Alberta
Province providing Indigenous communities and municipalities support to study future of policing
Committing to community policing
Alberta’s government will ensure Indigenous communities and municipalities have the support they need to study what kind of police service best meets their local needs.
Every Albertan should feel safe and secure in their communities and every community should be able to choose a policing model that meets their needs. Alberta’s government is investing in increased community safety by providing $6 million over two years for Indigenous and Municipal Police Transition Study Grants. These grants would provide Indigenous communities and municipalities with up to $30,000 each toward an independent study to determine if a local, self-administered police service or a regional policing model would be a better fit for their citizens.
“No one knows a community’s needs better than the people who live there. This funding will empower municipalities to explore different policing models that will improve public safety and address their community’s unique needs.”
The Indigenous and Municipal Police Transition Study Grants were created to assist communities interested in exploring different policing models. The grants will help communities cover the cost of conducting necessary research into local public safety needs, gaps, capital requirements and transition considerations.
To date, Public Safety and Emergency Services has received grant applications from 13 communities that are interested in a different policing model to meet their needs. The department is reviewing these applications and working with these and other communities that have expressed interest in applying.
“This funding provides municipalities with an excellent opportunity to study how best to meet their communities’ local and regional policing needs.”
Alberta’s government supports a community’s choice to determine what is best for its citizens, and assisting with the study and development of alternate policing models will help address the government’s public safety concerns. Every community has distinct needs, and each is in the best position to determine which policing model is best for them.
Budget 2023 secures Alberta’s 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.
Quick facts
- Under Alberta’s Police Act, towns and cities with populations greater than 5,000 are responsible for their own policing.
- The Police Act gives municipalities the option of having their own police service, forming a regional policing arrangement or contracting for provincial policing services (i.e., the RCMP under Alberta’s provincial police service agreement).
- Under an agreement reached in September 2022, the Siksika Nation will get its own self-administered police service. Siksika developed a business case in 2021 with assistance from a $30,000 provincial government grant.
- Grande Prairie city council voted in March to create a municipal police service that will take over local policing from the RCMP.
- Over the next two years, Alberta will provide Grande Prairie with a $9.7-million grant to establish a local police service.
Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement on the April 2, 2025 U.S. tariff announcement:
“Today was an important win for Canada and Alberta, as it appears the United States has decided to uphold the majority of the free trade agreement (CUSMA) between our two nations. It also appears this will continue to be the case until after the Canadian federal election has concluded and the newly elected Canadian government is able to renegotiate CUSMA with the U.S. administration.
“This is precisely what I have been advocating for from the U.S. administration for months.
“It means that the majority of goods sold into the United States from Canada will have no tariffs applied to them, including zero per cent tariffs on energy, minerals, agricultural products, uranium, seafood, potash and host of other Canadian goods.
“There is still work to be done, of course. Unfortunately, tariffs previously announced by the United States on Canadian automobiles, steel and aluminum have not been removed. The efforts of premiers and the federal government should therefore shift towards removing or significantly reducing these remaining tariffs as we go forward and ensuring affected workers across Canada are generously supported until the situation is resolved.
“I again call on all involved in our national advocacy efforts to focus on diplomacy and persuasion while avoiding unnecessary escalation. Clearly, this strategy has been the most effective to this point.
“As it appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us (though there is still work to be done), it is my sincere hope that we, as Canadians, can abandon the disastrous policies that have made Canada vulnerable to and overly dependent on the United States, fast-track national resource corridors, get out of the way of provincial resource development and turn our country into an independent economic juggernaut and energy superpower.”
From the Fraser Institute
By any measure, Alberta is an energy powerhouse—within Canada, but also on a global scale. In 2023, it produced 85 per cent of Canada’s oil and three-fifths of the country’s natural gas. Most of Canada’s oil reserves are in Alberta, along with a majority of natural gas reserves. Alberta is the beating heart of the Canadian energy economy. And energy, in turn, accounts for one-quarter of Canada’s international exports.
Consider some key facts about the province’s energy landscape, as noted in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) 2023 annual report. Oil and natural gas production continued to rise (on a volume basis) in 2023, on the heels of steady increases over the preceding half decade. However, the dollar value of Alberta’s oil and gas production fell in 2023, as the surging prices recorded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine retreated. Capital spending in the province’s energy sector reached $30 billion in 2023, making it the leading driver of private-sector investment. And completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has opened new offshore export avenues for Canada’s oil industry and should boost Alberta’s energy production and exports going forward.
In a world striving to address climate change, Alberta’s hydrocarbon-heavy energy sector faces challenges. At some point, the world may start to consume less oil and, later, less natural gas (in absolute terms). But such “peak” consumption hasn’t arrived yet, nor does it appear imminent. While the demand for certain refined petroleum products is trending down in some advanced economies, particularly in Europe, we should take a broader global perspective when assessing energy demand and supply trends.
Looking at the worldwide picture, Goldman Sachs’ 2024 global energy forecast predicts that “oil usage will increase through 2034” thanks to strong demand in emerging markets and growing production of petrochemicals that depend on oil as the principal feedstock. Global demand for natural gas (including LNG) will also continue to increase, particularly since natural gas is the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel and more of it is being traded in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Against this backdrop, there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for Alberta’s energy sector, particularly if the federal government dials back some of the economically destructive energy and climate policies adopted by the last government. According to the AER’s “base case” forecast, overall energy output will expand over the next 10 years. Oilsands output is projected to grow modestly; natural gas production will also rise, in part due to greater demand for Alberta’s upstream gas from LNG operators in British Columbia.
The AER’s forecast also points to a positive trajectory for capital spending across the province’s energy sector. The agency sees annual investment rising from almost $30 billion to $40 billion by 2033. Most of this takes place in the oil and gas industry, but “emerging” energy resources and projects aimed at climate mitigation are expected to represent a bigger slice of energy-related capital spending going forward.
Like many other oil and gas producing jurisdictions, Alberta must navigate the bumpy journey to a lower-carbon future. But the world is set to remain dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come. This suggests the energy sector will continue to underpin not only the Alberta economy but also Canada’s export portfolio for the foreseeable future.
Jock Finlayson
Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
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