Calgary business owners say they are being squeezed from both sides after a promised easing of municipal taxes was erased, and the province moves ahead with a sharp increase to the education property tax.

A $500‑million jump in the provincial education requisition, announced in Alberta’s latest budget, is expected to add nearly $350 to the average property tax bill.

That combined with Calgary city council’s decision to scrap a planned shift that would have reduced the non‑residential tax burden in 2026, many small businesses say they are bracing for another painful year.

Vince Greco, who has run Monza Auto in northeast Calgary for 25 years, says the increasing bills are becoming impossible to absorb.

“Leave my building alone, we are just trying to make a living here,” he said. “I’ve got a small place. We’re paying over $15,000 a year.”

“I’m scared to see the new property tax bill… I think it’s going to be pretty large.”

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas has called the provincial increase the largest property tax hike in the city’s history. While the city’s own portion adds roughly $50 to the average annual bill, the provincial hike is seven times that amount.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says the timing could not be worse. The city’s earlier plan was to shift one per cent of the tax burden from businesses to homeowners in 2026, a move council reversed to keep residential increases lower.

Keyli Loeppky, CFIB’s director for Alberta and Interprovincial Affairs, says the cumulative effect is threatening the survival of many small businesses.

“More businesses are closing than are opening,” she said. “On their own, these increases may be smaller, but these things do add up and threaten the viability of small businesses within the city.”

Greco says he may have no choice but to raise prices.

“All those families trying to make ends meet, they won’t do repairs,” he said. “You have to increase your labour rate just to make ends meet with the property tax.”

In a statement to CityNews, the province says Alberta remains the “most competitive place” for businesses in Canada “with a $16.9‑billion tax advantage over other provinces” and a corporate tax rate that remains at eight per cent, “the lowest in the country.”