The UCP is finally paying their property taxes

The Alberta government is finally paying their property taxes again.

It's about time.

Now, there's a lot, and I mean a lot, to complain about in the 2026 Alberta budget, but one positive change for Edmonton is the restoration of the full grants in place of taxes.

Grants in Place of Taxes

Grants in place of taxes, or GIPOT if you want to look cool at parties, exist because in Alberta provincial properties are exempt from municipal taxation, according to the provincial rules that the province wrote for itself.

Instead, the province just sends us a grant for the value that they would have paid.

It's the equivalent of the province saying, “Don't worry about it, babe. I'll e-transfer you!”

All told, the property taxes on provincial buildings that any other owner would be required to pay is over $30 million a year.

Give me half off

In 2019, Jason Kenney unilaterally decided to give his government a 25% discount on that.

In 2020, he took it a step further and said, “You know what? Give me half off.”

While the new budget finally restores these provincial grants to full value, the province is not going to be making back payments on the over $100 million they've shortchanged Edmonton since 2019.

But, returning to the full grants puts around another $15 million a year into Edmonton's coffers to pay for things like police, snow clearing, and recreation centres.

Credit where it's due

Former mayor Amarjeet Sohi actually deserves a lot of the credit here.

He spearheaded advocacy with his Fair Compensation Project, which pushed the province to pay their fair share like all Albertans do.

It worked, and Danielle Smith took notice.

At the time, the leader of the right-wingers on council, Tim Cartmell, took a different approach to advocacy, telling media:

Tough negotiator.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa

And one final note, the feds actually have a similar program for federal buildings called payments in lieu of taxes, or PILT at parties, but unlike the UCP, they've always made their full 100% payment to cities.

Thanks, Trudeau.