27 February 2026 Canada | Alberta Budget 2026 discussed
On 26 February 2026, Alberta Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board Nate Horner (the Minister) tabled the province's fiscal 2026 budget. The budget contains new tax measures affecting individuals and corporations but contains no new income taxes and no income tax increases. The Minister anticipates a deficit of CA$9.4b for 2026-27 and projects further deficits of CA$7.6b for 2027-28 and CA$6.9b for 2028-29.
2 The federal corporate income tax rates for manufacturers of qualifying zero-emission technology are reduced to 7.5% for eligible income otherwise subject to the 15% federal general corporate income tax rate or 4.5% for eligible income otherwise subject to the 9% federal small-business corporate income tax rate. These reductions are not reflected in the combined federal and Alberta rates above. 4 An additional tax applies to banks and life insurers at a rate of 1.5% on taxable income (subject to a CA$100m exemption to be shared by group members). The Minister also proposed amendments to the data center levy. The Alberta Corporate Tax Act was amended in 2025 to include a new data center levy framework, which is intended to impose a levy of up to 2% on the value of computing equipment in large-scale data centers in Alberta. This levy is fully deductible against a data center's corporate income taxes. The 2026 budget confirms that the government intends to introduce amendments clarifying that the data center levy will be calculated based on actual power consumption and that power not drawn from Alberta's existing power grid will be eligible for a 0% levy rate.
For taxable income exceeding CA$246,813, the 2026 combined federal-Alberta personal income tax rates are outlined in Table C.
b The federal basic personal amount comprises two elements: the base amount (CA$14,829 for 2026) and an additional amount (CA$1,623 for 2026). The additional amount is reduced for individuals with net income exceeding CA$181,440 and is fully eliminated for individuals with net income exceeding CA$258,482. Consequently, the additional amount is clawed back on net income exceeding CA$181,440 until the additional tax credit of CA$227 is eliminated; this results in additional federal income tax (e.g., 0.29% on ordinary income) on net income between CA$181,441 and CA$258,482. This budget proposes changes to the Alberta caregiver credit. Effective for the 2027 and subsequent tax years, the caregiver credit and the infirm dependent credit will be consolidated into a new Alberta caregiver credit. This new credit will be available to a caregiver who cares for an eligible adult relative, including a spouse, who is dependent on the caregiver because of a physical or mental infirmity. The new credit will be based on the structure of the current caregiver credit, which has a maximum amount of CA$13,180 in 2026, and is reduced when the dependent's income exceeds CA$20,956. The amount of the credit and the income threshold will be adjusted annually in subsequent years to account for changes in cost of living in accordance with Alberta's escalator policy. The tax credit is not available for non-infirm parents or grandparents that reside with the individual.
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