Alberta posts $2.2B surplus for 2025-26, fifth straight year in the black
High oil prices turned a projected $5.2-billion deficit into a surplus, while the NDP accuses the government of mistiming the announcement.
Why it matters
The surplus shapes how much the province invests in savings versus services, directly affecting debt levels and future program spending for Albertans.
Alberta's government reported a $2.2-billion surplus for the 2025-26 fiscal year, its fifth consecutive balanced budget, with a sixth straight surplus projected for 2026-27. Finance Minister Jason Nixon said high oil prices, with WTI crude above $100 per barrel as of Oct. 26, turned a spring forecast of a $5.2-billion deficit into a surplus, but cautioned the department will not build those prices permanently into its structural budget.
Nixon said the windfall will go toward infrastructure, debt repayment and deposits into the Heritage Trust Fund, which earned $2.4 billion in net income in 2025-26. The province aims to grow the fund to $35 billion by 2027 and $250 billion by 2050. Net debt stood at $33.6 billion as of 2026, down $747 million from March 31, 2025.
Total provincial revenue reached $79.8 billion, up $5.6 billion from the Budget 2025 forecast, driven by $2.1 billion in additional investment income, a $932-million rise in corporate tax revenue and an $867-million increase in non-renewable resource revenue.
The opposition NDP criticized the government's use of the surplus, calling for an affordability plan, minimum wage increase, small business support, a health-care recruitment strategy and new schools instead. NDP finance critic Court Ellingson's office also accused the UCP of delaying the fiscal update by three months to distract from controversy over a referendum. The next fiscal update is expected by the end of November 2026.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.