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Alberta

City of Edmonton dumping two deputy city managers, bringing in new Chief Climate Officer

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News Release from The City of Edmonton

City Manager reduces number of departments, executives in move to focus on priorities

City Manager Andre Corbould has reduced the number of city departments and deputy city managers from seven to five, reduced the number of leadership positions in the City, and introduced a broader approach to decision making within City Administration.
Departments providing services (City Operations, Community Services, Financial & Corporate Services, Integrated Infrastructure Services, and Urban Planning & Economy) will continue. The former Employee Services and Communications & Engagement departments will be considered enabling services, see the size of their leadership teams reduced, and be incorporated into the Office of the City Manager.
The City’s Executive Leadership Team will also include a new Chief Climate Officer and the Chief of Staff will take on additional responsibilities as corporate lead for anti-racism and reconciliation. “This team of leaders will ensure that beyond policy and financial matters, we are also actively considering environment and inclusion when we are making decisions about building our city,” said Corbould. The team will continue to include human resources and communications leaders, now as newly-appointed Chief People Officer & City Solicitor Michelle Plouffe and a Chief Communications Officer.
The number of front-line staff remains unchanged, although there are a number of structural adjustments across the organization
  • Some communications teams will report to the deputy city managers of individual departments, while others remain in a centralized unit focused on priority issues like climate resilience, housing and economic development.
  • One human resources branch has been dissolved, with teams moving to other areas providing similar services, and the Legal Services and Employee Services teams are together in one division.
  • Edmonton Fire Rescue Services will reduce its number of senior level Deputy Fire Chief positions from five to three, with additional Assistant Deputy Fire Chiefs added at a lower level. The new structure will enhance services such as emergency management, and workforce supports such as mental health and safety. The number of firefighters remains unchanged.
“With strategic direction set by the City Plan, Council’s budget direction to reduce spending and focus on priorities, and Edmontonians’ requirements for core services, I am confident that these adjustments will equip us to accomplish the work at hand,” Corbould continued.
The savings from these adjustments will be applied toward OP12, direction from Council to reduce spending by $60 million, to reallocate $240 million toward priority initiatives, and report frequently on results.
“Edmontonians gave a strong mandate to Council to improve core services, invest in public transit, create conditions for economic development, tackle affordable housing and climate change and build a more equitable city for all. That work started the day we took office and was further advanced through the approval of the 2023-2026 budget where Council made significant investments in those priority areas. City Council also directed administration to find $60 million in savings over four years through the 2023-2026 budget and reallocate an additional $240 million to these priority areas. That work is underway through OP12,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.
“Council further directed the city manager to streamline city administration to align it with City Council priorities. The changes implemented by the city manager do that. I have full confidence in the city manager and our administration to implement these changes, and that they won’t impact frontline services. Organizational change is always difficult and everyone who has served our city has left a meaningful impact and I want to thank each person for their service. They helped to make our city a brighter place, and their efforts are appreciated. I also want to thank all our staff who help us to make Edmonton a better place each and every day. City council looks forward to continuing to support administration through this difficult work, and we look forward to seeing how they’ll find $240 million that can be transitioned to Council’s priority areas of housing, climate change, public transit, and core services,” he continued.

Alberta

Low oil prices could have big consequences for Alberta’s finances

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From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill

Amid the tariff war, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil—a common benchmark—recently dropped below US$60 per barrel. Given every $1 drop in oil prices is an estimated $750 million hit to provincial revenues, if oil prices remain low for long, there could be big implications for Alberta’s budget.

The Smith government already projects a $5.2 billion budget deficit in 2025/26 with continued deficits over the following two years. This year’s deficit is based on oil prices averaging US$68.00 per barrel. While the budget does include a $4 billion “contingency” for unforeseen events, given the economic and fiscal impact of Trump’s tariffs, it could quickly be eaten up.

Budget deficits come with costs for Albertans, who will already pay a projected $600 each in provincial government debt interest in 2025/26. That’s money that could have gone towards health care and education, or even tax relief.

Unfortunately, this is all part of the resource revenue rollercoaster that’s are all too familiar to Albertans.

Resource revenue (including oil and gas royalties) is inherently volatile. In the last 10 years alone, it has been as high as $25.2 billion in 2022/23 and as low as $2.8 billion in 2015/16. The provincial government typically enjoys budget surpluses—and increases government spending—when oil prices and resource revenue is relatively high, but is thrown into deficits when resource revenues inevitably fall.

Fortunately, the Smith government can mitigate this volatility.

The key is limiting the level of resource revenue included in the budget to a set stable amount. Any resource revenue above that stable amount is automatically saved in a rainy-day fund to be withdrawn to maintain that stable amount in the budget during years of relatively low resource revenue. The logic is simple: save during the good times so you can weather the storm during bad times.

Indeed, if the Smith government had created a rainy-day account in 2023, for example, it could have already built up a sizeable fund to help stabilize the budget when resource revenue declines. While the Smith government has deposited some money in the Heritage Fund in recent years, it has not created a dedicated rainy-day account or introduced a similar mechanism to help stabilize provincial finances.

Limiting the amount of resource revenue in the budget, particularly during times of relatively high resource revenue, also tempers demand for higher spending, which is only fiscally sustainable with permanently high resource revenues. In other words, if the government creates a rainy-day account, spending would become more closely align with stable ongoing levels of revenue.

And it’s not too late. To end the boom-bust cycle and finally help stabilize provincial finances, the Smith government should create a rainy-day account.

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Alberta

Governments in Alberta should spur homebuilding amid population explosion

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From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill and Austin Thompson

In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.

Alberta has long been viewed as an oasis in Canada’s overheated housing market—a refuge for Canadians priced out of high-cost centres such as Vancouver and Toronto. But the oasis is starting to dry up. House prices and rents in the province have spiked by about one-third since the start of the pandemic. According to a recent Maru poll, more than 70 per cent of Calgarians and Edmontonians doubt they will ever be able to afford a home in their city. Which raises the question: how much longer can this go on?

Alberta’s housing affordability problem reflects a simple reality—not enough homes have been built to accommodate the province’s growing population. The result? More Albertans competing for the same homes and rental units, pushing prices higher.

Population growth has always been volatile in Alberta, but the recent surge, fuelled by record levels of immigration, is unprecedented. Alberta has set new population growth records every year since 2022, culminating in the largest-ever increase of 186,704 new residents in 2024—nearly 70 per cent more than the largest pre-pandemic increase in 2013.

Homebuilding has increased, but not enough to keep pace with the rise in population. In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.

Moreover, from 1972 to 2019, Alberta added 2.1 new residents (on average) for every housing unit started compared to 3.9 new residents for every housing unit started in 2024. Put differently, today nearly twice as many new residents are potentially competing for each new home compared to historical norms.

While Alberta attracts more Canadians from other provinces than any other province, federal immigration and residency policies drive Alberta’s population growth. So while the provincial government has little control over its population growth, provincial and municipal governments can affect the pace of homebuilding.

For example, recent provincial amendments to the city charters in Calgary and Edmonton have helped standardize building codes, which should minimize cost and complexity for builders who operate across different jurisdictions. Municipal zoning reforms in CalgaryEdmonton and Red Deer have made it easier to build higher-density housing, and Lethbridge and Medicine Hat may soon follow suit. These changes should make it easier and faster to build homes, helping Alberta maintain some of the least restrictive building rules and quickest approval timelines in Canada.

There is, however, room for improvement. Policymakers at both the provincial and municipal level should streamline rules for building, reduce regulatory uncertainty and development costs, and shorten timelines for permit approvals. Calgary, for instance, imposes fees on developers to fund a wide array of public infrastructure—including roads, sewers, libraries, even buses—while Edmonton currently only imposes fees to fund the construction of new firehalls.

It’s difficult to say how long Alberta’s housing affordability woes will endure, but the situation is unlikely to improve unless homebuilding increases, spurred by government policies that facilitate more development.

Tegan Hill

Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute

Austin Thompson

Senior Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute
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