Latest news with #NateHorner
CTV News
21 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Alberta, provincial employee union agree to renewed mediation in last attempt at deal
Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner presents the Alberta 2025 budget in Edmonton, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson Alberta and the union representing thousands of provincial government employees say they have agreed to a new round of mediated bargaining. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees president Guy Smith says the renewed talks are considered the final opportunity for getting a new deal for some 23,000 government workers after 18 months of bargaining. Smith credits Finance Minister Nate Horner for stepping in to restart talks and recognizing the importance of continuing negotiations. The union and the government have agreed not to disclose their bargaining positions publicly but Smith says the outstanding issues are pay and working conditions. In May, the union voted 90 per cent in favour of striking, and the strike vote will remain valid until mid-September. Smith says if the new round of talks goes well and ends with an agreement or settlement proposal, a vote of union members would take place in early September. 'Our goal is clear and supported by our members: a fair agreement that addresses the real concerns of the front-line workers who carry this province on their shoulders every day,' Smith said. 'We are prepared to work around the clock to get there.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025. The Canadian Press
CBC
19-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Alberta's Heritage Fund hits $30B after $2.8B injection from surplus
Social Sharing Alberta's rainy-day Heritage Fund is getting an extra $2.8 billion, hitting a record high of $30 billion, which is almost double what it was five years ago. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government wants it to hit $250 billion by 2050, so future governments can spend investment returns without draining the fund. Smith says it's still on track to hit that benchmark in 25 years. The aim is to shield Alberta's budget from the resource-revenue roller-coaster that has plagued past budgets. The latest investment comes from a cash surplus of more than $5 billion that the province can spend out of an $8.3 billion bottom-line surplus from the last fiscal year. WATCH | Alberta's plan to grow the Heritage Fund over the next 25 years: How does Alberta plan to grow its rainy day savings fund to $250 billion? 17 minutes ago Alberta's finance minister says $2.8 million from the province's surplus is going into the Heritage Savings Trust Fund to help meet its 2050 savings goal. What needs to happen to save $250 billion in 25 years? Finance Minister Nate Horner says, because past governments raided the piggy bank, the province missed out on hundreds of billions of dollars in returns. "We know from the past that the fund cannot be beneficial if we do not have a strong framework to retain income in the fund and contribute when we can," he said Friday.
CTV News
18-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Alberta's rainy day fund hits $30B
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (left) is seen with Finance Minister Nate Horner (center) and Heritage Fund Opportunities Corporation chair Joe Lougheed (right) on July 18, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton/Galen McDougall) Alberta's savings trust fund saw a $2.8 million boost, hitting a record of $30 billion. 'It's difficult for some to believe that this is important,' said Premier Danielle Smith at the announcement in Edmonton Friday. 'Some would say that the revenue we have today should all go to fund the needs of today.' 'But, the Heritage Fund is perhaps the most important, best investment that we can make today.' The Heritage Fund was established in 1976 by then-premier Peter Lougheed to save for the future and strengthen and diversify the Alberta economy. The province has continued to reinvest a portion of its resource revenues for nearly 50 years. In January, Smith set a goal to bring the fund up to $250 billion by 2050, after which, the province would be able to withdraw some of the income of the funds each year while still allowing the fund to grow. Withdrawals could help cover fluctuations in resource revenue, invest in infrastructure and keep taxes low, according to the province. Smith said the province intends to double its oil and gas production and get new capacity for pipelines to export additional production, helping the province reach its 2050 goal. 'We are turning today's energy prosperity into tomorrow's economic security,' said Finance Minister Nate Horner, adding that the fund has grown 80 per cent in the last five years. At the beginning of the year, Smith appointed the Heritage Fund Opportunities Corporation, chaired by Joe Lougheed, to direct policy for the rainy day fund. The majority of the fund is still managed by the Alberta Investment Management Corp., also known as AIMCo, which is chaired by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
CTV News
27-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Final budget numbers land: Alberta posts $8.3-billion surplus in 2024-25 fiscal year
The final numbers are in on last years' Alberta budget, and the bottom-line figure is an $8.3-billion surplus. That's $2.5 billion more than officials had expected to get. Finance Minister Nate Horner says the jump is because of more tax revenue from a growing population coupled with oil royalties that were higher than expected. Horner says just over $5 billion of the surplus is cash the province can spend, and the government will split it between its rainy-day Heritage Fund, paying down debt and savings. However, the good times are not expected to last. Horner's current budget for the fiscal year that began in April is expected to end next spring with a $5.2-billion deficit, with more multibillion-dollar deficits in the years after that. The province says the red ink is expected because of volatile oil prices, tax cuts and global events like the trade tariffs imposed by the United States. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025.
Globe and Mail
27-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Alberta records unexpected $8.3-billion surplus off higher resource royalties
Massive oil and gas revenues driven by strong global crude prices and record production helped Alberta end the 2024-25 fiscal year with an unexpected $8.3-billion surplus. The surplus, announced Friday in Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner's year-end fiscal update, was roughly $8-billion higher than the province predicted in its February budget, and $4-billion more than the previous fiscal year. Non-renewable resource revenues alone were $4.7-billion higher than the province had forecast. Along with strong oil prices, the province's fossil fuel sector benefited from the opening of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline system, which significantly increased the price of Alberta's heavy oil. A lower exchange rate also propelled higher returns for the sector, as did oil production climbing to a record high of almost four million barrels a day. The financial results came off the back of a nine-year high in sector spending to develop oil, gas, hydrogen, geothermal, helium and lithium resources in 2024, as well as a significant increase in oil and gas reserves estimates. Alberta Premier Smith says plan for new West Coast oil pipeline 'pretty close' The unexpected natural resource payout looks to support Prime Minister Mark Carney's push for Canada to become an energy superpower – a message and a goal that the energy sector and provincial government say they can get behind. At the heart of the windfall are solid oil prices and increased demand for the heavier crude supplied by Alberta's oil sands. The price of West Texas Intermediate oil, a North American benchmark, averaged $74.34 per barrel over the year, slightly higher than the $74 per barrel forecast in last year's budget. And while that price was lower than in 2023-24, it was offset by Trans Mountain's influence, which narrowed the difference between Canadian and U.S. pricing. But the province's coffers remain highly dependent on revenue streams that are subject to significant volatility, particularly non-renewable resource royalties, noted the government's annual report. Oil prices in particular are impacted by global supply and demand, and have been volatile in recent years due to geopolitical tensions and economic pressures around the world. One example of how Alberta's reliance on oil prices can cause a significant swing in numbers is the deficit. In last year's budget, the province projected a surplus of around $400-million. Instead, Alberta ended the fiscal year with a $8.3-billion surplus. Time will tell how much the resource revenue roller coaster affects the deficit next year, which the government pencilled in at $5.3-billion in last year's budget. Gary Mason: B.C. and Alberta are about to renew old hostilities. It could get ugly In the 2024-25 fiscal year, Alberta's total revenues hit $82.5-billion, $8.9-billion more than the budget and $7.7-billion more than 2023-24. Strong corporate profits in the oil and gas sector contributed to the windfall, thanks in part to the U.S.-Canadian dollar exchange rate. It averaged 72 US cents in 2024-25, four cents lower than estimated in the budget and two cents lower than the 2023-24 average. Since oil is priced in U.S. dollars, the lower exchange rate boosted the Canadian dollar revenue. Bitumen and conventional oil production volumes rose by 37 per cent and 10 per cent from the budget, respectively. That brought bitumen royalties to $17.2-billion – $4.6-billion more than the budget and $2.6-billion higher than in 2023-24. Conventional crude oil royalties were $3-billion in 2024-25, $300-million higher than the budget and very close to 2023-24. Natural gas and byproduct royalties were $1.2-billion, up $200-million from 2023-24 and down $200-million from budget, due to fluctuations in oil and gas prices. Real GDP rose an estimated 2.7 per cent last year. The energy sector led Alberta's growth in business activity and output with activity ramping up in the second half of the year.
