Edmonton city council has approved the 2026 budget and the tax increase is higher than initially expected.
City administration and councillors were unable lower the proposed property tax hike — in fact, it will now be half a per cent higher than the expected 6.4 per cent.
After four days of discussion inside council chambers on how to keep Edmontonians from paying significantly more, a 6.9 per cent tax hike was the number agreed on by councillors.
The previous council approved a 6.4 per cent tax increase back in the spring, and after numerous amendments this week, that number went up 0.5 per cent.
For an average homeowner, that is about $245 more in taxes next year.
The City of Edmonton said since the 2023-2026 budget was passed four years ago, the City has made adjustments to it the in response to challenges like inflationary pressures, rapid population growth and evolving service needs.
Those budget challenges have made service delivery much more expensive than what was forecast when the four-year budget was developed and approved in 2022, the city said in a Thursday news release.
“It takes a lot of people, time and equipment to keep a city running, and all those things cost more now,” said city manager Eddie Robar. “We’ve made some necessary changes to our budget aimed at responding to budget challenges without significantly impacting our services and the people we serve.”
The city said council approved several revenue increases and spending reductions to bring the budget in line with what it actually costs to deliver services now. Changes that did not impact the 2026 tax requirement included things like:
- Increasing budgets for some services that are consistently costing more, like animal care and control, facility cleaning, Dedicated Accessible Transit Service (DATS), spring street sweeping and vandalism repairs
- Increases to user fees in animal care and control, fire rescue services, land development and transit, to help the City recover some of its higher costs from people who directly use those services
- Spending reductions across the corporation
The biggest budget jump came after $11 million in new money was directed towards Explore Edmonton, the city’s municipal department of tourism, to support their work to attract major events to the city. Mayor Andrew Knack said it’s a worthwhile investment.
“For every dollar we put in, we see a $29 return that benefits local business, the local economy, people who work in those spaces,” Knack said.
“My goal was always to be at the 6.4 (per cent) — I’m glad that the one increase we saw is in an area that produces a significant economic return.”
Council also approved $7.3 million in funding next year to improve the Whitemud Drive and 215 Street/Winterburn Road intersection near the River Cree Resort and Casino and west end Costco.
Traffic congestion has grown steadily at the intersection in recent years and will only grow when the chartered Enoch Surgical Center opens in a few months and further down the road, as the River Cree expands and adds more planned attractions.
“There’s been a lot of concerns from residents in that area of Lewis Estates, Rosenthal, so this is a great opportunity and a great win to bring it all together,” said west end Ward sipiwiyiniwak councillor Thu Parmar, who put forward the motion.
The cost of the intersection upgrades will be split three ways between the city, Enoch Cree First Nation, and the Alberta government.
“If Enoch is successful, the west end is successful, and not only Ward sipiwiyiniwak, but Ward Nakota Isga, also Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, the region,” Parmar said.
“This is a very large economic corridor.”
A big point of discussion on Thursday was how to address traffic safety in light of fatalities climbing this year.
A total of 30 people have been killed so far in 2025, according to Edmonton police.
Last spring, the Alberta government severely limited when and where photo radar can be enforced and removed speed-on-green enforcement.
“Data shows that traffic speeds are substantially higher on Edmonton roads than they’ve been in a long time,” Knack said.
“That is clearly a result of the lack of consequences for people’s actions.”
Council approved a $5.8 million amendment that would add more resources to the traffic safety team by hiring more peace officers to patrol streets.
Knack said safety was a major topic on the municipal election campaign trail earlier this fall.
“People talked about safety in every community. Traffic safety was one of the number one issues. This is going to make a meaningful difference on the safety of our streets.”
The move will not take money from the tax levy, but instead from future fine revenue from the team. This resulted in pushback from some councillors, but the vote went ahead.
Council also approved $2.7 million in ongoing funding to enhance bus cleaning.
City council also approved several capital adjustments, adding $123.4 million to the capital budget.
The adjustments include:
- $26.4 million in new neighbourhood renewal reserve funding for 2027 and beyond
- $25.2 million for 25 new buses to provide regular bus service in three high-growth areas
- $23.1 million of additional funding to build two new fire stations and an emergency communications centre
- $24.1 million in new funding for the development of new school sites, a district park project in Windermere, demolition of the Argyll Velodrome, and the Rossdale Power Plant roof replacement
- $15.2 million for various transit projects to leverage available grants from the Canada Public Transit Fund
- $7.7 million in additional funding for 137 Avenue and Anthony Henday Drive Ramps
The city said council also approved that $12.7 million in one-time revenues and savings be used to help restore a key reserve, the Financial Stabilization Reserve (FSR) to its minimum balance.
The FSR is used to offset one-time financial pressures, such as deficits. It was drawn below its minimum balance in 2023 and 2024 to address deficits, and must be restored in order to help with future challenges.
Knack said it was too difficult to lower the tax increase any further.
“If we wanted to go back and lower than the 6.4, we would have to cut back on transit service, we would have to close libraries earlier, we would have to reduce hours to rec centres,” Knack said.
“I did not hear an appetite for that.”
Others argued more could’ve been done. Councillor Erin Rutherford says more restraint could’ve brought the levy down.
“I chose in the end to be a team player, but I feel like I put my council colleagues on notice that I can’t continue to do this year over year,” Rutherford said.
The budget adjustment passed with an 11 to 2 vote, with councillors Michael Elliott and Karen Principe voting no.
“I was really hoping this council was going to make some tough decisions and say no, and truly have priorities and stick with them,” Principe said.
This is the fourth and final year of the 2023-2026 capital and operating budget. Council will debate the next four-year budget in the new year.
“We need to really go through the next four-year budget and completely transform how we’re doing things,” Knack said.
The city said the annual tax increase will affect individual owners differently, depending on how their property’s assessed value compares to the market.
An average Edmonton household would pay about $816 in property taxes for every $100,000 of their assessed home value in 2026. This is an increase of $53 more than in 2025.
Property owners will learn about their assessment in January and will receive their tax notice in May 2026.
Council will debate and approve the 2027-2030 budget next fall.