How Alberta’s population estimates will apply to 2022 funding

In recent months, some Alberta Municipalities members have asked what population data will be used by the provincial government to calculate the allocation of provincial funding to municipalities in 2022.

We asked Alberta Municipal Affairs, and the ministry provided the following response:

• The Canada Community Building Fund (formerly the Gas Tax Fund) and the Municipal Police Assistance Grant will be allocated based on the annual population estimates prepared by Alberta Treasury Board and Finance.
• Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) Capital – the population data is not applicable because the 2022 allocations are estimated to be 40.6% of each municipality’s 2021 MSI Capital allocation.
• MSI Operating – the population data is not applicable because the 2022 allocations are estimated to match each municipality’s 2021 allocation.
• Public Library Operating Grant amounts will be confirmed following the release of the province’s 2022 budget.
• Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding will be made according to three-year signed agreements between municipalities and the Government of Alberta.

Background

In 2019, the Government of Alberta announced that it would develop a system to estimate the population of each municipality annually instead of using municipal censuses between each federal census year. The change was driven by the province’s goal for greater consistency in population data due to municipal censuses only being used by a limited number of municipalities. Engagements were held with municipalities in 2020 and annual estimates were released that same year.

The 2021 population estimates are expected to be available in December 2021. Questions about this information may be directed to advocacy [at] abmunis.ca (advocacy[at]abmunis[dot]ca).