Welcome to Bonnyville & District Family & Community Support Services / FCSS.

Our FCSS has been a joint effort of the Town and M.D. of Bonnyville since 1975. Located in the Parent Child Centre in Bonnyville we offer a wide range of family and community services.

What is the FCSS mandate?

Broadly understood Family and Community Support Services offer services that can be understood as “preventative social services”. It is a municipal service that operates under the terms of the FCSS Act and Regulations which describe FCSS as;

Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) is a partnership between the Province and municipalities that develops locally driven preventive social initiatives to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.

Provincially, the FCSS Program receives its mandate from the FCSS Act and Regulation pursuant to that Act. At the local level, a municipal or Métis Settlement Council chooses whether to establish a Program and enters into an agreement with the Province to jointly fund the Program.

For more general information about FCSS in the province of Alberta go to the FCSS Association of Alberta website

Who funds FCSS?

The Province of Alberta offers the FCSS Grant to municipalities with the requirement that the municipality provide FCSS with funding equal to or greater than 25% of the grant provided by the province. The funding formula is based on population with adjustments for social factors.

We supplement the FCSS grant with additional funding from program revenues and other grants.

For more information from the province about FCSS please click here

Who decides what programs FCSS offers?

Decisions on how to best expend FCSS funding is best made at a local level – by the local FCSS Advisory Board. Programs must comply with the FCSS funding limitations and regulations.

The FCSS Advisory Board has six members, three appointed by the Reeve of the M.D. of Bonnyville and three appointed by the Town of Bonnyville Mayor. This six member board is accountable to the M.D. and Town Council.

The Town of Bonnyville serves as “unit authority”, FCSS staff members are town employees and the Town of Bonnyville provides the financial administration of the program.

Where is the FCSS office in Bonnyville?

We are located in the Parent Child Centre (4714 48th Street).

The Parent Child Centre is a municipally owned building which not only houses the F.C.S.S. and Bonnyville Family Resource Network but also the Ohana Centre.

The Parent Child Centre gym is available for rent for birthday parties and other events – call the FCSS office to enquire.