Provincial Property Tax: Calgary Homeowners Face $340 Average Hike
Provincial education tax hikes cost Calgary homeowners $340 on average.
CALGARY, AB — While City Council held its 2026 property tax increase to 1.6%, the real blow to Calgary homeowners comes from Edmonton. The Government of Alberta's education property tax requisition will cost the average Calgary homeowner $340 more this year—about $28 a month—following a 10% provincial hike that compounds last year's 14% jump.
The numbers were baked into the 2026 Alberta Budget, tabled Thursday, February 26, 2026, by the Ministry of Finance. The province is pulling $1.2 billion from Calgary property owners to fund K-12 education across Alberta, up from $1.037 billion in 2025 and $882 million in 2024. That's a 36% increase in just two years.
The Provincial Math vs. The Municipal Reality
Calgary City Council approved a 1.6% municipal property tax increase on December 3, 2025—down from an initial 3.6% proposal. That modest bump pales against the province's education property tax rate, which climbed from $2.72 to $2.84 per $1,000 of assessed value for 2026. Combined with 2025's 15.6% hike, the provincial portion of property tax has risen more than 30% over two years.
The driver? A projected $9.4-billion provincial deficit and rising property assessments in Calgary. Higher home values mean a larger requisition base, even if individual rates tick up incrementally.
Who Sets The Bill
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs sets the education property tax requisition and assessment guidelines. The Ministry of Finance tables the budget that locks in those numbers. Individual MLAs field constituent questions, but the policy lever sits at the cabinet level.
For Calgary homeowners parsing their 2026 tax notice, the line item that stings isn't the one stamped 'City of Calgary.' It's the one marked 'Province of Alberta.'
Comments ()