Alberta
Auto Insurance affordability: Province says long term solutions may include public insurance offering
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Good drivers to benefit from auto insurance changes
New reforms will address the pressing issue of automobile insurance rates in the province as the government explores longer-term solutions.
Alberta’s government is exploring every possible avenue to provide relief to Albertans. Albertans with good driving records would experience price protection, ensuring their insurance rates do not increase higher than inflation. The proposed reforms would start Jan. 1, 2024.
“We know that Albertans have been struggling with their auto insurance rates and that’s why we’ve been working hard to find solutions. I’m pleased that we can work to bring forward these new measures to help. With inflation and the affordability crisis making life more expensive for Albertans, we will continue working to ensure that the measures we take are not only affordable but also sustainable in the long run.”
Alberta’s government will be taking further action to amend regulations, ensuring that insurers must offer payment plan options so Albertans would not have to pay the full amount for their coverage upfront. These changes would ensure the auto insurance industry can continue to cover claims costs and protect Alberta drivers while providing more relief to Albertans.
Additionally, changes would grant Alberta’s Automobile Insurance Rate Board (AIRB) the authority to direct auto insurers to return premiums to Albertans in years when insurance industry profits are significantly higher. AIRB could also request a rate filing from an insurer at any time to review and possibly lower auto insurance rates if needed.
“We understand the struggles many Albertans are facing, and we are working to ensure Albertans can afford the coverage they need. Achieving affordable auto insurance is a major commitment for our government and this is only the first step in delivering on that promise. We value the sustainability of the insurance industry and call for increased collaboration from insurers as we continue the work to address these issues.”
“Affordability continues to be a major concern for Albertans when the cost on every day essentials rises and makes it tough to make ends meet. That’s why we continue to build on our existing affordability measures to help stabilize costs. This auto insurance reform will help do this in the short term.”
Alberta’s government is closely examining more long-term solutions to make Alberta’s auto insurance industry affordable and sustainable.
The current rate pause will remain in effect to ease the burden on Alberta drivers until the end of 2023. Proposed reforms for 2024 would not impose a dynamic price ceiling on the rate increases insurers can request but would help control how they are distributed among customers, particularly those with good driving records. Any rate increases in 2024 will be carefully monitored to ensure they are reasonable and justifiable. Albertans should continue to shop around to find the best insurance coverage for them.
“As the consumer representative on the Automobile Insurance Rate Board, I ensure that Alberta drivers are considered in all board decisions, including changes to insurer rating programs. I believe protecting good drivers from unexpected rate increases is a win for Alberta consumers. During a time of affordability challenges, this action will provide price stability and predictability for Alberta families.”
The government has commissioned an in-depth analysis by an external consultant concerning longer-term reforms. A draft report is expected by the end of 2023, with the final report slated for the first quarter of 2024. The results of this analysis will inform the government’s long-term reforms.
Quick facts
- The description of a driver with a good record is adapted from the AIRBs guidance for the grid rating program. This includes anyone without the following:
- one or more at-fault accidents in the last six years
- any Criminal Code traffic convictions in the last four years
- any major traffic convictions in the last three years
- more than one minor traffic conviction in the last three years
- In Alberta’s competitive marketplace, Albertans can sometimes get better rates by shopping around and exploring their options.
- Albertans should continue to work with their insurance companies or brokers to get the best rates.
- Alberta drivers can get discounts of up to 20 per cent for bundling their home and property insurance, in addition to discounts for good driving behavior.
Related information
At 17:00 of the video here, A reporter’s question about a potential public insurance offering in Alberta is confirmed.
Agriculture
P&H Group building $241-million flour milling facility in Red Deer County.
![](https://www.todayville.com/edmonton/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/tvrd-rd-county-p-h-mill-image-2024-09-06.jpg)
P&H Milling Group has qualified for the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit program
Alberta’s food processing sector is the second-largest manufacturing industry in the province and the flour milling industry plays an important role within the sector, generating millions in annual economic impact and creating thousands of jobs. As Canada’s population continues to increase, demand for high-quality wheat flour products is expected to rise. With Alberta farmers growing about one-third of Canada’s wheat crops, the province is well-positioned to help meet this demand.
Alberta’s Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit program is supporting this growing sector by helping to attract a new wheat flour milling business to Red Deer County. P&H Milling Group, a division of Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited, is constructing a $241-million facility in the hamlet of Springbrook to mill about 750 metric tonnes of wheat from western Canadian farmers into flour, every single day. The new facility will complement the company’s wheat and durum milling operation in Lethbridge.
“P&H Milling Group’s new flour mill project is proof our Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit program is doing its job to attract large-scale investments in value-added agricultural manufacturing. With incentives like the ag tax credit, we’re providing the right conditions for processors to invest in Alberta, expand their business and help stimulate our economy.”
P&H Milling Group’s project is expected to create about 27 permanent and 200 temporary jobs. Byproducts from the milling process will be sold to the livestock feed industry across Canada to create products for cattle, poultry, swine, bison, goats and fish. The new facility will also have capacity to add two more flour mills as demand for product increases in the future.
“This new facility not only strengthens our position in the Canadian milling industry, but also boostsAlberta’s baking industry by supplying high-quality flour to a diverse range of customers. We are proud to contribute to the local economy and support the agricultural community by sourcing 230,000 metric tonnes of locally grown wheat each year.”
To be considered for the tax credit program, corporations must invest at least $10 million in a project to build or expand a value-added agri-processing facility in Alberta. The program offers a 12 per cent non-refundable tax credit based on eligible capital expenditures. Through this program, Alberta’s government has granted P&H Milling Group conditional approval for a tax credit estimated at $27.3 million.
“We are grateful P&H Milling Group chose to build here in Red Deer County. This partnership willbolster our local economy and showcase our prime centralized location in Alberta, an advantage that facilitates efficient operations and distribution.”
Quick facts
- In 2023, Alberta’s food processing sector generated $24.3 billion in sales, making it the province’s second-largest manufacturing industry, behind petroleum and coal.
- That same year, just over three million metric tonnes of milled wheat and more than 2.3 million metric tonnes of wheat flour was manufactured in Canada.
- Alberta’s milled wheat and meslin flour exports increased from $8.6 million in 2019 to $19.8 million in 2023, a 130.2 per cent increase.
- Demand for flour products rose in Alberta from 2019 to 2022, with retail sales increasing by 24 per cent during that period.
- Alberta’s flour milling industry generated about $840.7 million in economic impact and created more than 2,200 jobs on average between 2018 and 2021.
- Alberta farmers produced 9.3 million metric tonnes of wheat in 2023, representing 29.2 per cent of total Canadian production.
Related information
Addictions
B.C. addiction centre should not accept drug industry funds
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The British Columbia Centre on Substance Abuse. (Photo credit: Alexandra Keeler)
News release from Break The Needle
By Canadian Affairs Editorial Board
Data released this week brought the welcome news that opioid-related deaths in Alberta have decreased substantially since last year. Opioid-related deaths have also decreased in B.C., although not as dramatically as in Alberta.
While the results are encouraging, more work needs to be done. And both provinces, which have taken very different approaches to the drug crisis, need to understand how their drug policies contribute to these results.
Fortunately, B.C. and Alberta both have research centres devoted to answering this very question. But we are disheartened to see that B.C.’s centre, the British Columbia Centre on Substance Abuse, accepts funding from pharmaceutical and drug companies.
As Canadian Affairs reported this week, the B.C. centre’s funding page lists pharmaceutical company Indivior, pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart and cannabis companies Tilray and Canopy Growth as “past and current funders of activities at BCCSU — including work related to research, community engagement, and clinical training and education.”
This funding structure raises major red flags. Pharmaceutical and drug companies benefit from continued drug use and addiction. And in a context where B.C. has favoured harm-reduction policies such as safe consumption sites and safe supply, the risk of conflicts is especially high.
Indivior is the producer and manufacturer of Suboxone, a drug commonly prescribed to treat opioid-use disorder. Canada’s drug crisis has driven a surge in demand for prescription opioids to treat opioid-use order, with the number of Canadians receiving Suboxone and similar drugs up 44 per cent in 2020 from 2015, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.
Indivior is also the subject of at least two class-action lawsuits claiming the company failed to disclose adverse health effects associated with using Suboxone.
In 2021, Shoppers Drug Mart made a $2-million gift to the University of British Columbia to establish a pharmacy fellowship and support the education of pharmacist-focused addiction treatment at the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use. A conflict of interest exists here as well, with pharmacies benefiting financially from continued demand for drugs.
Consider, for example, if B.C.’s centre produced research showing pharmaceutical interventions were not effective or less effective than other policy measures. Would researchers feel pressure to not publish those results or pursue further lines of inquiry? Similarly, would Indivior or Shoppers Drug Mart continue to provide funding if the centre published research in this vein?
These are not the kinds of questions researchers should have to consider when pursuing research in the public interest.
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In response to questions about whether accepting drug industry funding could compromise the objectivity of their research, the British Columbia Centre on Substance Abuse referred Canadian Affairs to their website’s funding page. This page states their research is supported by peer-reviewed grants and independent ethical reviews to ensure objectivity.
We would argue such steps are not sufficient, not least because conflicts of interest are a problem whether they are real or perceived. Even if researchers at the centre are not influenced by who is funding their work, the public could reasonably perceive the objectivity of their research to be compromised.
It is for this reason that ethics laws generally require officeholders to avoid both actual conflicts of interest as well as the appearance of conflicts.
It is also why the government of Alberta, in launching their new addictions research centre, the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE), has taken steps to safeguard the integrity of its work. The government has imposed legislative safeguards to ensure CoRE cannot receive external funding that could be seen to compromise its research, a spokesperson for the centre told Canadian Affairs.
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the work done by the B.C. centre, CoRE and other centres like it. It is imperative that governments of all levels and stripes have quality, trusted research to inform decision-making about how best to respond to this tragic crisis.
The B.C. government and British Columbia Centre on Substance Abuse ought to implement their own safeguards to address these conflicts of interest immediately.
This article was produced through the Breaking Needles Fellowship Program, which provided a grant to Canadian Affairs, a digital media outlet, to fund journalism exploring addiction and crime in Canada. Articles produced through the Fellowship are co-published by Break The Needle and Canadian Affairs.
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