Apply for Alberta Income Support online with an Alberta.ca account — the documents to gather, the steps to submit, the current core-benefit amounts, and the 24-hour emergency route.
Applies in: Alberta
Apply online with an Alberta.ca account, and expect the process to take up to two weeks. Alberta Income Support is the province's last-resort income program: it helps with basic expenses such as food, clothing and shelter when you cannot meet your basic needs. You create or verify an Alberta.ca account, gather your documents, and submit the application online. If you cannot apply online, your local Alberta Supports Centre can book an appointment for in-person help. If your need is urgent, there is a separate 24-hour emergency route — do not wait on the regular application.
This guide covers process only. It gives no advice on whether you qualify: the province's own eligibility page lists the conditions, and your Income Support worker decides your file. It also gives no AISH or ADAP content — those are separate programs with their own applications.
The province's eligibility page lists the conditions an applicant must meet, and it is worth reading them before you start, because the application asks you to show them:
If any of that does not fit your situation, the application is still the way to find out — the worker, not this guide, decides the file.
You need an Alberta.ca account to create or submit an Income Support application. The how-to-apply page recommends a verified account. You can begin the application with a basic account, but Income Support staff will require you to verify your account before your application is approved. You verify by providing information from a valid Alberta driver's licence or identification card.
A verified account also lets you use digital signatures on the forms the application requires, and it skips extra forms and uploads because your details are already confirmed. Set the account up first, before you gather documents, so verification does not hold up the application later.
Before you start the application, gather the following, as listed on the how-to-apply page:
If you need an interpreter to complete the application, or you are having difficulty with the online form, contact Alberta Supports for assistance rather than guessing at a question — the Alberta Supports Contact Centre is 1-877-644-9992, Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 8:00 pm, closed on statutory holidays.
Submit the application through the Income Support online application. The province says the application process can take up to two weeks. After you submit, staff may contact you for more information or documents; keep your phone and email available and answer promptly, because a file that sits unanswered does not move.
For questions about your file once it is in, contact your caseworker. If you do not know how to reach your caseworker, contact your local Alberta Supports Centre.
If you are unable to apply online and need in-person services, contact your local Alberta Supports Centre to make an appointment. The centre can help you complete the online application in person. Office hours are generally 8:15 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday, closed on statutory holidays, and you can reach Alberta services toll-free by dialling 310-0000 before the phone number from inside Alberta.
The amounts below come from the province's Income Support Financial Benefits Summary, effective July 2, 2026. The summary splits clients into two groups, Expected to Work (ETW) and Barriers to Full Employment (BFE), and the amount depends on your household and your housing. Each monthly total below adds two parts: a food-and-household amount, which the summary calls Core Essential (code 1430), and a shelter amount that changes with your housing.
On top of core benefits, the program can pay supplementary benefits for particular needs. The summary lists child care, special diets, utility connection fees, work-related expenses, school expenses for children, and help with unexpected emergencies and leaving family violence, among others. Recipients also receive health benefits: basic dental care, eye exams and glasses, prescriptions, diabetic supplies and emergency ambulance services. Check the current summary before relying on any figure here, because amounts are governed by the Income and Employment Supports Act and the Income Support, Training and Health Benefits Regulation and are subject to change.
Recipients are encouraged and supported to work. You keep all of your wages, and only a portion of your earnings is taken into account when your benefits are calculated — this is the earnings exemption, and the rates are in the same Financial Benefits Summary:
Report your earnings to your caseworker as they change; the exemption is applied when your benefits are calculated, not as a separate payment.
The monthly payment for Income Support (and AISH) is made four business days before the first of the month. If that day falls on a holiday or weekend, benefits are paid on the previous business day. The province publishes a payment-dates list — check it for the current month rather than counting forward from this guide.
Do not use the regular two-week application for an emergency. The 24-hour Emergency Income Support Contact Centre is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, toll-free at 1-866-644-5135, and emergency financial assistance can be addressed in as little as two days, covering basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing and transportation. You can also apply online to the Income Support Contact Centre for emergency food benefits paid by Interac e-Transfer: apply at MyAlberta Emergency Benefits, and once you have provided the required information you will be asked to call the Income Support Contact Centre to confirm. The emergency contact centre also handles emergency needs for AISH clients outside normal operating hours.
If you need help and it is a weekday during business hours, the Alberta Supports Contact Centre at 1-877-644-9992 (7:30 am to 8:00 pm, Monday to Friday) is the first call.
The alberta.ca pages do not state a single income cut-off in dollars — the financial test is stated as a comparison against the core benefit amount you would receive, plus the asset limits given above — so this guide gives no income threshold figure. They do not state how long a supplementary benefit takes to be decided, or which supplementary benefits any one household will receive, since those depend on the individual file. The core benefit figures in this guide are from the Financial Benefits Summary effective July 2, 2026; if that summary has been replaced by a newer edition, the newer figures govern. The pages also do not publish an online status tracker for Income Support applications, so the way to check a file is through your caseworker or the Alberta Supports Contact Centre.
Create or sign in to your Alberta.ca account, gather the documents listed in Step 2 of this guide, then submit the Income Support application online. A verified Alberta.ca account is recommended: you can begin with a basic account, but Income Support staff will require you to verify your account before the application is approved. If you cannot apply online, contact your local Alberta Supports Centre to make an appointment for in-person help.
The province says the application process can take up to two weeks. Emergency financial assistance is faster: it can be addressed in as little as two days, and it covers basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing and transportation. If your need is urgent, use the 24-hour Emergency Income Support Contact Centre at 1-866-644-5135 instead of waiting on the regular application.
Identification for you, your spouse or partner, and any dependents; bank statements for the 60 days before the date of application for all bank accounts, including chequing and savings; and a medical letter if you cannot work for medical reasons. Gather these before you start, so the online application is not left half-finished.
It depends on your household and your housing. The province's Financial Benefits Summary, effective July 2, 2026, gives these combined monthly core benefits for a single adult expected to work: $600 living with relatives, $619 in social housing, or $860 in private housing. For a single adult with barriers to full employment, the same figures are $740, $759 and $1,000. A couple with no children expected to work receives $894, $997 or $1,288. Your caseworker works out the exact amount from your situation, and supplementary benefits can add to the core amount.
Yes. Recipients are encouraged and supported to work: you keep all of your wages, and only a portion of your earnings is taken into account when your benefits are calculated. This is the earnings exemption. For a single client expected to work, the first $230 of net employment income a month is exempt, plus 25% of any amount over $230. For a single client with barriers to full employment, the first $350 is exempt, plus 50% of any amount over $350.
Call the 24-hour Emergency Income Support Contact Centre at 1-866-644-5135 — it runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week — or apply online through MyAlberta Emergency Benefits for emergency food benefits paid by Interac e-Transfer. After you provide the required information online, you will be asked to call the Income Support Contact Centre to confirm. Emergency help can be addressed in as little as two days.