Municipalities don't welcome Alberta education property tax increase
The tax makes up 29 per cent of the education operating budget. But the provincial government wants to raise taxes, so they make up 31.5 per cent of that funding in fiscal 2025 and 33 per cent in fiscal 2026.
Total tax revenue is forecasted to be $9.9 billion in 2025, including $3.1 billion coming from the education tax. The revenue from the education tax are expected to increase to $3.4 billion and $3.6 billion over the next two years.
"The increase represents a shift of the provincial tax burden onto the property tax base, when the province has other, more transparent and efficient revenue generation options," Tyler Gandam, president of Alberta Municipalities, told CBC News on Friday.
"In contrast, property taxes are the main source of revenue for municipalities who are managing increased costs and expectations."'
Municipalities would be happy to have the province collect the education tax itself, said Gandam, who was surprised to see, what he called, a substantial increase in the rates.
The province has estimated people in Edmonton will pay $93 more this year, while Calgarians are expected to pay $239 — more than double.
During a news conference Friday, Premier Danielle Smith said Edmonton and Calgary are getting the most new schools in the province's plan to create more spaces. The budget sets aside $2.6 billion over three years to build and modernize schools.
Smith wants ratepayers in the two cities to contribute to the increased cost.
"We've got to build out 100 new schools over the next six or seven years, and being able to have a little bit of support from the communities that are are going to be the greatest beneficiaries of that new construction is part of what we had in mind," she said.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek echoed Gandam's sentiments after the budget was released Thursday. She said cities are mandated to collect education taxes but she wished they didn't have to be in the middle.
"To the point that many people have made to us about sending out two separate bills, one for the provincial share and one for municipal, that just costs taxpayers more money," she said.
"So we can't justify that."
The province froze education taxes last year. The tax rates in the coming fiscal year will be $2.72 per $1,000 assessed values for homes and farms, and $4.00 per $1,000 for commercial properties.
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Enlarge image (new window) An example of a ballot that included the names of 91 candidates. Photo: La Presse canadienne / Justin Tang The Longest Ballot Committee has organized dozens of candidates to run in byelections over the past five years, forcing Elections Canada to adapt its rules to accommodate dozens of names on a single ballot. Prior to Battle River-Crowfoot, the largest number of candidates the group had gotten on a ballot was 91, resulting in a metre-long document that caused counting delays and irritated some voters. By using a write-in ballot, Szuchewycz said Canada's elections body found a great solution in the face of his group's efforts. Enlarge image (new window) A sign reminds people how to spell Pierre Poilievre's name on the ballot for the Battle River-Crowfoot byelection in Camrose on Monday. Photo: The Canadian Press / Jason Franson Elections Canada showed that the ballot hysteria is a non-issue. 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Jayson Cowan, a Battle River-Crowfoot candidate affiliated with the Longest Ballot Committee, said making it harder for candidates to gather signatures could prevent people like him from getting on the ballot. Although the long ballot initiative has been framed as a protest, Cowan said that wasn't the case for him. He argues there aren't enough politicians who are Indigenous or from the disabled community. A member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Cowan previously tried to run as an Independent, but he struggled to gather enough signatures, in part due to mobility issues. He credits the Longest Ballot Committee for helping get his name on the ballot for the first time. I don't know that I would have had that experience any other way, he said. Both Cowan and Szuchewycz cautioned that raising the bar regarding the number of signatures might also force smaller parties out of the picture. Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault, the head of Elections Canada, offered his own suggestions on how to prevent long ballots (new window) in front of a House committee last fall. The long ballot group is able to put forward so many candidates by having electors sign multiple candidates' nomination forms. Perrault argued that rather than raising the number of signatures a candidate is required to gather, certain penalties should be imposed on individuals who sign — or encourage others to sign — multiple nomination papers. He didn't say what he thinks those penalties should be. Enlarge image (new window) Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perrault holds up a sample ballot from a byelection that featured 91 candidates during a meeting of a House of Commons committee on Nov. 21, 2024. Photo: Parliament of Canada Despite indications of rule changes on the horizon, Szuchewycz said the group is garnering more interest from people seeking to run. We've been able to put out our message that politicians shouldn't be in charge of their own election rules because it's obviously a conflict of interest, and that message is really resonating with people, he said. Even though the committee has been able to recruit more candidates, it hasn't necessarily translated into success on the ballot. Last year in a Toronto byelection, long-ballot candidate Félix-Antoine Hamel achieved a first in Canadian electoral history (new window) by receiving zero votes in a contested riding. While Hamel's result was a novelty just a year ago, dozens more long-ballot candidates have laid a goose egg since — including 75 in Battle River-Crowfoot (although results there still need to be finalized). Brian Wishart, one of the long-ballot candidates who received no votes, said he isn't fixated on the result. For me, it's about bringing attention to some of the flaws in our election system, he told CBC News. Enlarge image (new window) A mock ranked ballot shown here was used to educate voters ahead of the 2018 municipal election in London, Ont. Photo: Radio-Canada / Hala Ghonaim A resident of London, Ont., Wishart voted using a ranked ballot in the city's 2018 mayoral election (new window) , but was dismayed when the Ontario government later scrapped the initiative (new window) . It was absolutely fantastic. It's the best I've ever felt about voting in my life, he said. Cowan, who doesn't live in Battle River-Crowfoot and was unable to vote for himself, received just one vote on Monday. I want to believe that I got through to somebody … [for] somebody who's disabled, who can't get around [to] get through to people, I think that's fantastic, Cowan said, adding that he would run again if the opportunity presents itself. I really do think that it's an experience that everybody should have…. I want regular people giving it a shot. That would be amazing. Szuchewycz said the Long Ballot Committee intends to keep going in some capacity, but how will depend on what rule changes are pushed through Parliament. We'll have to see what exactly the legislation is that they pass. Maybe it becomes impossible to do this, maybe it's just slightly harder, or maybe it's even easier. Who knows? he said. We'll just have to wait and see. Darren Major (new window) · CBC News · Senior writer Darren Major is a senior writer for CBC's parliamentary bureau in Ottawa. He previously worked as a digital reporter for CBC Ottawa and a producer for CBC's Power & Politics. He holds a master's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in public affairs and policy management, both from Carleton University. He also holds master's degree in arts from Queen's University. He can be reached at
