Alberta to get $250-million stabilization payment

Faced with plunging oil prices and employment levels, Alberta will get at $250-million boost from the federal fiscal stabilization program.

The money is “part of ongoing support to provincial and territorial governments to assist them in the provision of programs and services,” says a statement from the finance department.

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Alberta applied for a fiscal stabilization payment earlier in February. The program helps provinces experiencing “significant year-over-year declines in their revenues resulting from extraordinary economic downturns,” says the finance department. To qualify for the program, Alberta’s non-resource revenue, such as sales tax and income tax, has to have declined by more than 5%.

The province will get the maximum amount of $60 per person, for a total $251.4 million.

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Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau worked with Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci on the stabilization payment, which comes from one of four major federal-provincial transfer programs. The other three programs are better known: the Canada Health Transfer, which helps provinces fund healthcare; the Canada Social Transfers, which helps foot the bill for social programs like post-secondary education and early childhood development; and Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing, which transfers money from “have” to “have-not” provinces.

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Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.