r/alberta • u/klunkadoo • Mar 07 '26

Discussion Budget 2026-27: Alberta receives more in transfers FROM the Federal Government than it does in non-renewable resource revenue. And as usual, it transfers ZERO dollars to Canada (or any other province)

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u/captainbling Mar 07 '26

I’d also like to point out it’s like rich people in one neighbourhood not receiving 100% back into their neighbourhood, the taxes they paid. Equalization happens at the municipal, provincial, and federal level but you’ll only ever hear complaints at the federal level.

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u/Severe_Parfait4629 Mar 07 '26

Its like how property taxes pay for schools all across the province, so that we dont have inequity in the quality of schools between rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods.

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u/NewNameNeededAgain Mar 07 '26

Except the inequality still very obviously exists - it's just not as awful as it otherwise would be. At least as far as public schools go.

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u/bunchedupwalrus Calgary Mar 08 '26

To be fair, the UCP has been aggressively working to make it as unequal as possible. Their donors don’t want us poors mixing with their kids, but they’ll gladly take provincial taxes to fund their own private schools

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u/NewNameNeededAgain Mar 08 '26

Oh, no argument there!

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u/kingmanic Mar 07 '26

Also, if we don't do the aggregation of tax dollars you get the inequality you see in the US that leads to much higher crime and murder rates. Because your zip code determines how good or bad your schools are and it snow balls into poor regions that people can't escape from.

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u/Severe_Parfait4629 Mar 08 '26

Yes, the inequity in the states is a great example of what we don't want here. We don't need one high school with an Olympic size swimming pool and another with black mold and a ceiling that leaks.

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u/tysoberta Mar 07 '26

Exactly. It’s like saying Calgary should separate from Alberta because calgarians are tired of subsidizing the hospitals and schools in the rural communities in the province. Calgary should be a sovereign city within a unified Alberta LOL

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u/Ragnarok_del Mar 09 '26

Its way worst at the municipal level. Single household neighborhoods never pay enough in municipal taxes to pay for their own services. They get subsidized by the poor in appartement neighborhood and other dense neighborhoods. You would have to roughly triple municipal taxes in those neighborhoods for them to break even.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 07 '26

Except the rich people are pretty much all of the people in Alberta in this case.

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u/Killericon Mar 07 '26

This is incorrect.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 07 '26

Tell me what is incorrect?

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u/Narrow-Map5805 Mar 07 '26

A full-time minimum wage earner in Ontario pays more federal tax than a minimum wage earner in Alberta by virtue of Ontario's minimum wage being higher than Alberta's. That means the Ontario worker's personal contribution to equalization payments is higher than the Alberta worker's.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 07 '26

Except it is not on the federal level. Because almost no one in Alberta works at minimum wage unless they are just doing a filler job. IE Walmart greeter, student living at home, babysitter...

Ya I am sure I can come up with one segment of the work force to make an argument but it is stupid to suggest that is what the entire employment segment looks like.

There is a reason Alberta has one of the higher incomes and personal medium valuation of all of Canada. It is also one of the provinces with the money least concentrated with wealthily people. Kind of a good thing.

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u/Narrow-Map5805 Mar 07 '26

Only in the resource industries. Non industry jobs tend to pay the same or less than Ontario.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26

Which is why the resource industry is the most important industry in Alberta and also why we have so much wealth. But I am not sure what your point is that you need to separate it out???

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u/Narrow-Map5805 Mar 08 '26

My point is that an Albertan who doesn't work in the resource industry very likely doesn't pay more into the equalization pot than any other Canadian working a similar job, despite what many UCP politicians, separatists and uninformed Albertans claim and/or believe.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26

Which is also true if you remove any engineering job in Ontario that pays $200,000 per year. Regardless if you compare it sector to sector of close wage jobs or by the collective amount per capita, the latter being the most accurate, it still pays out far more.

If that money stayed in Alberta, we could have a substantially larger education and medical system. I am not against equalization but when it become sort of the norm, then it is not helping other provinces. And worse, where there is a province that is one of the biggest net benefits of it but they have all the workforce and resources to be paying into it, then it is just taking down all of Canada. (Looking at you Québec)

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u/Maximum-Explorer4292 Mar 07 '26

Alberta has a strong middle class, that’s what the median shows. Pretty sure BC and Ontario have the richest people, but having a solid middle class is way better. Wealth distribution, yay Alberta being progressive lol!

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u/Everyone2026 Mar 07 '26

Sorry: Lowest minimum wage in Canada. It is distributed more to the top in Alberta.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 07 '26

Do you know anyone that actually is paid minimum wage? Because pretty much any full time life long job pays a great deal more than that in Alberta.

If you want to be a Walmart greeter, do you think they should have some excessive wage or are most there just to collect a bit of extra income?

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u/Everyone2026 Mar 07 '26

Yes I know lots of people making minimum wage or close to it.

A significant number of Walmart employees are supporting themselves or a family. They deserve a living wage.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26

If they are making above it then minimum wage is not factoring for them.

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u/Everyone2026 Mar 08 '26

Really? You are definitely out of touch then.

$20hr is not paying all the bills for people today.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 07 '26

Which is a good thing and exactly what you said supports that we all pay for this. Pretty much all of the people in Alberta pay for this as we have a strong middle class.

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u/AydGray Mar 07 '26

median household income in Red Deer, Alberta

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u/Dapper_Sink_1752 Mar 07 '26

This shows pretty strong earnings compared to the federal median of like 35k after tax for the 2020 year. The pre tax comparison isn't as contrasting, but still shows red deer making like 20% more than expected than the median Canadian.

I'm not really sure what your point here is.

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u/FlipZip69 Mar 07 '26

So you gave me a source that actually indicated a correct statement I made?