New Research Highlights the Realities of Mutual Aid Work in Alberta — and a New Toolkit to Support Community Safety

Report
Toolkit

Mutual aid workers across Alberta are doing vital, frontline work every day—supporting people facing poverty, homelessness, stigma, and unmet basic needs. Yet despite the essential role they play in communities, their labour is often unpaid, underfunded, and increasingly met with hostility.

On February 5, 2026, the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC) released new research documenting the lived experiences of mutual aid workers across the province.

Conducted between February and September 2025, this study examines the realities of people providing direct, community-based support in response to gaps in public services. Mutual aid work often includes:

  • Food distribution

  • Harm reduction efforts

  • Housing and encampment support

  • Peer-based assistance

  • Informal crisis response

Grounded in practical care and shared responsibility, mutual aid workers step in where systems fall short—often at great personal cost.

Amplifying Voices and Identifying Barriers

This research responds to growing concerns about rising opposition and hostility toward mutual aid groups. Through surveys and in-depth interviews with workers in both urban and rural Alberta, the study highlights patterns of community resistance, systemic barriers, and serious impacts on well-being.

Participants spoke candidly about the emotional toll of providing care without adequate infrastructure or resources.

One organizer described the constant worry and exhaustion of supporting others without enough supplies:

“It’s exhausting… I worry about a lot of people. Are they cold? Are they warm? Have they had something to eat? … simple things, like a working girl on her period and I don’t even have a pad or tampon. It’s hard on my mind’s sake…”
— Interviewee 4

These stories show how mutual aid workers often carry immense responsibility while remaining largely invisible in policy spaces.

Mutual Aid Workers Are Essential Partners in Community Care

Renée Vaugeois, lead researcher and Executive Director of JHC, emphasized the importance of recognizing mutual aid workers not as a problem, but as indispensable community leaders:

“The people doing mutual aid are often those who have already fought their way through these systems and lived to tell the truth about them. They hold deep knowledge, hard-earned trust, and an immense emotional burden—yet they remain largely invisible in policy spaces.”

Toolkit Release: Supporting Safer, Stronger Mutual Aid Work

Alongside this research, the John Humphrey Centre is also releasing a Mutual Aid Toolkit, designed to help mutual aid groups and community organizers navigate the challenges identified in the study.

Funding and Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage’s CSMARI Anti-Hate Program and the City of Edmonton. The perspectives shared reflect the lived experiences of participants and do not necessarily represent the official views of the John Humphrey Centre or its funders.

Neximar AlarconHuman Rights, Mutual Aid, Alberta, Dignity