US EditionAlberta Budget Slated to Run in Red for Next 3 Years as 2026-27 Deficit Balloons to $9.4B
The 2026 Alberta budget includes nearly $109 billion debt, higher levies, and cuts to film tax credits while boosting health and education spending, Finance Minister Nate Horner said.
- On Feb. 26, 2026, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner tabled a budget that projects a $9.4-billion deficit with $74.6 billion in revenue and $83.9 billion in spending.
- Finance Minister Nate Horner said rising population pressures and lower-than-expected oil prices are compressing revenues and increasing demand for hospitals and schools in Alberta.
- The budget also increases health-care spending to $34.4 billion and education funding to $10.8 billion, while reducing the Film and Television Tax Credit by $35 million to $60 million.
- The budget projects continuing deficits with a $7.6 billion deficit in 2027 and a $6.9 billion deficit the year after, while taxpayer-supported debt climbs nearly $17 billion to almost $109 billion in 2026 and almost $138 billion by 2029.
- Earlier this week Horner said breaching fiscal guardrails carries political consequences and he is not pursuing tax-system changes now, though a six per cent personal rental vehicle tax will start in 2027.
35 Articles
35 Articles
Alberta Tables Budget With $9.4 Billion Deficit, Citing Rising Population
Alberta’s new budget includes a $9.4 billion deficit, which the finance minister is blaming on the costs of a rising population coupled with low oil prices. “This year will require tough choices. Some of them won’t be popular. But all of them will be necessary to face the challenges ahead,” Finance Minister Nate Horner told the legislative assembly in Edmonton on Feb. 26 as he tabled the 2026-2027 budget. Horner added that “we’re not making mass…
UCP to spend big on addiction recovery, fighting crime, new DNA testing labs
Source: CPACAuthor: Clayton DeMaineThe United Conservative Party government has announced a massive injection of funds in the 2026 Alberta budget for public safety and mandatory addiction recovery programs. On the public safety front, this includes investing in new DNA testing facilities and boosting policing resources.The 2026 Alberta budget earmarks several years of multibillion-dollar deficit spending, including over $6 billion for public saf…
InnisfilToday.ca
Alberta budget comes with spending hikes, $9.4B deficit and no balance on the horizon
EDMONTON — Alberta’s new budget will carry an eye-popping $9.4-billion deficit as the province, after decades of trying to get off a roller-coaster of oil revenues, seeks to manage the ride and weather the whiplash.
Alberta budget slated to run in red for next 3 years as 2026-27 deficit balloons to $9.4B
Alberta is breaking its own fiscal rules. Nate Horner, the province’s finance minister, said Wednesday the government plans to run deficits over the next three fiscal years: $9.4 billion for 2026-27 followed by $7.6 billion in 2027-28 and $6.9 billion in 2028-29. The province will post a $4.1-billion deficit for the 2025-26 fiscal year ending in March.
The Toronto Star
Alberta budget comes with spending hikes, $9.4B deficit
EDMONTON - Alberta’s new budget will carry an eye-popping $9.4-billion deficit as the province, after decades of trying to get off a roller-coaster of oil revenues, seeks to manage the
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