Alberta Budget 2024: What you need to know (2024)

Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner tabled the province’s 2024-25 budget Thursday, which includes more than $70 billion in spending, and a surplus of just shy of $400 million.

Here are some of the highlights:

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Spending

According to Budget 2024, total expenses in Alberta are up 3.9 per cent, as the province expects to spend $73.2 billion in 2024-25, an increase of more than $3 billion since last February’s pre-election projection for 2023-24. However, spending will fall short of matching the province’s population growth and inflation rate at 7.4 per cent in 2023-24.

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“We’ve taken a really hard look at what we’re spending on and we think this is the appropriate amount to spend,” Horner said Thursday. “We’re spending what we can … we’re trying to strike the right balance.”

Alberta’s debt is now forecast to be around $95 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, and projected to rise to $97.7 billion the following year, and again up to $99.5 billion the year after that. High interest rates mean a higher debt-servicing cost of $3.4 billion.

Revenue

Alberta’s estimated revenue in 2024-25 is pegged at $73.5 billion, a drop of $2.1 billion from last year’s third-quarter forecast. The province is projecting surpluses of $1.44 billion and $2.64 billion in the next two fiscal years.

Budget 2024 relies on the average price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil to tip in at US$74 over the next three years, compared to its forecast of US$79 per barrel in last year’s budget. The province estimates bitumen royalties will bring revenue amounts of $12.5 billion in 2024-25, and $12.8 billion in both 2025-26 and 2026-27, respectively. In 2023-24, Alberta is now forecast to collect $14.3 billion in bitumen royalties.

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Health

The health budget tops more than $26 billion, $26.2 billion to be precise. This includes $70 million in this year’s fiscal plan to cover the cost of restructuring health care. In this budget year, primary care is set to receive $475 million, acute care $4.4 billion and mental health and addiction $1.13 billion. Doctor compensation is expected to cost more than $6.6 billion.

Over three years, the province plans to spend $126 million on rural physician expansion, $1 billion on continuing care and $3.6 billion on health capital projects.

What’s in it for Edmonton?

Alberta will add 100 street-level police officers in high-crime locations in Edmonton and Calgary in 2024-2025.

Budget 2024 contains funding for major highways in the Edmonton and Calgary regions, and $955 million to improve roadways including upgrades to streets, highways and the addition of pedestrian lanes.

Yellowhead Trail will receive $145 million in upgrades to modify three intersections and build new collector roads. Terwillegar Drive will receive $124 million to expand the roadway to alleviate traffic congestion, plus add bus and pedestrian lanes. Over the next three years, $8 million will go towards upgrades to 50 Street. The Ray Gibbon Drive upgrade project will receive $31 million over three years.

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To improve Edmonton’s transit infrastructure, the province is dedicating $887 million for LRT projects in the city. The industrial hub northeast of Edmonton will receive $50 million towards expanding water and wastewater infrastructure.

Wildfire, drought and other emergencies

The province spent almost double its $1.5 billion in a contingency fund for natural disasters or emergencies. Those costs came in at $2.9 billion — including $839 million on wildfire fighting, and $1.8 billion on relief for the agriculture sector.

However, $264 million will be reimbursed through transfers from the federal government. This year, the government plans to cushion that contingency fund with another $500 million in 2024-25, bringing it to $2 billion.

“Some of the investment is around technology and dealing with fires during the night,” Horner said Thursday. “Long term, we have a plan in the out years of the capital plan to update our air tanker fleet.”

Education

The province is set to spend more than $9 billion on K-12 education in 2024-25, including $1.5 billion to support “vulnerable students.”

There is also $842 million in new funding to cover enrolment growth over three years, bringing the total to $1.2 billion.

The capital plan will also see $1.9 billion on new school projects over three years.

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