rising operating costs.
According to director Stephanie Ness, it’s the first time the centre has closed for the summer. However, she said it is not the first time the organization has had to make cuts to continue providing services.
“We have reduced our staffing hours, including my own. We have moved to a smaller location, all trying to stay within our budget,” she said.
The centre offers parenting, prenatal, postnatal, and breastfeeding education, as well as programs for children from birth to age six and their parents. The programs provide a safe space for families in the Kings County area to play and connect — at no cost.
Programming includes music-based activities, puppet shows, arts and crafts, and other activities geared towards low-income families.
The centre serves about 500 people yearly and provided more than 9,400 units of service over the past year, Ness added.
The challenge, she said, is that operating funding has not increased at the federal level since 1994 or at the provincial level since 2008.
Family resource centres in Canada primarily receive funding through the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Community Action Program for Children and the Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program.
Introduced in 1994, the programs provide New Brunswick centres with about $2 million annually.
The provincial government began funding family resource centres in 2008, with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development providing around $400,000.
New Brunswick has 13 family resource centres serving communities across the province.
According to Ness, the $2.4 million in combined funding is shared among the 13 centres and is not distributed equally. Centres serving larger geographic areas receive more funding.
Ness said the centre is grateful for the funding it receives, but rising costs have made it increasingly difficult to meet community needs.
“The needs are great right now,” she said.
“It’s very heartbreaking for me personally not to be able to provide services to our families over the summer.”
Limited budget affecting all New Brunswick family resource centres
New Brunswick Family Resource Centre Association president Lisa Tanner said the Kings County centre is not alone.
She said many of the other centres in the province have been forced to make difficult decisions to keep their doors open.
“We are operating at a 93 per cent inflation rate since 1994, so the cutbacks have been gradual across the province, [but] every year there are more restraints,” she said. “We can’t afford the same purchasing power that we did in 1994 with that same budget in 2026.”
Tanner, who is also the director of the Kent Family Resource Centre, explained the struggle can look different in different parts of the province, with some centres deciding to close over the summer and others reducing staff’s hours.
Most centres, however, have cut outreach services, which previously allowed them to serve 94 to 95 communities across the province.
Centres must renew their federal funding every four years. Tanner said they have repeatedly raised funding concerns during those negotiations but have not secured increases.
Tanner added that while centres have obtained grants and community support over the years, she said inconsistent funding has reduced their ability to deliver services.
Following the latest federal funding agreement, Tanner said the association is focusing on securing additional provincial support, arguing that family resource centres contribute to both health-care and social development outcomes.
The centres are the province’s only providers of free prenatal education in both official languages, and more than 14,000 individuals accessed services last year.
Tanner noted that the figure does not reflect how often clients used the programs.
“When you look at the cost of an individual person coming to one of our resource centres, one person costs about $187,” she said. “That person could have accessed 50 to 60 programs during the year.”
Tanner said to continue operating and resume the services provided before, they would need to recover the inflationary rates lost over the past years — which are 93 per cent federally and 40-45 per cent provincially — and maintain the current inflation rate increases in funding.
Province’s response slow, Tanner says
Tanner said the association met last year with Premier Susan Holt, Health Minister John Dornan, Social Development Minister Cindy Miles and Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Claire Johnson to discuss how family resource centres could play a larger role in delivering services.
She described those conversations as positive and said officials appeared open to collaboration. However, she said progress has since stalled.
Acadia Broadcasting asked the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development why funding for family resource centres has not increased to keep pace with inflation, but the department did not answer the question directly.
In an email statement on June 12, spokesperson Allison Taylor instead referred funding questions to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Acadia Broadcasting also inquired about the ongoing funding talks with the other departments, but no response was provided either.
Closures could have significant community impact
Tanner said one family resource centre is now on the verge of closing because of funding pressures.
She declined to identify the centre but said they are looking for alternatives to continue operating.
Ness said the loss of a family resource centre could lead to increased mental health challenges, poorer health outcomes and fewer support networks for vulnerable families.
She said underserved populations would be affected most.
“There is a huge cost-saving measure in what we do financially on the health care system and the long-term health and wellness of families,” Ness said.
Tanner added that the future of their federal funding is uncertain.
Earlier this year, the federal government merged the two Public Health Agency of Canada funding streams into a single program.
The program is now the Community Action for Prenatal and Child Health Program.
With the fusion, Tanner said Ottawa changed the application process to an open solicitation, meaning that organizations other than those that have held contracts since 1994 could now apply.
Before, Tanner explained, the application process was closed, with only those who had accessed the contracts before being able to apply.
After pushback from the projects receiving the funding, the federal government decided not to proceed with the open solicitation.
However, Tanner said it remains unclear what will happen after 2030, when the funding cycle ends.
She said an open solicitation process would make funding applications more competitive and could result in less funding for family centres.
She added that she expects to hear about the new funding criteria within the next year.
Despite the uncertainty, Tanner said she is still hopeful the centres will find a solution for these funding challenges.
“I think there’s room to grow, and we are willing to do the work, and we are willing to be here another 30 years, but we do need some support from the funders,” she said.
