Alberta’s United Conservative government tabled its budget Thursday. Here are some of the highlights:
- $8.7-billion deficit on revenues of $50 billion.
- Debt projected to rise from the current $63 billion to $72 billion by the spring, on track to reach $93 billion by 2023.
- Three more years of deficits with projected surplus of $584 million in 2023.
- The public sector to be reduced by almost eight per cent over four years, mainly through attrition.
- No budgeted pay increases for public sector workers.
- Program spending to drop 2.8 per cent over four years to $47 billion by 2023.
- Health funding maintained as $20.6 billion.
- Education funding maintained at $8.2 billion.
- Corporate income tax revenue to fall by $700 million to $4.2 billion in 2019-20.
- Operational spending to be reduced by 0.5 per cent this year and eventually by 2.8 per cent to $47.1 billion by 2023.
- A one-time payment of $1.5 billion to end the crude-by-rail shipment plan announced earlier this year by the former NDP government.
- $1.8 billion in new capital funding for schools and new modular classrooms.