Alberta’s “Catch-Up” Education Budget 2026 still lags behind rapid growth of student base and needs2/27/2026
Yesterday’s 2026 Budget announcement proposes “catch-up” funding to the tune of $10.8B in education funding. This signifies that Albertans, including the education workers’ labour actions, have successfully mounted substantial pressure on government to at least slow the deliberate dismantling of public education. However, in the context of the past 6 years of steep and widespread cuts, the proposed 7% overall increase still leaves Alberta short of filling the 16% gap ($1.55B) between Alberta and the national average. The proposed increase of $722 million over Budget 2025, while seemingly substantial is a starting point but not fully restorative. After adjusted for inflation and divided in real number terms based on historic enrolment growth, Alberta still ends up flattening the real per-student funding envelope.
“This education Budget, although sounding large on paper, once divided by the expanded student base, is not enough to put out the fire that the UCP government have set to Alberta’s education system. Right now, Alberta has the most underfunded education system in the country. Obviously a starved system welcomes any help offered; but we need to look at the bigger sustainable picture for our kids. Without restorative efforts on top of accelerating funds to keep pace with enrolment growth and inflation in real time, our students are left without the support and quality of education they deserve. ” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director The government’s own data on class size and complexity show that there are classrooms of up to 60 students in Alberta. They also showed that classes across every Alberta region and every school type have complexity factors. Alberta’s public education is in crisis and these challenges require long-term sustainable and robust commitment from the province. “The cumulative impacts of chronic defunding has harmed our students. It is outrageous that a prosperous province such as Alberta still ranks so low in the nation. While this Budget looks like Danielle Smith is bringing larger buckets of water to put out the fire, there are still very real children behind the numbers who are being left behind in this slow triage.” - Medeana Moussa - 30 - Media inquiries: Wing Li (she/her) Communications Director yegsosalberta [at] gmail.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 23, 2026 - Edmonton/Calgary
On Thursday evening, February 19, Premier Danielle Smith addressed Albertans and advised viewers to brace for an upcoming deficit budget. The Premier chooses to blame Alberta's economic volatility on immigrants, rather than owning her administration’s choices to actively and aggressively defund public education and healthcare despite an $8.3B 2024-2025 fiscal year surplus. It’s a predictable yet dangerous scapegoating tactic to deflect from her own administration’s fiscal mismanagement. “Using economic hardship as a cover to normalize racist and xenophobic barriers for newcomers is abhorrent. The Premier’s cowardly rhetoric of scapegoating immigrants, and proposing to ban newcomers from accessing education and healthcare is straight out of the far-right political playbook. Throughout history we have seen this dangerous xenophobia used to impose and justify austerity and wholesale defunding of public services while simultaneously discriminating against precarious residents.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director Instead of expanding housing, social services, healthcare, education and infrastructure to prepare for their Alberta is Calling campaign, the UCP government continuously destabilized public education by not funding for population growth and inflation over six consecutive annual budgets. Now, instead of owning up to their mismanagement, the UCP are fanning the flames of hate and ushering in widespread racial division. “Every child has a fundamental human right to access education in Alberta, regardless of status, race, background, ability, or birthplace. Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Canada has ratified, states that every child has a right to a free public education. Danielle Smith’s racist rhetoric is not welcome in Alberta, not welcome in Canada. We refuse to follow in the footsteps of Trump’s America where far-right politicians stoke anger and hatred through disinformation and immigrant-blaming.” - Medeana Moussa The Premier must stop with the racially charged deflection and instead properly fund our education system to restore supports so our system can meaningfully welcome, nurture, and educate all children who enter our schools’ doors. Alberta has fallen to last place for base instructional funding and our schools have lost core student supports, exacerbating challenges of inclusion and community-building. The most vulnerable students that Smith is targeting, including newcomers, refugees, and children with complex needs, deserve compassionate and resourced wraparound and integrated educational supports to thrive in Alberta. “If a child lives in Alberta, they have a right to go to school, full stop.” - Medeana Moussa - 30 - Media inquiries: Wing Li (she/her) Communications Director yegsosalberta [at] gmail.com As of October 6, 2025, about 51,000 teachers and administrators in Alberta will be striking. This is a historic and pivotal moment. The last teacher labour action took place over 20 years ago. Since then, our public education system has been chronically underfunded and slowly eroded to the point of being unrecognizable. To be perfectly clear, teachers are not striking just for themselves as individuals. As frontline educators, they live the same daily school and class conditions that our students face. Teachers are striking for all of us, for our public education system to stop being deliberately dismantled to usher in privatization and fragmentation.
“Alberta’s 51,000 teachers are striking for their students. They are striking for Alberta families, over 93% of which attend public schools. Disgracefully, Alberta spends the least on public education, while simultaneously spending the most on private education in Canada. The UCP government is continuing their destruction of public education by refusing to fund students adequately, and teachers have had enough.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director of Support Our Students AB Our public education system was once a world-leading system. But through cumulative budget cuts and policies that persistently de-prioritized public education while diverting public funds to private and charter schools, we’ve arrived at this precipice. The latest UCP government exacerbated existing stresses by cutting public funding despite skyrocketing inflation and large population booms; while disproportionately increasing funding to private and charter schools. “These strained conditions did not happen overnight. The province has continually undermined public education through gradual defunding that was normalized over time. We have reached an unsustainable breaking point and that’s why teachers are forced to act. All of us as parents, families, and students, need to support them. Public education belongs to all of us as a collective and this is the time to take a stand together.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director - 30 - Media inquiries about this statement can be directed to: yegsosalberta (at) gmail.com Not enough funding to meet enrolment growth, inflation, or educational supports & resources for student success
Yesterday’s Budget announcement signified the UCP government doubling down on withholding vital resources and educational access from K-12 students. The total amount of operational funding falls significantly short of reaching minimally adequate levels of instructional funding. In the context of inflationary reality and persistent enrolment growth, this shortfall means many students will remain unfunded within our growing public education system. In contrast, private education will receive an egregious 13% increase in public subsidies which private institutions will use to pick and choose students. “Alberta’s K-12 students are once again left behind in this Budget. Disgracefully, Alberta spends the least on public education, while simultaneously spending the most on private education in Canada. The UCP government is continuing their destruction of public education by refusing to fund students adequately.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director of Support Our Students AB Over 93% of Alberta students attend public schools. But school boards’ funding requests for sustainable and predictable resources, including additional educational personnel, new schools and learning spaces, are continually denied while the government allots money for private education growth. Every four years, Alberta diverts over $1 billion in public funds to subsidize wealthy and exclusive private and charter schools which do not serve the community at large, but stratify students based on ability and wealth. “The ongoing intentional erosion of public education will accelerate under Budget 2025. By underfunding our school boards, we will see more instability in our growing education system and Alberta’s K-12 students will be the ones to bear this cost. Our students deserve so much more than the inadequate support tepidly offered by this government.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director - 30 - For media inquiries regarding this statement: Wing Li (she/her) Communications Director yegsosalberta(at)gmail.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - EDMONTON/CALGARY
As we prepare for Alberta’s 2025 Budget to be tabled on February 27, we call on the provincial government to inject immediate and significant funds back into the public K-12 education system. It is imperative that Alberta makes a definitive rebound out of last place for per-capita education funding. In the past few months, several thousands of essential education workers across Alberta have undertaken labour action in resounding opposition to the cumulative cuts to education funding year after year. “Supports for students must be restored in Budget 2025 to guarantee each and every Alberta child has access to high quality education. Boards must be funded adequately to repair existing ageing schools and build new public schools to meet population growth. Funding must increase to meet inflationary reality. All education staff are vital to the success of Alberta students. It's critical to keep schools functioning in order to keep students learning and the government can do this by paying all education staff a living wage.”- Medeana Moussa, Executive Director of Support Our Students AB Support Our Students Alberta is urgently calling for these K-12 Education priorities in Budget 2025:
“Students can no longer accept scraps from this provincial government. The status quo is no longer sustainable. We are facing a critical juncture in our province where our public education system has been eroded beyond recognition.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director - 30 - For media inquiries about this release, please contact: Wing Li (she/her) Communications Director yegsosalberta{at}gmail.com For Immediate Release - Edmonton
Last night, via televised broadcast, Premier Danielle Smith announced a plan that was supposed to alleviate overcrowded schools. Instead, she proposed an egregious charter and private school construction acceleration program and made no mention of complementary operational funding to attract and hire more education workers. Her plan expands private education by siphoning much needed public dollars to line the pockets of private institutions that are not open to the general community. Alberta already funds private education with one of the highest instructional subsidy rates in the country at 70%, but now Smith is adding to this siphoning by using public funds to pay for the brick and mortar construction of exclusive buildings that most Albertan kids cannot access. “Without any new operational funding to accompany capital funds, Danielle Smith’s announcement of a 7-year long construction plan leaves out the concrete need to help students struggling today in the here and now. We also need thousands more education workers. We need a full plan that brings in more education workers to support large and complex classrooms. These material resources were glaringly omitted. Every 4 years, more than $1 billion of public money flows out of public education to private and charter schools. They should not be granted unlimited public funds for building construction too. Alberta invests the least money into public education and simultaneously the most money into private schools, in the country.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director, Support Our Students Alberta Across the province, public school boards’ new school requests have routinely been rejected by the government year over year. Alberta’s education infrastructure crunch is a self-made one through decades of chronic underfunding and deferred maintenance. The easing of the school construction pipeline must prioritize public school builds instead of favouring private and charter schools. The need for more public schools is dire and it is absolutely outrageous that public resources will be funneled to private projects instead. In the next decade, Edmonton needs at least 50 new schools and Calgary needs at least 40. “Our public education system is in crisis. We cannot afford to keep gifting our valuable public funds to private entities who do not admit all children. Students need more learning resources now. Public school students need more teachers, more time with education staff, more help from aides. They all deserve vibrant library collections, enriching music and art programs, and mental health supports. Instead, they are being asked to pay for private and charter buildings that only serve exclusive groups. Danielle Smith’s government is failing students. Education is a provincial responsibility and Alberta’s highly privatized education system is not working for the majority of Alberta’s K-12 students who attend public schools. It’s past time to stop paying for private education (buildings and operations). We must redirect all public dollars back to public schools which serve the public good.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director, Support Our Students Alberta - 30 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 29, 2024 This afternoon, Alberta’s UCP government tabled their 2024 Budget. To our dismay, once again, inadequate K-12 education will continue to starve the rapidly growing public education system. The allotted education funding does not cover inflation and enrollment growth. Funding that doesn’t keep pace equals real cuts. Under the guise of “fiscal restraint,” K-12 students will be left behind without access to much needed support and resources. The majority of Alberta students attend public schools. But their funding requests are denied while the government allots money for private education growth. The disingenuity of “fiscal restraint” is also contradicted by the wasteful diversion of more than $123 million in capital funding over 3 years to subsidize collegiate school programs and charter schools who do not admit all students or service any catchment areas like public schools. “This budget is shortchanging our kids. When you have massive enrollment growth, but funding doesn’t follow every student entering the system, what they're really doing is cutting the pie into smaller pieces and asking each of our kids to make do with less. We see the results - ballooning class sizes, schools over capacity, fewer supports for students with special needs. Alberta is spending the least on education* in the country with the highest enrollment growth in Canada. The UCP continues to use the weighted moving average funding model which punishes growing school divisions by not funding students for the year they actually attend school. In addition, more than $1 billion of public money every 4 years flows out of public education to private and charter schools. Alberta invests the least money into public education and simultaneously the most money into private schools, in the country.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director, Support Our Students Edmonton Public School Board estimates they will run completely out of high school space by 2027, never mind that students are already busing a long distance from where they live to go to school. Calgary is facing similar space scarcity where high schools such as Western Canada High have created overflow designations for students they cannot fit into their classrooms. According to Statistics Canada, for several years in a row, Alberta’s teachers still have more students than any other province. All of this is a disgrace for a rich province boasting about the “Alberta advantage” while public services as important as education are slashed. A generation of learners in public schools are being left behind by an uncaring and shortsighted government. Alberta’s students will be paying for these steep and sustained budget cuts for decades to come: that will be this government’s true legacy. *per student 2020-2021, ~13% below national average (StatsCan) - 30 - Media inquiries: Wing Li (she/her) Communications Director yegsosalberta(at)gmail.com “Alberta children deserve to have an adequately funded education system for the growth our province and schools are experiencing. That is not happening. Alberta education is the worst funded in the country. Support Our Students (SOS) Alberta advocates for sustainable and adequate funding so that each Albertan child has equal access to a high quality education.” - Medeana Moussa, Executive Director SOS would like to see the following in Budget 2024:
Media inquiries: Wing Li (she/her) Communications Director [email protected] On Wednesday, January 31, Premier Danielle Smith released a seven-minute video on X (formerly Twitter) about her alarming “Gender Identity” policies. Support Our Students Alberta absolutely opposes these proposed measures. These sweeping policies specifically target young Albertans who identify as LGBTQ2S+ and outright ban their access to safe schools, healthcare, medicine, and psychological support. In school settings, these students’ rights to safe self expression will also be banned. Queer and transgender students, especially those without affirming homes, are already vulnerable to alienation, isolation, suicide, and homelessness. Smith’s policies significantly multiply their risk of harm.
After too many consecutive years of steep education cuts, the small injection by the UCP Government today is significantly short of what is actually needed to alleviate overcrowded and highly complex Alberta classrooms. Statistics Canada found that Alberta comes in dead last and well below the national average in per-student spending. Meanwhile, a record number of new families are moving to Alberta from other provinces and abroad. Combined with historic inflation pressures, this means today's announcement of $30 million distributed across many school divisions does not go far to address the estimated $1.2 billion/year shortfall of education funding. Earlier this week, the UCP Government struck down a proposed Education (Class Size and Composition) Amendment Act that would have restored public class size reporting, augmented funding, and overall transparency about the tangible crisis in public education. It was the UCP government themselves who removed class size reporting and funding in 2019. All this shows they are not truly committed to concrete action and this negligence only leaves students without adequate educational resources.
“They can’t manage what they don’t measure. By refusing to restore public class size tracking and transparency, we cannot concretely quantify overcrowded and complex class compositions. However, we know by being inside the schools that class sizes are the largest they’ve ever been. The reality is that students are being squeezed into classes of 35, 40 or even more kids. We don’t have enough resources, support staff, or educators” says Medeana Moussa, Executive Director of Support Our Students. Students deserve to receive adequate space, instruction, care, and resources in their education. The public deserves to know just how crowded and complex our classrooms have become. “Today’s funding announcement allocates minimal (delayed) dollars towards our severely strained public education system. It surely does not go the distance and serves only as a short term bandaid solution. There will be no accountability of where this money goes. We need a targeted, comprehensive action plan that includes meaningful systemic supports to re-commit to providing high quality public education accessible for every student. Today’s announcement does not begin to cover the operational and infrastructure deficits we are facing,” adds Medeana Moussa. Support Our Students calls on government to 1) restore open class size reporting across the province; 2) monitor and fund classroom complexities; 3) permanently fix the funding formula to stop penalizing growing school divisions; and 4) restore funding for instructional and infrastructure deficits. As government continues to withhold information and resources, the Alberta’s public education system remains direly strained and students are the ones paying the price. - 30 - Media inquiries please contact: Wing Li (she/her) Communications Director, Support Our Students Alberta Email: [email protected] |
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Support Our Students Alberta is a non-partisan public education advocacy organization with chapters across Alberta. We are run by passionate volunteers and community donations.
Media and press comment requests: [email protected] SOS acknowledges that we advocate in Treaties 6, 7 & 8, traditional territory of the Cree, Blackfoot, Metis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene and Ojibway/Saulteaux/Anishinaabe. We are grateful to work on their land and we pledge that this organization will actively work to end systemic racism and pursue truth and reconciliation. © 2023 Support our Students Alberta Foundation
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