Alberta government funding to add 96 new seats for Bachelor of Nursing program

UCalgary Nursing received an additional $5,331,372 over three years in the Budget 2023 announcement made by the Alberta government last month.  This is in addition to funding announced in 2022. 

The funding from 2022 combined with this new announcement means the undergraduate program will add 96 new seats, 48 new seats in 2024-25 and an additional 48 new seats in 2025-26.   

“We are excited to see the investment in nursing, not just for UCalgary, but for other nursing programs province-wide,” says Dr Sandra Davidson, RN, PhD, dean of the faculty, adding that the majority of the seats are for rural and remote initiatives.

“We are also transitioning to a new curriculum so this provides one-time funds and also funds to create more practice lab space in some of our under-utilized classrooms.”   

Moreover, says Davidson, it is just great news for Alberta. “It allows our university to meet the growing demand for high-quality health-care education. A huge part of that is our nursing workforce.” 

The Budget 2023 funding represents Alberta’s single largest investment for a targeted enrolment expansion initiative. It builds off last year’s announcement of nearly 10,000 new post-secondary seats across the province in what represented the largest targeted seat expansion in Alberta’s history.