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Alberta

Alberta Budget 2024 – Health, Education, and Affordability announcements

Published

1 year ago

10 minute read

Putting Albertans and Alberta families first

Budget 2024 is a responsible plan that puts Albertans and their families first by investing in strong health care, a modern education system and supports to keep life affordable.

Alberta’s government will ensure that the services and supports Alberta families rely on will be there for them. Budget 2024 continues to prioritize the delivery of high-quality, reliable health services across the province, with funding to continue planning the stand-alone Stollery Children’s Hospital, attract family physicians to rural areas and add more mental health and addiction facilities.

“With Budget 2024, we are ensuring that our province remains the best place to live and raise a family. We are investing in programs and services like new school builds, improved access to doctors and affordable housing to help Albertans stay healthy and build a successful future for themselves and their families.”

Nate Horner, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance

 

Budget 2024 highlights – Health care

  • $475 million to modernize Alberta’s primary health care system, including:
    • $200 million over two years to improve access to family physicians.
    • $10 million for primary health care initiatives in Indigenous communities.
    • $15 million to further develop a compensation model for nurse practitioners.
  • $6.6 billion for physician compensation and development, up from $6.1 billion in Budget 2023.
  • $1 billion over three years to transform the continuing care system to shift care to the community, enhance workforce capacity, increase choice and innovation, and improve the quality of care within the continuing care sector.
  • $287 million over four years, part of a bilateral agreement with the federal government, for new mental health and addiction facilities, as well as for targeted supports for children and youth, adults and Indigenous communities.
  • $62.4 million over three years to create two rural health professional training centres and expand physician education.
  • $20 million over the next three years, including $17 million in new funding, to continue planning for a stand-alone Stollery Children’s Hospital.
  • $35 million in capital funding over the next three years to purchase new emergency medical services vehicles and ambulances, upgrade the existing fleet and acquire additional equipment.
  • $10 million over the next three years to create additional mental health professional spaces in post-secondary schools.
  • $1.55-billion total expense to continue building the Alberta Recovery Model and ensure anyone suffering from the deadly disease of addiction or facing mental health challenges has an opportunity to pursue recovery.

“In Budget 2024, Alberta’s government is continuing to prioritize the delivery of high-quality, reliable health services across the province. This year’s record investment of $26.2 billion in health care will help us continue toward our goals of improving primary health care, adding capacity, reducing wait times, growing the workforce and advancing the Healthcare Action Plan.”

Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Health

“Budget 2024 gives hope to those suffering from the deadly disease of addiction or facing mental health challenges. We are proud to invest in the Alberta Recovery Model and provide life-saving addiction treatment and care for those in need.”

Dan Williams, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction

Budget 2024 invests in a bright future for Alberta students with new and modernized schools, learning supports for students of all abilities and post-secondary programs to help build a skilled workforce.

Budget 2024 highlights – K-12 and post-secondary education

  • $1.9 billion in capital funding over the next three years for planning, design or construction of new and modernized school projects across the province. This includes $681 million in new funding for 43 priority projects that will create 35,000 new or modernized student spaces.
    • A total of 98 school projects are in various stages of the planning, design and construction process in 2024.
  • $842 million in new operating funding over the next three years to further support enrolment growth, bringing additional enrolment-based funding to more than $1.2 billion over the next three years to enable schools to hire more than 3,100 education staff.
  • More than $1.5-billion operating expense funding for educational learning supports for vulnerable students, children with specialized learning needs and other students requiring additional supports.
  • $26 million over the next three years in additional funding for Program Unit Funding (PUF). PUF will total $209 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
  • $103 million in capital funding over three years to increase modular classroom spaces to address the most urgent needs for additional student spaces across the province.
  • $55 million in capital funding starting in 2025-26 for the University of Calgary’s multidisciplinary hub to add 1,000 spaces in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs.
  • $63 million in capital funding over the next three years for Olds College to renovate and expand student spaces in the WJ Elliot Building.
  • $43 million in capital funding over the next three years for NAIT’s trades and technology learning facility.
  • $13 million in capital funding over the next three years for Red Deer Polytechnic to create a new space to help businesses conduct applied research.

“The Alberta Advantage is back and booming, and people from across Canada and around the world are once again flocking to our incredible province. This of course puts added pressures on our schools, and our government is ready to help. Budget 2024 will support 43 new school projects to create and update 35,000 more student spaces. We’re providing $842 million in new funding to help our school boards hire more than 3,000 teachers and educational staff over the next three years. We will also boost funding to vulnerable students by increasing funding to the PUF program by $26 million.”

Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Education

 

“Demand for skilled trades workers and graduates from STEM programs is projected to increase as our economy continues to grow and diversify. That’s why Alberta’s government is making targeted investments in post-secondary institutions to create more opportunities for students in high-demand fields of study.”

Rajan Sawhney, Minister of Advanced Education

Although inflation is expected to ease this year, many families are still struggling with high grocery and utility costs. Budget 2024 helps keep life affordable and supports Albertans most affected by inflation.

Budget 2024 highlights – Affordability

  • $717 million in capital grants to give Albertans and families access to more affordable housing, in line with Stronger Foundations – Alberta’s 10-year strategy designed to increase affordable housing supply and supports for Albertans.
  • $355 million for the Alberta Child and Family Benefit to provide lower-income families with benefits, an increase of $31 million from last fiscal year.
  • $980 million in savings for Albertans in 2024-25 because of indexation of personal income taxes.
    • Budget 2024 formalizes the schedule to phase in a new personal income tax bracket on the first $60,000 of income, which would save individual taxpayers up to $760 per year once the tax cut is fully implemented.
  • 25 per cent discount for seniors on personal registry services and medical driving tests, scheduled to come into effect in 2024-25.
  • $38-million increase to operational funding for the Seniors Lodge, Social Housing and Specialized Housing and Rental Assistance programs in 2024-25.
  • $22 million increased operating expense over the next three years to index foster, kinship and other caregiver rates, which will support stronger foundations for children in care and provide them with the care and protection they need for a brighter and secure future.

“With each strategic investment in affordable housing, reducing homelessness and supporting our seniors and people with disabilities, we are strengthening our communities and empowering vulnerable Albertans to thrive and succeed.”

Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

 

“Our government is helping make life easier and more affordable for Alberta families. By helping foster caregivers increase stability for children and youth in care, and ensuring survivors of domestic and sexual violence have the resources they need to heal, we’re enabling connections that will lead to a brighter future for Alberta families.”

Searle Turton, Minister of Children and Family Services

Budget 2024 is a responsible plan to strengthen health care and education, build safe and supportive communities, manage the province’s resources wisely and promote job creation to continue to build Alberta’s competitive advantage.

Related Topics:

This is a news release from the Government of Alberta.

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Preston Manning: Canada is in a unity crisis

Published on April 30, 2025

By

Preston Manning's avatar Preston Manning

A Canada West Assembly would investigate why

The election of a minority Liberal government on Monday, and the strong showing of the Conservative party under Pierre Poilievre, cannot mask the fact that Canada remains seriously fractured on many fronts. Thus, one of the primary tasks of the Carney government will be to unite us for the sake of our own national well-being — not simply for the sake of presenting a strong front in future dealings with the United States.

But how is that to be done? When parliament meets as scheduled on May 26, will the government’s throne speech acknowledge the main sources of national disunity and propose the immediate adoption of remedial measures? Or will it ignore the problem entirely, which will serve to further alienate Quebec and the West from Ottawa and the rest of Canada, and weaken Canada’s bargaining position vis a vis the United States?

The principal tactic employed by the Liberal party to unite Canadians behind it in the recent election was to employ the politics of fear — fear of U.S. President Donald Trump trying to “break us so that America can own us,” as Liberal Leader Mark Carney has repeatedly said.

But if the only way to unite Canadians is through the promotion of anti-Americanism fostered by fear of some alleged American takeover — if reaction to the erratic musings of an American president is the only way to motivate more Canadians to vote in a federal election — then not only national unity, but Canadian democracy itself, is in critical condition.

We need to pinpoint what actually is fracturing the country, because if we can clearly define that, we can begin the process of removing those divisive elements to the largest extent possible. Carney and the Liberals will of course declare that it is separatist agitations in Quebec and now the West that is dividing us, but these are simply symptoms of the problem, not the cause.

Here, then, is a partial list of what underpins the division and disunity in this country and, more importantly, of some positive, achievable actions we can take to reduce or eliminate them.

First and foremost is the failure to recognize and accommodate the regional character of this country. Canada is the second-largest country by area on the planet and is characterized by huge geographic regions — the Atlantic, Central Canada, the Prairies, the Pacific Coast and the Northern territories.

Each of these regions — not just Quebec — has its own “distinctive” concerns and aspirations, which must be officially recognized and addressed by the federal government if the country is to be truly united. The previous Liberal government consistently failed to do this, particularly with respect to the Prairies, Pacific and Northern regions, which is the root of much of the alienation that even stimulates talk of western separation.

Second is Ottawa’s failure to recognize and treat the natural resources sector as a fundamental building block of our national economy — not as a relic from the past or an environmental liability, as it was regarded by the government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Will the throne speech announce another 180-degree turn for the Liberal government: the explicit recognition that the great engine of the Canadian economy and our economic recovery is not the federal government, as Carney has implied, but Canada’s agricultural, energy, mining, forestry and fishery sectors, with all the processing, servicing, manufacturing and knowledge sectors that are built upon them?

A third issue we’ve been plagued with is the division of Canadian society based on race, gender, sexual preferences and other identity traits, rather than focusing on the things that unite us as a nation, such as the equality of all under the law. Many private-sector entities are beginning to see the folly of pursuing identity initiatives such as diversity, equity and inclusion that divide rather than unite, but will the Liberal government follow suit and will that intention be made crystal clear in the upcoming throne speech?

A final issue is the federal government’s intrusion into areas of provincial jurisdiction — such as natural resources, health, municipal governance, along with property and civil rights — which is the principal cause of tension and conflict between the federal and provincial governments.

The solution is to pass a federal “act respecting provincial jurisdiction” to repeal or amend the statutes that authorize federal intrusions, so as to eliminate, or at least reduce, their intrusiveness. Coincidentally, this would be a legislative measure that both the Conservatives and the Bloc could unite behind if such a statute were to be one of the first pieces of legislation introduced by the Carney government.

Polling is currently being done to ascertain whether the election of yet another Liberal government has increased the growing estrangement of western Canada from Ottawa and the rest of Canada, notwithstanding Carney’s assurances that his minority government will change its policies on climate change, pipelines, immigration, deficit spending and other distinguishing characteristics of the discredited Trudeau government.

The first test of the truthfulness of those assurances will come via the speech from the throne and the follow-up actions of the federal government.

Meanwhile, consultations are being held on the merits and means of organizing a “Canada West Assembly” to provide a democratic forum for the presentation, analysis and debate of the options facing western Canada (not just Alberta) — from acceptance of a fairer and stronger position within the federation based on guarantees from the federal government, to various independence-oriented proposals, with votes to be taken on the various options and recommendations to be made to the affected provincial governments.

Only time will tell whether the newly elected Carney government chooses to address the root causes of national disunity. But whether it does so or not will influence the direction in which the western provinces and the proposed Canada West Assembly will point.

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Alberta

Premier Danielle Smith hints Alberta may begin ‘path’ toward greater autonomy after Mark Carney’s win

Published on April 30, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta’s premier said her government will be holding a special caucus meeting on Friday to discuss Alberta’s independence.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith hinted her province could soon consider taking serious steps toward greater autonomy from Canada in light of Mark Carney and the Liberal Party winning yesterday’s federal election.

In a statement posted to her social media channels today, Smith, who is head of Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party, warned that “In the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province’s future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward.”

“As Premier, I will facilitate and lead this discussion and process with the sincere hope of securing a prosperous future for our province within a united Canada that respects our province’s constitutional rights, facilitates rather than blocks the development and export of our abundant resources, and treats us as a valued and respected partner within confederation,” she noted.

While Smith stopped short of saying that Alberta would consider triggering a referendum on independence from Canada, she did say her government will be holding a “special caucus meeting this Friday to discuss this matter further.”

“I will have more to say after that meeting is concluded,” she noted.

Smith’s warning comes at the same time some pre-election polls have shown Alberta’s independence from Canada sentiment at just over 30 percent.

Monday’s election saw Liberal leader Mark Carney beat out Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre, who also lost his seat. The Conservatives managed to pick up over 20 new seats, however, and Poilievre has vowed to stay on as party leader, for now.

In Alberta, almost all of the seats save two at press time went to conservatives.

Carney, like former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before him, said he is opposed to new pipeline projects that would allow Alberta oil and gas to be unleashed. Also, his green agenda, like Trudeau’s, is at odds with Alberta’s main economic driver, its oil and gas industry.

The Carney government has also pledged to mandate that all new cars and trucks by 2035 be electric, effectively banning the sale of new gasoline- or diesel-only powered vehicles after that year.

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.

Smith: ‘I will not permit the status quo to continue’

In her statement, Smith noted that she invited Carney to “immediately commence working with our government to reset the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta with meaningful action rather than hollow rhetoric.”

She noted that a large majority of Albertans are “deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government.”

Smith then promised that she would “not permit the status quo to continue.”

“Albertans are proud Canadians that want this nation to be strong, prosperous, and united, but we will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa,” she said.

Smith praised Poilievre for empowering “Albertans and our energy sector as a cornerstone of his campaign.”

Smith was against forced COVID jabs, and her United Conservative government has in recent months banned men from competing in women’s sports and passed a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.

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