Alberta to freeze education property tax rate for three years starting 2027
The three-year freeze starts in 2027, with nearly $98 million in province-wide savings and a one-time transition credit for municipalities.
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Alberta will freeze the education property tax rate for three years, starting in 2027, Premier Danielle Smith announced at a news conference at Calgary's Historic City Hall on Friday.
The standardized rate is $2.65 per $1,000 of assessed value for residential and farmland properties, and $3.98 per $1,000 for non-residential properties. It applies to all municipalities. The province says the change will save property owners nearly $98 million province-wide in 2027, money absorbed through general revenues. A one-time transition tax credit in 2027 will cover municipalities where the new rates would raise their education tax requisitions.
Finance Minister Jason Nixon said the province expects to make up the lost revenue because it anticipates a $2 billion surplus this fiscal year. Nixon said the reduction will not cut the education budget for next year or reduce funding for school projects already announced.
Nixon said the province will work with cities and towns to avoid a steep education tax hike in 2030, when the freeze ends. He said municipal partners are not convinced that will be an issue. "If it is an issue, we'll have a conversation to figure out how to manage through it," he said.
Smith said Albertans should be able to count on "a fair, consistent and predictable approach to education property taxes" wherever they live.
The announcement follows a dispute between Calgary and the province over the sharp increase in the education property tax levy this year. Calgary's 2026 education tax bill was $1.247 billion, up from $1.037 billion in 2025. Mayor Jeromy Farkas has said the provincial increase was the largest property tax hike in the city's history and pushed the council-approved 1.6 per cent increase to roughly 8 per cent. Farkas said the decision will help reduce the overall property tax burden when the city prepares its next four-year budget.
Calgary's 2027 municipal property tax increase remains undecided ahead of city council budget talks next month.
