Highlights from 2025 Spring MLC
More than 400 municipal elected officials and senior administrators met at Alberta Municipalities’ two-day Spring Municipal Leaders’ Caucus (MLC) in Edmonton last week to discuss key issues, share perspectives, expand professional networks and hear from provincial cabinet ministers.
Advocacy win: GIPOT
During the event, we thanked the provincial government for its partial restoration of Grants in Place of Taxes (GIPOT) in Budget 2025. This year’s increase is a significant step in the right direction, and the provincial government’s commitment to fully restore this funding in 2026-27 is deeply appreciated. We are grateful that the provincial government heard our 264 members when they called for GIPOT funding to be fully reinstated as soon as possible.
“We are pleased whenever our members feel their concerns have been heard by the provincial government, especially as municipalities’ needs are being challenged by international politics,” said ABmunis’ President Tyler Gandam. “There’s strength in working together to overcome shared challenges.”
Dealing with U.S. tariff threat
We heard from an expert panel, as well as Premier Danielle Smith and Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver, on the unsettling topic of American tariffs and their potential impact on municipalities. Premier Smith called on our member communities to adjust their municipal procurement policies so they “buy local” and “buy Albertan” as much as possible in response to ongoing American efforts to impose tariffs on a wide range of products. Most municipalities are already doing this, so they do not need to change their procurement practices. Alberta Municipalities stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the provincial government on this important issue.
Population growth adds pressure to perennial challenges
We also spent some time discussing the added pressure many of our member communities are experiencing because of Alberta’s unprecedented population growth. Indeed, our province's population grew by about 550,000 people from 2019 to 2024. More vehicles on our roads means aging municipal infrastructure is wearing out more quickly than ever before. More people in our communities means family and community preventative services are in high demand. The provincial government acknowledged these growth-related issues in Budget 2025, but it neither increased the base funding amount for its Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF) nor increased Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding beyond the usual $105 million a year. We intend to continue advocating for funding increases for both.
We thank Premier Smith and the nine cabinet ministers who spoke at this year's Spring MLC for finding time in their busy schedules to address our delegates and respond to their questions. We look forward to working closely with the Government of Alberta in the weeks and months ahead to tackle the numerous challenges Albertans face. Together, we can weather any storm.
