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Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP government has introduced a new Alberta budget that promises more money for health and education but also an eye-popping deficit of $9.4 billion.
Finance Minister Nate Horner says coping with a rising population and lower-than-expected oil prices is putting the squeeze on Alberta’s bottom line.
Horner says the prudent course is to weather the economic storm and work to build the province.
The budget is the second consecutive multibillion-dollar deficit from Smith’s United Conservatives, and they’re forecasting more deficits through to 2029.
The taxpayer-supported debt is also going up and is expected to surpass $100 billion about a year from now.
While income taxes aren’t increasing to make up the shortfall, there are several other ways Albertans will be paying more through fees and changes to the education property tax.
Consumers will also pay more on a number of items, from dangerous driving tickets to registry fees and car rentals.
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There will also fewer provincial supports for the province’s growing motion picture industry, as the government has reduced the Film and Television Tax Credit by $35 million to $60 million.
It comes after last year’s budget 2025 committed $235 million over the ensuing three years to the FTTC program designed to attract large-scale productions.
Here are some of the highlights
— The government expects to take in $74.6 billion while spending $83.9 billion (including $2 billion set aside as a contingency fund).
— It predicts a $9.4-billion deficit, the largest since the COVID-19 crisis when the budget came in nearly $17 billion in the red for 2020-2021.
— This is the second deficit under Premier Danielle Smith, with a $7.6 billion deficit projected for 2027 and a $6.9 billion deficit for the year after that.
— Taxpayer supported debt is set to increase by nearly $17 billion, reaching almost $109 billion in 2026 and almost $138 billion by 2029.
— Spending on education and health care is boosted at rates higher than the rate of population plus inflation (pegged in the budget at 3.7 per cent).
— Big ticket spending on education at $10.8 billion (7.2 per cent more than last year) and health care at $34.4 billion (5.8 per cent more than 2025-2026).
— A tax is to be introduced in 2027 on personal rental vehicles. It’s to be set at six per cent of the price of the rental before other taxes are calculated. Long-term leases and non-passenger rentals, like moving trucks, are to be excluded.
— A mandatory tourism levy applied to hotel rooms and other short-term accommodations rises in April to six per cent from four per cent.
— Fees and penalties are going up for some driving offences, corporate registry filing and licensing, and registration for businesses and charities
More to come…
— With a file from Karen Bartko, Global News
© 2026 The Canadian Press
