Friendship Centres Denied Funding Increase

Friendship Centres Denied Funding Increase

Friday, March 19, 2010 at 15:06

The president of the National Association of Friendship Centres says the recent federal budget contained no additional funding for its outlets.

Last year, 70 people from friendship centres across the country held a rally in Ottawa to call for an increase in core funding support.

Peter Dinsdale says the last time they saw a raise was in 1996, and cracks are starting to show.

In Edmonton, the friendship centre has downsized its operations and moved away from being a large service delivery location to being a smaller outreach office.

Dinsdale has said it costs on average of $300,000 a year to operate a friendship centre, yet the average amount of core funding is just $129,000.