Alberta
Alberta Budget 2021 Highlights
Maintaining responsible spending
Budget 2021’s responsible approach to spending will mean more investment in priority areas like health care, education and job creation.
Budget 2021 is built on 3 fiscal anchors:
- Keep net debt below 30% of GDP to help protect future generations from rising debt servicing costs.
- Deliver services more cost effectively by bringing spending in line with other comparator provinces.
- Re-establish a plan to balance the budget post-pandemic when a more stable level of predictability returns to the budgeting process.
Getting back on track
Operating expense
- In 2021–22, operating expense is $1 billion higher than 2020–21 forecast and begins to normalize, remaining relatively flat over the next 2 years.
Deficit
- $18.2 billion deficit is targeted for 2021–22, $2 billion less than the 2020–21 forecast.
- $11 billion and $8 billion deficits are targeted for 2022–23 and 2023–24 respectively.
Declining deficit can be attributed to decreasing expense as:
- the costs of the pandemic subside
- the government works to streamline and modernize service delivery
- revenue increases as the economy recovers
Budget 2021 funding highlights
Budget 2021 provides funding of:
- $23 billion for health services
- $8.2 billion operating expense for kindergarten to grade 12 (K to 12) education services
- $6.3 to $6.4 billion operating expense for social services ministries
- $136 million over 3 years for the Alberta Jobs Now program
- $166 million over 3 years for the Innovation Employment Grant
- $500 million in 2021–22 for additional investments in economic recovery
Investing in health care
Alberta’s government is increasing Health’s budget by over $900 million (or 4%) to $23 billion, and that’s excluding the impact of COVID-19.
- $5.4 billion for physician compensation and development (including academic medicine)
- $3.5 billion for community care, continuing care and home care programs, including $20 million over 4 years for palliative and end of life care
- $1.9 billion for drugs and supplemental health benefits.
- $34 million for children’s health supports to expand mental health and rehabilitation services for children and youth
- $140 million over 4 years for mental health and addiction services
Continuing the fight against COVID-19
Budget 2021 invests in continued supports to protect Albertans as we enter the second year of the pandemic.
- $1.25 billion COVID-19 Contingency to address health-care costs for responding to the pandemic, including surgical wait times and backlogs
- This is in addition to $2.1 billion spend in 2020-21
Getting health care back on track
Budget 2021 invests $16 billion for Alberta Health Services operations. Includes:
- Alberta Surgical Initiative
- Continuing Care Capacity Plan
- CT and MRI Access Initiative
Investing in health care capital
Budget 2021 commits $3.4 billion over 3 years for health related capital projects and programs, providing:
- $2.2 billion for health facilities, with $143 million for 5 new projects
- $766 million for Alberta Health Services self-financed capital, for parkades, equipment and other capital requirements
- $343 million for capital maintenance and renewal of existing facilities
- $90 million for health department IT projects
Preparing for recovery
Alberta’s Recovery Plan is a bold strategy to create jobs that get people back to work, build infrastructure and diversify our economy. This includes the acceleration of the Job Creation Tax Cut, which creates employment opportunities by making Alberta one of the most attractive jurisdictions in North America for new business investment. Budget 2021 will spend an additional $3.1 billion in 2021–22 to continue supporting recovery plan strategies.
Budget 2021 invests $1.7 billion more in capital funding in 2021–22 than what was planned in Budget 2020.
The 3-year Capital Plan now totals $20.7 billion and will support more than 50,000 direct and 40,000 indirect jobs through to 2024.
Diversifying the economy
In 2021–24, $1.5 billion invested in Alberta’s Recovery Plan.
Budget 2021 invests in established and emerging sectors that hold the greatest potential for growth and job creation, and are fundamental to our economic recovery including: energy; agriculture and forestry; tourism; finance and fintech; aviation, aerospace and logistics; and technology and innovation.
Economic recovery spending highlights
-
- Innovation Employment Grant supports small and medium-sized businesses that invest in research and development
- Developing framework to protect intellectual property in Alberta
- Investment and Growth Strategy supports emerging sectors while building on our existing strengths
- Invest Alberta provides supports and services to drive up investment and showcase Alberta as the best place in the world to do business
“If Ottawa had it’s way Albertans would be left to freeze in the dark”
The ineffective federal net-zero electricity regulations will not reduce emissions or benefit Albertans but will increase costs and lead to supply shortages.
The risk of power outages during a hot summer or the depths of harsh winter cold snaps, are not unrealistic outcomes if these regulations are implemented. According to the Alberta Electric System Operator’s analysis, the regulations in question would make Alberta’s electricity system more than 100 times less reliable than the province’s supply adequacy standard. Albertans expect their electricity to remain affordable and reliable, but implementation of these regulations could increase costs by a staggering 35 per cent.
Canada’s constitution is clear. Provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over the development, conservation and management of sites and facilities in the province for the generation and production of electrical energy. That is why Alberta’s government is referring the constitutionality of the federal government’s recent net-zero electricity regulations to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.
“The federal government refused to work collaboratively or listen to Canadians while developing these regulations. The results are ineffective, unachievable and irresponsible, and place Albertans’ livelihoods – and more importantly, lives – at significant risk. Our government will not accept unconstitutional net-zero regulations that leave Albertans vulnerable to blackouts in the middle of summer and winter when they need electricity the most.”
“The introduction of the Clean Electricity Regulations in Alberta by the federal government is another example of dangerous federal overreach. These regulations will create unpredictable power outages in the months when Albertans need reliable energy the most. They will also cause power prices to soar in Alberta, which will hit our vulnerable the hardest.”
Finalized in December 2024, the federal electricity regulations impose strict carbon limits on fossil fuel power, in an attempt to force a net-zero grid, an unachievable target given current technology and infrastructure. The reliance on unproven technologies makes it almost impossible to operate natural gas plants without costly upgrades, threatening investment, grid reliability, and Alberta’s energy security.
“Ottawa’s electricity regulations will leave Albertans in the dark. They aren’t about reducing emissions – they are unconstitutional, ideological activist policies based on standards that can’t be met and technology that doesn’t exist. It will drive away investment and punish businesses, provinces and families for using natural gas for reliable, dispatchable power. We will not put families at risk from safety and affordability impacts – rationing power during the coldest days of the year – and we will continue to stand up for Albertans.”
“Albertans depend on electricity to provide for their families, power their businesses and pursue their dreams. The federal government’s Clean Electricity Regulations threaten both the affordability and reliability of our power grid, and we will not stand by as these regulations put the well-being of Albertans at risk.”
Related information
- Conference Board of Canada socio-economic Impacts of Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan – (April 2025)
- Alberta Electric System Operator’s position on Canadian Energy Regulations
Oh, Canada
We find it endlessly fascinating that most Canadians believe they live in a representative democracy, where aspiring candidates engage in authentic politicking to earn their place in office. So accustomed are Canada’s power brokers to getting their way, they rarely bother to cover their tracks. A careful reading of the notoriously pliant Canadian press makes anticipating future events in the country surprisingly straightforward.
Back in December, when Pierre Poilievre was given better than 90% odds of replacing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—and Mark Carney was still just an uncharismatic banker few had heard of—we engaged in some not-so-speculative dot-connecting and correctly predicted Carney’s rise to the top spot. Our interest was driven by the notoriously rocky relationship between Ottawa and the Province of Alberta, home to one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves, and how Carney’s rise might be a catalyst for resetting Canada’s energy trajectory. In a follow-up article titled “The Fix Is In,” we laid out a few more predictions:
“Here’s how the play is likely to unfold in the weeks and months ahead: Carney will be elected Prime Minister on April 28 by a comfortable margin; [Alberta Premier Danielle] Smith will trigger a constitutional crisis, providing cover for Carney to strike a grand bargain that finally resolves longstanding tensions between the provinces and Ottawa; and large infrastructure permitting reform will fall into place. Protests against these developments will be surprisingly muted, and those who do take to the streets will be largely ignored by the media. The entire effort will be wrapped in a thicket of patriotism, with Trump portrayed as a threat even greater than climate change itself. References to carbon emissions will slowly fade…
In parallel, we expect Trump and Carney to swiftly strike a favorable deal on tariffs, padding the latter’s bona fides just as his political capital will be most needed.”
The votes have barely been counted, yet the next moves are already unfolding…
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’ll make it easier for citizens to initiate a referendum on the province’s future in Canada, after warning that a Liberal win in Monday’s election could spur a groundswell of support for Alberta separatism. Smith said on Tuesday that a newly tabled elections bill will give everyday Albertans a bigger say in the province’s affairs.
‘(We’re giving) Albertans more ways to be directly involved in democracy, and to have their say on issues that matter to them,’ Smith told reporters in Edmonton.
If passed, the new law would dramatically lower the number of signatures needed to put a citizen-proposed constitutional referendum question on the ballot, setting a new threshold of 10 per cent of general election turnout — or just over 175,000, based on Alberta’s last provincial election in 2023.”
“US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is looking to make a trade deal and will visit the White House within the next week. Trump said he congratulated Carney on his election victory when the Canadian leader called on Tuesday.
‘He called me up yesterday – he said let’s make a deal,’ Trump told reporters at the White House after a televised Cabinet meeting.”
Remember where you read it first.
 |
In Defeat, Joe Tay’s Campaign Becomes a Flashpoint for Suspected Voter Intimidation in Canada
Carney’s budget is worse than Trudeau’s
Trump Has Driven Canadians Crazy. This Is How Crazy.
Governments in Alberta should spur homebuilding amid population explosion
History in the making? Trump, Zelensky hold meeting about Ukraine war in Vatican ahead of Francis’ funeral
Canadians’ Interest in Buying an EV Falls for Third Year in a Row
Yet another struggling soldier says Veteran Affairs Canada offered him euthanasia
-
COVID-192 days agoFreedom Convoy leaders’ sentencing judgment delayed, Crown wants them jailed for two years
-
Banks2 days agoTD Bank Account Closures Expose Chinese Hybrid Warfare Threat
-
2025 Federal Election2 days agoPost election…the chips fell where they fell
-
Duane Rolheiser2 days agoCarney Wins: What now Alberta?
-
Alberta2 days agoHours after Liberal election win, Alberta Prosperity Project drumming up interest in referendum
-
COVID-192 days agoCanada’s health department warns COVID vaccine injury payouts to exceed $75 million budget
-
Alberta2 days agoNew Alberta Election Act bans electronic vote counting machines, lowers threshold for recalls and petitions
-
espionage1 day agoLongtime Liberal MP Warns of Existential Threat to Canada, Suggests Trump’s ’51st State’ Jibes Boosted Carney