Provincial education property tax set for surge as Calgary braces for double‑digit hike

Calgarians are being warned to brace for another steep jump in the education portion of their property taxes, the second straight year of double‑digit increases, and something city officials say hasn’t been seen in decades.

City Hall says the provincial education property tax is expected to rise 11.9 per cent this year, following last year’s 15.6 per cent spike

It’s a pace of increase that City Assessor and Director of Assessment of Tax Eddie Lee calls unprecedented in modern times.

“We are expecting the provincial take to increase significantly again,” Lee says. “Before 2023, the provincial property tax amount had been quite stable. We have not seen increases like this.”

And Lee is quick to stress that Calgarians don’t shoot the messenger, saying the city doesn’t set the education tax rate, it simply collects the money on behalf of the province.

“The province lets us know this is the amount we need to collect from Calgarians, and we simply collect that and submit that to the province,” he says.

City Hall estimates that between 2023 and 2027, education property taxes across Alberta will rise by 42 per cent.

Province says schools need the money

The provincial government has argued the increases are necessary as Alberta classrooms swell with new students and school boards push for more funding.

But the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the province should be tightening its belt instead of reaching deeper into homeowners’ pockets.

“We’re spending billions of dollars on corporate welfare, we’re spending millions of dollars on really stupid things like public art that nobody would ever purchase or choose to spend their money on,” says Kris Sims, Alberta director for the CTF.

Sims says she hears from people who are barely staying afloat.

“I can’t get over how often I hear from people who say, ‘I’ve been working my entire life and I’m barely able to cover my minimum bills,'” she says.

She argues the province’s bureaucracy is bloated and wasteful.

“It’s way too easy to just lose track of where the money is going, and waste it,” says Sims.

Calgarians will see the new education tax amount on their property tax bills arriving in May.