Alberta's fund was valued at just C$16.2 billion compared to US$65.3 billion for Alaska’s fund.
alberta government finances
The province had the largest growth in government net debt in Canada from 2007/08 to 2021/22.
Alberta went from spending $61 per person on provincial debt interest costs to roughly $563.
Governments in Alberta have a long history of increasing provincial spending during periods of high resource revenue, which inevitably leads to deficits once resource revenues decline.
The government should save some natural resource revenue to protect against future increases in debt.
Alberta’s fiscal improvement is good news, but without significant policy changes, it will only last so long as commodity prices stay high.
The province's revenue will likely be even higher than forecast in Budget 2022.
The province's revenues could be up to $28 billion higher over the next two years.