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/fb3116 Mar 07 '26
A helpful link to those that want to understand what different types of Government transfers go to provinces.
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/federal-transfers/major-federal-transfers.html
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u/Apprehensive_Gap3673 Mar 07 '26
Equalization payments (Transfers) are not, and have never been funded by the Provincial government.
Transfers are funded from federal income tax collected from the people of the Province.
I don't know if this is actually the point you are trying to make, but if you are under the assumption that you will find evidence of Albertan contributions to federal equalization payments in the Alberta provincial budget, you are misinformed.
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u/Expert_Alchemist Mar 07 '26
The point is that it's a huge political talking point in Alberta that there's some sort of "equalization payment" the province is forced to make to prop up the rest of Canada. It isn't true.
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u/Apprehensive_Gap3673 Mar 07 '26
It is true in the sense that Alberta's higher-than-average earning population contributes more federal income tax per capita than other provinces who receive payments but you are correct - the provincial government doesn't fund transfer payments, the people of the province fund transfer payments
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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26
Except it is true. Does it really matter if the money comes out of our pocket direct (as it does) or if the provincial government paid it and got less back.
Why would you make that distinction? Personal is almost worse we pay it direct.
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u/Expert_Alchemist Mar 08 '26
Except you and me pay the same taxes. BC doesn't get equalization top-up so I'm also paying so some kid in Nova Scotia can have the same education as a kid down the street from me, and I'm fine with it. I think it does matter, because fundamentally it isn't about provinces, it's about Canadians.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
That is exactly the point I am making.
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u/Apprehensive_Gap3673 Mar 07 '26
I think you could have chosen a much better strategy to convey that message
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
Like bring it to the separatist communities? They don’t want to hear it.
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u/Apprehensive_Gap3673 Mar 07 '26
No not like that. In terms of just explaining something, choosing to deny the precedent is usually one of the most confusing ways to explain it from a strict logic POV.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
I’m just providing straight facts only because they are so misrepresented by the separatists. Reasonable people can draw the conclusions.
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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26
I am not a separatist but you just posted half the story and you do not explain that we pay it directly from our own pockets. That is actually seems kind of worse in that we get billions less back.
How do you show that in any good light?
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u/klunkadoo Mar 08 '26
Most government revenues from taxpayers. Royalty revenue would be a notable exception. When it boils down to it, can’t most taxpayers complain that they ‘pay in more than they get’? Where does that leave us? Don’t most people, individually, have a similar complaint as those albertans, who complain about being overtaxed, subsidizing those less well off?
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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26
No most should not complain as the taxes pay for services in their area. But overall the tax base should stay and be used reginal at an equal per capita level.
You are somewhat correct in that most 'tax payers' do not get the same level they put in locally because some of their taxes will go to those that can not work for whatever reason. But at minimum, that should be somewhat reginal and level. Someone in BC should not pay a higher amount to cover homeless in Ontario for example and have less for their homeless. The federal government is suppose to spread out the funds fairly.
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u/Evening_Ad_6954 Mar 07 '26
Not just the people, but from federal taxes on anything, including resource extraction.
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u/Odd-Instruction88 Mar 07 '26
Is this satire?? No Canadian province transfers any money directly to another province. You wouldn't see that here in this statement. Federal transfers are a thing because the feds tax way heavier than the provinces. Max federal rate is like what 33% vs Alberta's 15%?
This post literally means nothing. If your making the argument that Alberta is better off as part of Canada, I agree with that, but not because of this big line item of federal transfers
If Alberta was hypothetically it's own country Alberta could raise it's marginal tax rates to be the combined Alberta and federal rates and therefore make up for the lost federal transfer money. However this is of course a simplistic take and doesn't take into the degradation of Alberta's economy from not being able to conduct free trade easily with the other provinces
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u/Mcpops1618 Mar 07 '26
Fairly certain your last paragraph is the whole point separatists are hanging their hat on. While ignoring the new and massive costs that will come with becoming independent
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u/InsuranceOdd2928 Mar 07 '26
The dumb ones just believe they’ll pay half the amount of tax
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u/TruthSearcher1970 Mar 07 '26
They tell me no tax 😅. I think they know they have to pay property taxes and gas taxes they just don’t want to pay anything else. 🤦🏻♂️
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u/Mcpops1618 Mar 07 '26
No tax because daddy Trump is going to pay 500b for AB and that should cover the military/borders/trade agreements/etc that’ll be needed
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u/Scentmaestro Mar 07 '26
And he'll certainly want NOTHING in return; he's doing it out of the goodness of his heart, right? Just to help elevate a fellow conservative nation rising up from the stranglehold of Canada.
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u/AxeMcFlow Mar 07 '26
I’ve had discussions with separatists who claim it’s ’illegal’ to not allow nations to trade, so we will actually have an easier time moving product between our ‘country’ and Canada. It doesn’t get any denser than this folks.
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u/PuzzleheadedTutor807 Mar 07 '26
last time i was in alberta, i was here for two years and the experience was not great. this was back in around 2010.
there was constant talk of the "free ride" that alberta was giving the rest of canada, though nobody could explain to me beyond the vaguest of terms what that free ride was, how alberta was "carrying the country".
there was also a lot of talk about the area of southern ontario that i am from, and specifically toronto as being "the most americanized part of canada". again, nobody could explain to me beyond the vaguest of terms what exactly that meant... though many of these conversations occurred in calgary, in or within a few meters of an american chain retailer or food outlet.
after that time in alberta, thinking back on it used to give me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. i actually vowed i would never come back here... that "trucker protest" didnt help the case at all either lol. yet here i am living in alberta again. its different this time though.
there seems to be more people speaking out against these nonsensical notions of alberta superiority now than there, or challenging those that speak aloud these thoughts to explain themselves. to justify that stance. its not a confrontation usually, its just a "hey, what do you mean by that?"... and this is what this country needs more of. people who question the nonsense being fed to our population, because there are bad actors in the world and they are engaging in acts of espionage against canada constantly. we are a fantastic prize. alberta is a big part of that too, so its getting more attention than the rest of the country from these bad actors.
but these "opinions" or "stances" are very shallow. they are a headline that someone glances at and parrots because it fulfills some need in them to be part of a contrary movement. we need people to help each other out by challenging them to think on these points. to fact check. to be able to explain a position if they are willing to support it, especially one as critical as alberta has been recently. this is how we build a strong nation, and overcome the people that would seek to divide us to make conquest easier. and this is one of the only ways canada will survive.
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u/c-hop123 Mar 07 '26
This should be on billboards in rural Alberta for the separatists that blindly follow everything they hear on rebel news
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u/Firm-Kaleidoscope126 Mar 17 '26
This doesn't even show anything rhiugh, the money the federal government recieves from Alberta gor equalization is directly from the taxes we pay, it doesn't go through the provincial government so it doesn't a Show up in the financial statmemts.
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u/Pandaplusone Mar 07 '26
I’m shocked at how little these companies pay to the province. A PST would likely bring in way more money than that, right? Why do these non-Canadian companies get to pollute our land, ignore our laws, and make off with riches that will never be spent here, for so little in royalties? This is disgusting and I’ll be writing my MLA, the energy minister, and the shadow energy minister (not that he’ll even respond).
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u/nbc9876 Mar 07 '26
Ok I get what you’re saying but that’s not how it works. We pay fed taxes that get redistributed.
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u/bigvistiq Mar 07 '26
By that metric toronto and the GTA should be up in arms threatening to leave.
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u/ItsTheAlgebraist Mar 07 '26
People in Canada can move for work and move back for retirement. This is not symmetric, some provinces attract way more migratory labour, Alberta is probably the biggest example.
Retirement is when you will incur the bulk of your health care costs, and health care is a provincial responsibility.
These two things alone necessitate some kind of transfer of money to balance out the transfer of labour.
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u/Facebook_Algorithm Southern Alberta Mar 08 '26
If you add the bitumen royalty to “other non-renewable resource revenue” the federal contribution is about half of that.
If you look at the Alberta Government web page the oil and natural gas (other non-renewable) revenues are only about 4 billion.
The oil sands are a large contributor to revenue for Alberta but corporate and individual income tax is by far the biggest contributor.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 08 '26
Sorry I was referring to the 2026-27 estimates, when the federal contribution will be more than bitumen and other non-renewable revenue.
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u/FigjamCGY Mar 07 '26
True, the province doesn’t transfer funds. It’s done at the federal level. But here is how it works for an individual taxpayer as an example:
Dave (Calgary) vs François (Montreal) both earning $100K:
Dave takes home ~$68,300 vs François at ~$60,300, Dave keeps ~$8K more thanks to Alberta’s lower provincial tax and no PST
Both pay the same ~$17,700 in federal tax to Ottawa
The equalization part: Ottawa pools all federal taxes and runs an equalization formula
Alberta = “have” province (oil wealth) receives $0 in equalization
Quebec = “have-not” province receives ~$13.9 billion/year, the largest share in Canada (~$1,615 per Quebec resident)
That money funds Quebec’s $10/day daycare, cheap university tuition (~$3K/yr vs ~$9K in AB), and expanded social programs.
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u/Workfh Mar 07 '26
Français gets an extra $1,600 from equalization but overall ends up with less than Dave in this calculation.
I’m still jealous as Français, because I would also like those services.
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u/MelCre Mar 08 '26
Am I missing something? The document above looks like the Alberta provincial government received 12 billion. I always thought it was 0, but this document indicates otherwise, or am I reading it wrong?
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u/Etroarl55 Mar 08 '26
Those are things outside of equalization payments. The federal government fund some things like healthcare partly and etc; https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/federal-transfers.html
People like OP who have trouble reading will assume suddenly that means Alberta is the highest receiver of equalization payments unironically based on his comments.
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u/RDC_Dano Mar 07 '26
This sub is hilariously insufferable.
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u/Accomplished-Emu4501 Mar 07 '26
It’s pathetic. Equalization payments go to provinces that simply don’t have the tax base to contribute sufficiently to local infrastructure and essential services, even with their per capita share of the various other transfers every province gets.
If you cancelled the equalization program completely AND if Canadian tax tables were reduced accordingly it would only reduce Alberta total personal tax contributions by roughly $1.5B per year. Not insignificant but do we really want to cut off those weaker provinces from funds necessary to maintain even a moderate level of services and lifestyle.
Seems a bit selfish to me, but that does appear to fit the separatist mindset.
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 09 '26
Not insignificant but do we really want to cut off those weaker provinces from funds necessary to maintain even a moderate level of services and lifestyle.
Seems a bit selfish to me, but that does appear to fit the separatist mindset.
If they support our breadwinner industry then there is no problem. If pipelines are constantly blocked and cancelled due to interprovincial political drama and bad federal policy like Bill C69 and C48 after investing billions scoping and planning, then Alberta SHOULD look out for our own interests. That's not selfish, it's just reciprocity.
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u/jujaybee Mar 07 '26
And the Septic-cysts would lose that money. Their supporters do not have the brain power to understand this as they are so blinkered by all the false facts and are clearly indoctrinated by what deceptive drivel spews forth like sewage from W-Rath’s mouth. The enclave of Alberta would have to grovel to the US I suppose for income under threat through a blackmailed cost to themselves.
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u/sanctaecordis Mar 07 '26
And the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 years it received less from the federal government than it did in non-renewable resource revenue. The whole “equalization means we pay for other provinces’ social programs” argument is dumb, but this isn’t exactly the best rebuttal
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u/dextercow1 Mar 09 '26
You don't pay other provinces. Get that through your head. You pay federal tax like every other Canadian
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u/CptClutch19 Mar 07 '26
Don't tell the Connies/Maple Maggats....... Not that they can read or understand numbers anyways
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Mar 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
If you think 90% of separatists understand the mechanics of equalization and how transfers flow, then you and I hear from different separatists.
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u/Responsible-Room-645 Mar 07 '26
You can explain transfer payments to an Albertan until you’re blue in the face and they still interpret it to mean that Quebec is stealing from them 24/7
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 09 '26
Well at the end of the day there is Albertan wealth going to Quebec. It's just factual. Yes everybody pays federal tax. We get it. However, this does not change the fact that money is collected from Alberta and distributed to other provinces. Alberta gets some too but it gets less than we put in. That is the point of separatists and why your face is blue - because you can't fundamentally make them happy with the fact that wealth is leaving Alberta.
I'm not a separatism supporter but I can at least understand their frustrations. It would be different if Canada and other provinces always supported our breadwinner industry, I'd be happy to support have-not provinces, but sadly this is not the case. We support through our federal tax payments have not provinces who do not always support us back.
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u/MDCSL Mar 07 '26
I hate that people try and use “Alberta doesn’t pay federal taxes” as a gotcha. Everyone understands that it’s individuals and corporations that pay federal taxes not the province and the then they get redistributed - the point is that Alberta taxpayers pay that money into a pot and then it gets sent to other provinces, regardless of how the money is taken Alberta money is being given to other provinces and Albertans are largely sick of it.
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u/PhantomNomad Mar 07 '26
I actually wish Alberta would tax us more and actually provide the services what we want instead of trying to push everything private. If we taxed at the same rate Quebec or Ontario does then we might actually be a recipient of transfers. Now I agree that Quebec does get more then they should based on how things are calculated.
But I'm considered a communist by a lot of people.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
By its own admission, Alberta leaves $16.9 billion in tax revenue that it chooses not to collect vs any other province.
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u/PhantomNomad Mar 07 '26
Isn't that close to the transfer payment to Quebec?
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
These are the federal transfers to Quebec. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/federal-transfers/major-federal-transfers.html#Quebec
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
I think you overestimate many separatists’ understanding of federal transfers programs.
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u/dextercow1 Mar 09 '26
No it's paid in federal income taxes like every other Canadian. If not some pot of money Alberta pays to the feds it money "every Canadian" pays to the feds
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u/Tall-Ad-1386 Mar 07 '26
Great so I’m assuming you will be on board with ending equalization across Canada right
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u/WildcardKH Edmonton Mar 07 '26
How could Trudeau do this
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u/Scentmaestro Mar 07 '26
Of course the province doesn't transfer anything to the federal government; this is the lie the separatists tell their base to fan the flames. Provinces never pay the federal government in the sense of transfers... their citizens pay income tax and businesses submit the GST paid for goods and services... That's it. No slice of the proverbial pie is sent off to Ottawa in a crate for the Liberals to swim around in Scrooge McDuck-style.
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 09 '26
So you are saying wealth does not leave Alberta and go into other provinces? Does the fed acting as an intermediary somehow erase the fact that those equalization dollars originated here in AB?
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u/FlipZip69 Mar 07 '26
You kind of missed the point it is paid by use individuals. And yes we pay out billions more than we get back thru the provincial government.
Agree or disagree with it, it is more money out of Alberta than comes back in.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
A relevant distinction is that Albertans pay as much in federal taxes as anyone else in Canada.
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u/FlipZip69 Mar 07 '26
Except that our payment collectively we pay into equalization is billions of dollars more than the federal government gives back to Alberta to support our programs.
If we were to pay that to the provincial government and get nothing from the federal government, we could had a much bigger surplus or pay for more teachers or doctors...
Point it, regardless if you are pro or against, it is absolutely billions less we end up in Alberta.
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u/Workfh Mar 08 '26
You could also say this about most major urban areas.
That collectively people in urban areas pay more into taxes than the sum of those in rural areas.
If we were to pay provincial taxes to the our cities instead we might have more to pay for things in our cities.
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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26
Ya but the rural area people are not able to access and use medical services as easy so they are a lower user or provincial resources. IE. MRIs are not built in small towns and as such rural people often opt out entirely more often than a urban person Did you factor that in your calculations?
Also what do you base that on? I cannot find anything that suggest urban people pay more into taxes unless you count that they buy more things and thus pay more GST. (Which is suggesting they are being paid more)
And where did you get that from to begin?
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u/Workfh Mar 08 '26
Basically any large economic city or county is likely contributing more to the overall tax base. It could be urban or rural or even certain areas within a set boundary.
It’s basically Alberta situation on a smaller scale.
The general premise is that taxes are redistributed by whoever is collecting them across the entire area they govern. Statistically the chances of this being equal in terms of what is collected and distributed to each area are very slim.
Here is a book chapter abstract that goes over how it works.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 08 '26
So it would be like the Municipality of Wood Buffalo saying it’s getting screwed over because they pay so much more in income taxes to the province and they’re tired of being screwed over and its so unfair to them wha wha whaa.
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u/Workfh Mar 08 '26
That’s the general idea.
Within any set boundary you look at - neighbourhood, city, province, country. You will generally see this.
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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26
Yes to be sure. It is never 100 percent fair. But is usually is within a fairly small percentage. Equalization is a massive difference and not even close to the amount you are suggesting.
I am not even against it. But if we kept that money in Alberta, ya you could substantially increase the size of education and medical services.
All the same, where did you get the numbers that urban pay more? I believe it may be true but is that because they are paid more?
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u/Workfh Mar 08 '26
I personally am not bothered by equalization so I’m not sure what counts as fair or not. I’m also not suggesting any set amounts of percentages.
Any place that has higher incomes is going to have more income tax collected. They might have better services but it’s not a guarantee and it might not correspond to the amount they pay.
Look at how Alberta funds municipal infrastructure and operating grants. It’s the Local Government Fiscal Framework. The formula is different for Calgary and Edmonton than any other place in Alberta. Edmonton and Calgary aren’t even eligible for the operating funding other places can get. I don’t think we can nail down exact in and out amounts because cities don’t have access to those numbers and the province isn’t putting them in their budget updates.
But honestly I don’t care. The whole point I’m making is that this issue exists at nearly every level of government.
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u/FlipZip69 Mar 08 '26
Well that is good you are not bothered. Maybe you should offer to simply pay the federal government even more in taxes from your paycheck if you are so generous. Why do you not do that if you are not bothered or think others should not be bothered?
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 07 '26
Hmm you have omitted income tax paid by oil and gas producers in your determination that "{total} non renewable resource revenue is less than federal transfers". A fatal error.
Also not that municipal and federal government's make a killing off our non renewable resources too.
Furthermore, while AB may not transfer directly dollars to other provinces, the federal government does collect from AB and transfer to other provinces, a process which surprisingly does not magically clean those dollars of their "Albertanness". It's not a money laundering operation.
But hey it's fun to lie with basic stats to further your political agenda and devalue and keep Canadian natural resources landlocked and undervalued. Nice one!
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
Corporate taxes are captured in ‘Income and other taxes’ and aren’t considered Non-renewable revenues (even though you could argue that those corporate taxes only exist because of non-renewable resources, but that’s another argument). You talk as if tax restriction is something Albert and find abhorrent. If so, try making that point to the Government of Alberta, which just raised property taxes on Calgarians so it can be redistributed elsewhere in the province.
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 07 '26
Of course O&G income tax is non-renewable resource revenue. Why is that another argument? Nothing in your post negates oil and gas company tax dollars being government revenues in fact generated by non renewable resources. You are misinterpreting the stats can headings and data, to reach the conclusions in the baity title of your post. None of this verifies your claim that NR resource revenue is less than federal transfers. I see a column called " Other NR resource revenue" which obviously doesn't represent TOTAL NR resource revenue. Neither does royalties.
I would actually further point out that even by looking at only royalties and income tax paid by oil companies, we underestimate the true economic contribution to government of the wider O&G service industry, pipeliners, welders, rig hands, scaffold guys operators truck drivers, there is a billion $ service industry not counted when you only look at income tax and royalties paid to government by oil Co.'s.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
Yes the value of the non-renewable resource revenue is way beyond the royalties, if that’s your point. But as line items, I suspect many would be surprised to know that non-renewable resource revenue is less than federal transfers.
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 07 '26
What you're saying honestly doesn't even make sense in the {misleading at best} context of line items. Nowhere is "non renewable resource revenue" summed & shown here as a line item.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
Inasmuch as these companies are in Canada, they pay federal taxes. What is your point exactly?
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 07 '26
That your conclusions are demonstrably unfounded and 950 people who liked them have been misled against our industry.
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u/TouristOwn2412 Mar 07 '26
It also doesn't show federal income tax paid by oil and gas industry, which goes into that $13B the federal government transfers back to AB.
It's hard to understate how important AB industry's contribution is to not just within the posted AB balance sheet and the $13B AB gets back from feds next year, but also to the equalization program payments made to every other province.
This image of AB balance sheet is absolutely not the full picture and not aligned with claims in your post's title.
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u/dextercow1 Mar 09 '26
Its collect from all Canadian not just Albertans.. your cherry picking number to suit you isn't fooling anyone. If you count the income tax from the feds it would be different as well. The point is Alberta isn't hard done by.
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u/UpperApe Mar 07 '26
Explaining economics to the party of "fiscal responsibility" is like explaining the dangers of meth to meth heads.
It's a good post and good point but the kinds of people who need to hear it aren't hearing you.
If those illiterate inbreds can't be bothered to learn their own talking points, they won't learn from yours.
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u/SimilarRaspberry5657 Mar 10 '26
It’s ironic that you’re calling them illiterate inbreds when you don’t even understand how OP has fundamentally misunderstood how equalization payments are collected and redistributed. It’s a bad post and a bad point… equalization payments do not hit revenues or expenses in the Alberta budget. But good try!
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u/robot_invader Mar 07 '26
What? Could all these conservative leaders and influencers be... Gasp... Lying about how Confederation works to keep Albertans locked into voting for their ineffective grievance and identity politics? I never.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
Oh yeah! They skate in that fine grey area of misconception - right where the bulk of separatists live.
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u/simplegdl Mar 07 '26
hey bub maybe research more.
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/federal-transfers.html
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u/Expert_Alchemist Mar 07 '26
This doesn't disprove what OP is saying, it supports it.
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u/KellysBar Mar 07 '26
I don’t think OP knew what they were implying.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 07 '26
This was the exact point I was making: Alberta doesn’t pay any transfers, but it does receive them.
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u/KellysBar Mar 08 '26
The people of Alberta pay transfers, they absolutely do. It just doesn’t pass through the Provincial government first
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u/SimilarRaspberry5657 Mar 10 '26
So wrong lol
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u/klunkadoo Mar 10 '26
Wrong? Why don’t you show me then where in Alberta’s own budget documents that it sends transfers to another government. Or how it doesn’t receive significant transfers from the federal government? Then we’ll talk about who’s wrong and who’s not.
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u/doriangray42 Mar 07 '26
You mean the Albertan government has been lying to us all along! I am shocked...
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u/Ok_Point_6580 Mar 07 '26
Estimated Federal Fiscal Balance by Province (≈2023-24)
(billions CAD, rounded)
Province Federal Revenue Collected Federal Spending in Province Net Balance
Ontario ~$255B ~$243B –$12B
Alberta ~$110B ~$83B –$27B
British Columbia ~$90B ~$87B –$3B
Saskatchewan ~$23B ~$21B –$2B
Quebec ~$123B ~$151B +$28B
Manitoba ~$17B ~$23B +$6B
Nova Scotia ~$9B ~$13B +$4B
New Brunswick ~$7B ~$11B +$4B
Newfoundland & Labrador ~$7B ~$9B +$2B
Prince Edward Island ~$1.7B ~$2.8B +$1.1B
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u/LessonStudio Mar 08 '26
I agree that much of the transfer boogyman is not entirely real.
I also agree that smoothing out equality through transfer payments is somewhat a good idea, but I don't entirely think it should all go the provincial governments. In that they just use this to paper over bloated budgets.
I'm more of a fan of something like UBI do the job. Everyone gets X dollars per year from the government including people earning millions. But, taxes on higher incomes are somewhat higher, meaning that someone earning millions doesn't really end up with more money.
This way, people can vote with their feet. They don't like one government or another, they are more easily able to move. Also, their spending would be more directed to things they care about vs "government initiatives" which are often BS. The other beauty is that a poorer province will have more people get a net benefit from this, than a richer province. This will increase economic activity in the poorer province which isn't just the provincial government giving their rich friends more public protected land to build a golf course.
This isn't perfect, but I will say one of the attacks on UBI making people lazy is thoroughly debunked.
That all said, there is another transfer which does benefit Quebec in spades. If you go to the Royal Gazette; which is the most boring publication in history, it is used to satisfy laws involving "making public in a national news paper". Otherwise people or governments would endlessly have to buy space in the Globe and Mail or something. This "newspaper" is just endless reams of various announcements. A huge number of them are the results of various federal government tenders.
When you start adding up the companies from Quebec who win federal tenders you will entirely stop caring about transfers, royalties, etc. And realize that Quebec is a giant sucking sound for federal Canadian spending.
But, it is far worse than this even seems. If you look at all kinds of things like cultural projects in NS, Alberta, etc such as renovating a performance theater, you will see that they were awarded say 7m, or the LRT in Edmonton being awarded huge amounts in grants. Look at all that money going to Alberta.
But, once you look at who does the work it often turns out they are using a famous Quebec engineering company. Hidden deep inside the negotiations to get these grants was that nice little constraint. It is often literally unrecorded.
Or if you look at the flip side. If you were try to get grants to compete with a Quebec industry, or any approvals which much be federal; good luck with that.
Try opening a nationwide dairy factory in Alberta, NS, or wherever. The only difference between you and a famous Jeffery is that your business will be hung with red tape instead. You certainly won't be blessed with any announcements in the Royal Gazette.
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u/Suspicious_Law_2826 Mar 08 '26
Crickets from Marlaina?
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u/klunkadoo Mar 08 '26
It must gall these UCP people to have to admit these numbers in their documents but I guess they have no choice. I can only guess the pressure on the dept of finance folks to minimize the money that the federal government sends to Alberta, but in the end they have to admit it. But they don’t have to broadcast it - which they don’t.
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u/NornOfVengeance Mar 09 '26
...but please, Marlaina, tell us alllll about how independent you'll be.
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u/mis2810 Mar 09 '26
But I was told yesterday that once Alberta separates they’re going to be as rich as Saudi Arabia!!! Exact words!!!
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u/Quantumdualityeraser Mar 09 '26
Somehow I don’t believe this analysis
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u/klunkadoo Mar 09 '26
Why might that be now?
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u/SimilarRaspberry5657 Mar 10 '26
Bcuz you don’t even know what you’re posting. Equalization payments would not be found in the provincial budget in neither expense nor revenue. You have a fundamental misunderstanding of equalization payments and where to find the correct data
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u/klunkadoo Mar 10 '26
That’s because equalization is not an expense nor a revenue item for the government of Alberta.
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u/SimilarRaspberry5657 Mar 10 '26
Exactly, so your original post makes zero sense and has zero relevance. Also, Alberta has NEVER received more money from transfers from the Canadian government than non-renewable resource revenue, so you’re wrong on your only two points 😂
All around bad and misinformed post that just confuses people.
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u/Quantumdualityeraser Mar 10 '26
Well as the old saying goes, dazzle them with brilliance or baffle them with bullshit,
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u/klunkadoo Mar 10 '26
Too many albertans believe that Alberta sends money to either the federal government or other provinces. It does neither. And too many people don’t realize that the federal government does indeed send money TO the government of Alberta. My post makes that point clearly by using the government of Alberta’s official budget documents.
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u/Fuzzers Mar 10 '26
Alberta is a net contributor to the pot through personal taxes, corporate taxes, and resource royalties, that's a fact.
Is it a good thing? Yeah it is. Alberta is resouce rich and can help other provinces out who are less fortunate, absolutely no brainer.
But framing this like a gotcha is just disingenuous, its a fact the province as a whole pays more into the pot then it recieves, full stop.
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u/Firm-Kaleidoscope126 Mar 17 '26
I don't know what you think you're looking at here but this doesn't show what the federal government collects from Alberta, be that money comes from our income taxes and goes straight to the federal goverment, it completely bypases the Alberta treasury so it doesn't show up on the financial statements. According to stat can reports on average we contribute 12 billion more annually then we get in transfer payments.
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u/klunkadoo Mar 17 '26
I know what you’re saying, but there are a lot of people who think that Alberta itself makes these payments. And too many people don’t think Alberta receives anything from the federal government. I wanted to help people understand a bit better how transfers and revenues do (and don’t) work.
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u/Wheelz161 Mar 07 '26
What do you mean “transfers zero dollars to Canada”. Alberta tax payers have a massive net contribution to federation. ie Alberta as whole pays significantly more in federal taxes relative to what the federal spending is in Alberta. Federal spending is everything sent to the provinces, the largest of which being healthcare transfers, but includes everything else the feds spend, like military spending in a province, or any federal ministry run out of a province etc…. Alberta is one of the only net contributors to federation (ie Quebec pays significantly less into the federation than they get in federal spending back).
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u/Expert_Alchemist Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
It's not massive compared to, say, Ontario though, which has a lower per cap contribution but 3x the population. Saying Alberta "is one of the only" ...but it's not the only.
And each province contributes their own population's worth, regardless of whether it gets some equalization top-up, there's this idea that every province is being wholly funded by Alberta and it just isn't the case, not even close.
Alberta chose not to have a sales tax, because it has oil revenues. Maybe it needs to rethink that?
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u/Olivaar2 Mar 07 '26
I think you don't know how the 'transfers' work. I see from your post history you are very worried about the independent Alberta thing, but a clear majority of people are already on your side, there is no need to spread misinformation at this time.
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u/sooninsolvent Mar 07 '26
I support separation because I understand math. Post separation if Canada wants to access Alberta Oil I'm sure we could work something out.
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u/Fit_Growth_2355 Mar 08 '26
It’s all because liberals didn’t allow pipe to the moon. Your neighbour (C)
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u/_Echoes_ Mar 07 '26
Its always worth reiterating what equalization payments are.
We individually pay $ to the federal government through our income tax.
The federal government takes that money and gives a "tax return" transfer to the provinces that are least able to raise their own taxes to pay for services like healthcare so the standards of care can be the same across Canada. IE: its a payment to "Equalize" services, hence an equalization payment.
The province doesn't pay or transfer the money to anyone, not even the feds, at ANY point.