ABmunis 2024 Year in Review

By Tyler Gandam, President

When I reflect on 2024, I’m struck by how busy our association was throughout the year (something many members told me) and just how much we accomplished! In many respects, 2024 was a pivotal year for municipalities across Alberta.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to review Alberta Municipalities’ 2024 highlights as I see them from my perspective as President.

Three little bills with huge consequences

Anyone following Alberta’s political scene last year knows we spent a lot of time and effort on Bills 18, 20 and 21. Bill 18 requires municipalities, post-secondary institutions, and other provincial entities to obtain provincial approval to enter into a funding agreement with the federal government. Bill 20 made substantial changes to the Municipal Government Act and the Local Authorities Election Act and allowed municipal political parties to be introduced in Edmonton and Calgary ahead of the 2025 municipal elections. Bill 21 – the least contentious of the three bills – streamlined and expanded the provincial government’s powers and authorities during an emergency under several pieces of legislation. We repeatedly raised our members’ concerns and presented alternative solutions to the provincial government’s intended legislative changes wherever possible. ABmunis continued voicing our members’ concerns in calm, rational and creative ways. I’m extremely pleased with what we accomplished under difficult circumstances.

Policing & public safety

Most municipalities in Alberta rely on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to provide police services in their communities. While ABmunis’ members are generally satisfied with the policing the RCMP delivers in their communities, they want to keep their police-related expenses down and improve responsiveness however they can. When the provincial government announced it was expanding the role of sheriffs and giving them police-like powers, ABmunis asked questions to help clarify things. We expressed appreciation for added law enforcement resources (more sheriffs) while continuing to advocate for a more collaborative approach to law enforcement in which sheriffs support and supplement local police services, regardless of the badges and uniforms they wear.

Infrastructure

Our efforts to secure more provincial funding for municipal infrastructure continued in 2024. We kept advocating for more baseline capital funding in the Local Government Fiscal Framework. After all, Alberta’s infrastructure deficit is $30 billion and growing due to a combination of factors, including the maintenance, repair and replacement of key infrastructure, and increased demand due to rapid population growth. We also called on the provincial government to resume full payment of Grants In Place of Taxes (GIPOT) instead of paying just 50% of the total property value. 

We scored an advocacy “win” in late September when the provincial government announced it was reverting to its former policy on how interest rates for provincial loans to local authorities for capital projects.

Health care

The overall state of Alberta’s health care system remained a major concern for municipalities of all sizes and locations, whether they were dealing with chronic doctor shortages, closures of primary health care facilities or lengthy ambulance response times. Alberta Municipalities continued advocating for improvements across the board. While it is too soon to know the extent to which nurse practitioners (NPs) will help alleviate the overall pressure, ABmunis’ advocacy over the past two years helped pave the way for their introduction. As of December 1, 33 NPs have begun providing care, mainly in smaller and more remote communities, and a further 23 NPs have been approved to begin working independently.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

Our association continued working closely with the Alberta Recycling Management Authority (ARMA) on the critical issue of EPR in 2024. Through newsletter articles, web articles and online seminars, ABmunis ensured members were informed of the latest developments. Another intake period was added in November after we raised members’ concerns about EPR’s timelines and looming deadlines to ARMA and the provincial government. Phase 1 communities that have already registered under the EPR program but have been unable to finalize contractual service agreements with Circular Materials by December 31, 2024, will now have until March 31, 2025, to do so.

Our ongoing commitment to delivering value

Our Business Development team worked closely with members across Alberta in 2024 to provide products and services that suited their specific needs. Regional managers met with numerous elected officials and administrators throughout the year to build meaningful connections and deepen their knowledge of the communities in their respective regions. As trusted sources of information and advice, our regional managers provided tailored services, recommendations, and insights at the right time to achieve the greatest possible success. Our approach is another way we are committed to building strong communities. We support and include community-related and not-for-profit organizations that are crucial in providing the services needed to build thriving communities.

Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP)

Our Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP) is an innovative financing tool that enables residential and commercial property owners to access flexible, long-term financing through their municipality, improving their ability to pay for energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades. Financing is tied to property and repaid through property taxes.

Twenty-one communities across Alberta are already taking part in CEIP. Five more municipalities (Airdrie, Banff, Beaumont, Spruce Grove & Wetaskiwin) passed bylaws in 2024 and have begun working with our Sustainability Services team to design and develop programs that suit them.

Departing Board members

We are extremely grateful to our Board members who left in 2024. Tanya Thorn served our association admirably for eight years, including four years as the Vice-President, Towns. My heartfelt thanks to Ellen Nygaard, who served on the APEX Governance Board for eight years, Bryan Smith, who served the AMSC/AMSCIS and MUNIX Board for three years, and Jennifer Wyness, who served on ABmunis’ Board for two years. Please join me in thanking them for their invaluable contributions.

Closing remarks

Our association faced plenty of challenges and achieved notable success in 2024. I’m happy with the way things went last year, and I look forward to working together with you – our members – to accomplish much more in 2025.