{"id":104504,"date":"2025-08-29T02:58:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T02:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/104504\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T02:58:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T02:58:14","slug":"alberta-budget-deficit-forecast-to-grow-more-than-originally-forecast-this-year-to-6-5b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/104504\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta budget deficit forecast to grow more than originally forecast this year to $6.5B"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bad news for Alberta\u2019s oil-reliant budget is set to get worse.<\/p>\n

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Finance Minister Nate Horner says softening oil prices mean this year\u2019s projected budget deficit is expected to grow by $1.3 billion, and will now finish at $6.5 billion in the red when the fiscal year ends next spring.<\/p>\n

That represents a massive multibillion-dollar swing in Alberta\u2019s financial fortunes, as it is coming off an $8.3-billion surplus the year prior.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to have to weather some of this,\u201d Horner told a news conference Thursday.<\/p>\n

Horner said oil prices, along with uncertainty created by U.S. trade policy \u2014 specifically the conflict over tariffs \u2014 are hurting the Alberta economy and remain a significant risk.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s taxpayer-supported debt is also up $1.7 billion from the budget, reaching $84.3 billion.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re experiencing many pressures on the economy that are outside of our control,\u201d Horner said.<\/p>\n

But, he said, despite challenges, a radical response to the budget bottom line isn\u2019t the answer \u2014 though the province may set ministry spending targets as it develops next year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll face these challenges together, and that commitment stands even with a higher deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oil prices remain the determining factor in Alberta\u2019s budget, as they have for decades.<\/p>\n

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Every dollar drop in the per-barrel price for the benchmark West Texas Intermediate slashes $750 million from Alberta\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n

Alberta has lowered its forecast by more than USD $4 a barrel since introducing the 2025 budget in February.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, West Texas Intermediate was selling at just under $64 (U.S.) per barrel.<\/p>\n

When Horner tabled this year\u2019s budget in February, the UCP government forecast an oil price of $68. per barrel.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta projects first budget deficit since 2021\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Opposition finance critic Court Ellingson said Alberta\u2019s budget is an example of \u201cfiscal incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis UCP government continues to show that they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing and that they\u2019re really bad with money,\u201d Ellingson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Alberta has also added nearly $650 million in expenses related to new agreements with various unions, while negotiations with others are ongoing.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tAlberta budget: Economy back in the red with $5.2-billion deficit\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tMiddle East conflicts causing large swings in oil prices\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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The province is currently in talks with the union representing Alberta teachers.<\/p>\n

The group representing Alberta\u2019s public sector employees, the largest union in the province, was to vote on a mediator-recommended collective agreement Thursday.<\/p>\n

Horner wouldn\u2019t say whether program cuts are in store, but said he may ask ministries to hit spending targets as next year\u2019s budget is developed, similar to the savings proposals Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked from federal ministries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t rule out the possibility that we may have a spending target memo come out\u2026before the budget process starts, much like we\u2019ve seen the federal government do,\u201d Horner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not as fat as the federal government, so it probably won\u2019t be as high.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s United Conservative government will also make good on its 2023 election promise to give Albertans a break on personal income taxes.<\/p>\n

That tax cut will cost the province about $1 billion in revenue.<\/p>\n

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The province has previously projected multibillion-dollar deficits will remain through to the scheduled 2027 provincial election.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFalling oil prices and their impact on Alberta\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bad news for Alberta\u2019s oil-reliant budget is set to get worse. Finance Minister Nate Horner says softening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[59856,46,43,44,9891,714,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-104504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta-budget","tag-economy","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-oil-prices","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}