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Alberta

Premier Danielle Smith’s first budget adds health and education spending and forecasts a $2.4 billion surplus

Published

2 years ago

12 minute read

Budget 2023 forecasts a surplus of $2.4 billion in 2023-24 and reflects the government decisions to invest in Alberta’s future and provide security for Alberta families and communities.

“Fiscal responsibility matters. It’s been key to achieving our strong fiscal standing and will be essential for sustainable program delivery in the future. In Budget 2023, we continue our commitment to paying down debt all while continuing to position our economy for growth and invest in the top priorities of Albertans.”

Travis Toews, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance

Growing jobs and the economy

Budget 2023 advances the province’s already successful Alberta at Work initiative, investing a further $176 million in 2025-26 to help Albertans build their skills and find jobs, and assisting employers in their search for workers in existing and emerging sectors.

A $111-million increase over three years will add seats to expand enrolment in areas with the highest student demand, including non-trade construction, energy, technology and business. Alberta’s government is committed to removing barriers in order to attract highliy skilled professionals and job-creating entrepreneurs to Alberta.

Investments in aviation and aerospace, agri-food manufacturing and $24.5 million this fiscal year to the Alberta Technology and Innovation Strategy will enhance emerging and innovative technologies, drive economic diversification and attract even more venture capital investments to build on successive record-breaking years. A $54-million per year increase in funding for the Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program starting in 2025-26 will support Air Products’ clean hydrogen facility – and continue to make Alberta a global leader in petrochemical production, bring long-term investments and create thousands of construction jobs.

Transforming health care to meet Albertans’ needs

Alberta’s government is setting a new record for spending in health care this year by committing an additional $965 million in operating expense in 2023-24 for the Ministry of Health to continue to build a stronger health-care system for Albertans. This funding will ensure the government can take the urgent action needed to improve ambulance response times, decrease emergency room wait times, reduce wait times for surgeries and attract more front-line health workers to deliver the care patients expect and deserve.

Budget 2023 includes $158 million this year to attract, recruit and train more doctors and nurses to work across the province, with a focus on family physicians for rural areas. Alberta’s primary health-care system is being strengthened and modernized with a record $2 billion over three years. Another $196 million over three years will strengthen emergency medical services and $3.1 billion over three years will modernize and expand health facilities across Alberta, including the Red Deer Regional Hospital and expanding capacity for operating rooms in 15 communities to complete more of the surgeries Albertans are waiting for. An additional $529 million in capital maintenance and renewal funding will be used to keep facilities operational and a further $732 million in self-financed investment will add to health infrastructure.

Supporting Albertans, students and families

With $2.3 billion in affordability measures in 2023-24, $1.5 billion in 2024-25 and another $1.8 billion in 2025-26, Alberta’s government is keeping more money in the pockets of Albertans and continues to provide a helping hand to those in need. New relief measures will save post-secondary students about $18 million each year with lower interest rates for student loans.  Adoptive families will have access to more subsidies and tax breaks to make adoption more feasible. Workers in the social services sector will see their wages increased by 10 per cent, so they can continue to provide compassionate services to people with complex needs, those experiencing homelessness or family violence. Albertans will also receive a larger tax credit when they donate to their favourite charities to lend a helping hand.

An increase of $1.8 billion for education will help Alberta’s young people succeed and thrive in smaller classes. This increase will support the hiring of up to 3,000 education staff, including teachers, educational assistants, bus drivers and school support staff to give students the focused time and attention they need to succeed in their studies.

The government is also investing $59.3 million in 2023-24 to create thousands more licensed child-care spaces as part of opening a total of 68,700 new spaces by the end of March 2023, increasing access and choice so parents can go to school, work and participate in the economy. Affordability grants to child-care operators and subsidies for parents will further lower the cost of child care, with the Alberta federal-provincial child-care agreement already reducing fees by an average of 50 per cent in 2022 for young children.

Keeping Albertans and communities safe

All Albertans, families and children have the right to safety and security in their homes, at school, at work and in their communities, no matter where they live.

Budget 2023 keeps communities safe by increasing collaboration between first responders and community partners and increasing access for vulnerable populations to recovery-oriented mental health and addiction supports and services.

  • $12.5 million in 2023-24 will support the expansion of therapeutic living units within provincial correctional facilities to help inmates access recovery-oriented treatment and recovery programs. This is a joint investment between Mental Health and Addiction and Public Safety and Emergency Services.
  • $65 million over the next three years will strengthen First Nations policing to address the unique needs of their communities and members. This will secure new policing positions and the creation of another First Nations police service in addition to the Lakeshore Regional Police Service, the Blood Tribe Police Service and Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service.
  • $20 million over three years is committed to combat human trafficking and ensure necessary resources are provided to survivors and victims.

The province will review options for delivering policing services with the objective of improving the safety and security of Albertans and their property.

Committing to responsible fiscal management

Budget 2023 secures Alberta’s future by staying true to responsible fiscal management and spending hard-earned tax dollars wisely to support Albertans today and tomorrow.

A new fiscal framework would require all future Alberta governments to balance their annual budgets, with certain exceptions, and use any surpluses to first pay down debt and save for the future before investing in one-time initiatives.

Taxpayer-supported debt is being reduced by $14.8 billion between 2021-22 and 2023-24, and the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund is growing by $5.7 billion between 2021-22 and 2025-26. This will bring taxpayer-supported debt to $78.3 billion at the end of 2023-24, and saves Albertans estimated $260 million in this fiscal year and $551 million in 2023-24.

Mandating balanced budgets and tying operating expense increases to population growth and inflation would help control spending to prevent what could be temporarily high resource revenue being used to increase spending in an unsustainable way. Spending decisions instead would be focused on not only meeting the needs and priorities of Albertans but also on continuing to drive change, innovation and improvement of vital services and programs.

Revenue

  • In 2023-24, total revenue is estimated to be $70.7 billion, which is $5.4 billion lower than the forecast for 2022-23. Commodity prices are expected to soften due to fears of a looming global recession, while investment income is expected to recover well after dropping in 2022-23.
    • Revenue is expected to remain above $70 billion in following years. The revenue forecast for 2024-25 is $71.7 billion and for 2025-26 is $72.6 billion.
    • In 2023-24, corporate income tax revenue is estimated at $5.9 billion, down 7.8 per cent from 2022-23, largely due to declining commodity prices.
    • Non-renewable resource revenue is estimated to be $18.4 billion in 2023-24, down from the highest-ever resource revenue of $27.5 billion forecast in 2022-23.

Expense

  • Total expense in 2023-24 is $68.3 billion, which is $2.6 billion more than the forecast for 2022-23.
    • Total expense is expected to be $69.7 billion in 2024-25 and $71.2 billion in 2025-26.

Surplus

  • A surplus of $2.4 billion is forecast for 2023-24 compared with $10.4 billion in 2022-23.
    • Surpluses of $2 billion and $1.4 billion are forecast for 2024-25 and 2025-26, respectively.

Economic outlook

  • In 2022, real gross domestic product (GDP) rose by an estimated 4.8 per cent, which is lower than the budget forecast of 5.4 per cent. The softer growth reflects the impact of higher interest rates and prices on consumer spending and residential investment. Even so, real GDP fully recovered from the COVID-19 downturn and surpassed the 2014 peak in 2022.
  • In 2023, real GDP is expected to grow by 2.8 per cent, up slightly from the 2.7 per cent growth forecast at mid-year.

Energy and economic assumptions, 2023-24

  • West Texas Intermediate oil (USD/bbl)                                  $79.00
  • Western Canadian Select @ Hardisty (CND/bbl)                 $78.00
  • Light-heavy differential (USD/bbl)                                          $19.50
  • Natural gas (CND/GJ)                                                               $4.10
  • Convention crude production (000s barrels/day)                 497
  • Raw bitumen production (000s barrels/day)                          3,345
  • Canadian dollar exchange rate (USD/CDN)                         $76.20
  • Interest rate (10-year Canada bonds, per cent)                   3.60

Budget 2023 secures Alberta’s bright future by transforming the health-care system to meet people’s needs, supporting Albertans with the high cost of living, keeping our communities safe and driving the economy with more jobs, quality education and continued diversification.

 

Related Topics:

This is a news release from the Government of Alberta.

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Median workers in Alberta could receive 72% more under Alberta Pension Plan compared to Canada Pension Plan

Published on July 15, 2025

By

From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill and Joel Emes

Moving from the CPP to a provincial pension plan would generate savings for Albertans in the form of lower contribution rates (which could be used to increase private retirement savings while receiving the same pension benefits as the CPP under the new provincial pension), finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Due to Alberta’s comparatively high rates of employment, higher average incomes, and younger population, Albertans would pay a lower contribution rate through a separate provincial pension plan while receiving the same benefits as under the CPP,” said Tegan Hill, director of Alberta policy at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Illustrating the Potential of an Alberta Pension Plan.

Assuming Albertans invested the savings from moving to a provincial pension plan into a private retirement account, and assuming a contribution rate of 5.85 per cent, workers earning the median income in Alberta ($53,061 in 2025) could accrue a stream of retirement payments totalling $454,741 (pre-tax)—a 71.6 per cent increase from their stream of CPP payments ($264,968).

Put differently, under the CPP, a median worker receives a total of $264,968 in retirement income over their life. If an Alberta worker saved the difference between what they pay now into the CPP and what they would pay into a new provincial plan, the income they would receive in retirement increases. If the contribution rate for the new provincial plan was 5.85 per cent—the lower of the available estimates—the increase in retirement income would total $189,773 (or an increase of 71.6 per cent).

If the contribution rate for a new Alberta pension plan was 8.21 per cent—the higher of the available estimates—a median Alberta worker would still receive an additional $64,672 in retirement income over their life, a marked increase of 24.4 per cent compared to the CPP alone.

Put differently, assuming a contribution rate of 8.21 per cent, Albertan workers earning the median income could accrue a stream of retirement payments totaling $329,640 (pre-tax) under a provincial pension plan—a 24.4 per cent increase from their stream of CPP payments.

“While the full costs and benefits of a provincial pension plan must be considered, its clear that Albertans could benefit from higher retirement payments under a provincial pension plan, compared to the CPP,” Hill said.

Illustrating the Potential of an Alberta Pension Plan

  • Due to Alberta’s comparatively high rates of employment, higher average incomes, and younger population, Albertans would pay a lower contribution rate with a separate provincial pension plan, compared with the CPP, while receiving the same benefits as under the CPP.
  • Put differently, moving from the CPP to a provincial pension plan would generate savings for Albertans, which could be used to increase private retirement income. This essay assesses the potential savings for Albertans of moving to a provincial pension plan. It also estimates an Albertan’s potential increase in total retirement income, if those savings were invested in a private account.
  • Depending on the contribution rate used for an Alberta pension plan (APP), ranging from 5.85 to 8.2 percent, an individual earning the CPP’s yearly maximum pensionable earnings ($71,300 in 2025), would accrue a stream of retirement payments under the total APP (APP plus private retirement savings), yielding a total retirement income of between $429,524 and $584,235. This would be 22.9 to 67.1 percent higher, respectively, than their stream of CPP payments ($349,545).
  • An individual earning the median income in Alberta ($53,061 in 2025), would accrue a stream of retirement payments under the total APP (APP plus private retirement savings), yielding a total retirement income of between $329,640 and $454,741, which is between 24.4 percent to 71.6 percent higher, respectively, than their stream of CPP payments ($264,968).

 

Tegan Hill

Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute
Joel Emes

Joel Emes

Senior Economist, Fraser Institute
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Alberta

Alberta ban on men in women’s sports doesn’t apply to athletes from other provinces

Published on July 15, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act bans transgender males from women’s sports within the province but cannot regulate out-of-province transgender athletes.

Alberta’s ban on gender-confused males competing in women’s sports will not apply to out-of-province athletes.

In an interview posted July 12 by the Canadian Press, Alberta Tourism and Sport Minister Andrew Boitchenko revealed that Alberta does not have the jurisdiction to regulate out-of-province, gender-confused males from competing against female athletes.

“We don’t have authority to regulate athletes from different jurisdictions,” he said in an interview.

Ministry spokeswoman Vanessa Gomez further explained that while Alberta passed legislation to protect women within their province, outside sporting organizations are bound by federal or international guidelines.

As a result, Albertan female athletes will be spared from competing against men during provincial competition but must face male competitors during inter-provincial events.

In December, Alberta passed the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act to prevent biological men who claim to be women from competing in women’s sports. The legislation will take effect on September 1 and will apply to all school boards, universities, as well as provincial sports organizations.

The move comes after studies have repeatedly revealed what almost everyone already knew was true, namely, that males have a considerable advantage over women in athletics.

Indeed, a recent study published in Sports Medicine found that a year of “transgender” hormone drugs results in “very modest changes” in the inherent strength advantages of men.

Additionally, male athletes competing in women’s sports are known to be violent, especially toward female athletes who oppose their dominance in women’s sports.

In February, Andres ranted about why men should be able to compete in women’s competitions, calling for “the Ontario lifter” who opposes this, apparently referring to powerlifter April Hutchinson, to “die painfully.”

Interestingly, while Andres was suspended for six months for issuing death threats, Hutchinson was suspended for two years after publicly condemning him for stealing victories from women and then mocking his female competitors on social media. Her suspension was later reduced to a year.

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