Budget 2023 funds ongoing programs and services that support Albertans and builds on Alberta’s Affordability Action Plan, expanding relief for high utility costs and providing new measures for students, workers in the social services and disability sectors, and in continuing care.

Alberta’s government is permanently extending the natural gas rebate program. Moving forward, whenever natural gas prices exceed $6.50 per gigajoule, the rebate will take effect.

“Inflation continues to challenge Albertans, and affordability remains top of mind for many. That’s why we are working hard to save Albertans money so they can focus on what really matters. Budget 2023’s strong affordability measures – including extended fuel tax relief, continued utility rebates and new supports for students and social services workers – will help to keep life affordable for families, seniors, individuals and vulnerable groups across the province.”

Matt Jones, Minister of Affordability and Utilities

Supporting post-secondary students

Post-secondary students in Alberta will see real relief, thanks to $238 million for new, targeted affordability measures.

Budget 2023 caps tuition fee increases for domestic students at two per cent annually effective for the 2024-25 school year.

Students receiving financial assistance will get more help repaying their loans, with an extension of the student loan grace period from six months to one year and an increase to the threshold for eligibility for the loan repayment assistance plan to $40,000, up from $25,000 in income.

Albertans repaying student loans will see their payments drop by an average of $15 per month thanks to the new student loan interest rate being reduced from prime plus one per cent to prime.

“These new measures will help all students keep up with the increased cost of living. We are committed to keeping post-secondary education accessible and affordable so that all Albertans can gain the skills and knowledge they need to build successful careers and secure Alberta’s future.”

Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Advanced Education

Supporting families

Parents shouldn’t have to choose between filling up the car and putting food on the table. Budget 2023 leaves more money in the pockets of Alberta families by funding affordability measures, including direct payments of $100 per month through June 2023. All parents or guardians of a dependent under 18 can still apply to get $100 per month for six months for each child if their adjusted household income is below $180,000, based on the 2021 tax year.

Through Budget 2023, investments of $90 million over three years will help secure more supports for families with young children by indexing the Alberta Child and Family Benefit to inflation, increasing benefit amounts by six per cent in 2023.

Enabling parents to expand their families and helping more children find their forever home by making in-Alberta adoptions more affordable is an important initiative in Budget 2023. Alberta’s government is investing $12 million more over three years and providing supplementary health benefits for children adopted from government care or through licensed adoption agencies to ensure more successful adoptions. In addition, there is $6,000 in grant funding for prospective adoptive parents making less than $180,000 a year and an increase of the provincial adoption expense tax credit to $18,210 to match the federal threshold in 2023.

Budget 2023 allocates $1.3 billion in 2023-24, $1.4 billion in 2024-25 and $1.6 billion in 2025-26 in operating expense in the Child Care program from provincial funding and Alberta federal-provincial child-care agreements.

An additional operating expense of $143 million over three years responds to the increasing complexity of children receiving child intervention services and an additional $26 million over three years will support youth and young adults in care transitioning to adulthood.

"We want a better future for our children, which is why we are continuing to prioritize making high-quality child care more affordable and accessible for Alberta families. We are also providing more supports to reduce barriers in the adoption process as well as increasing supports for vulnerable children and youth in care while advancing our government’s priority of making life more affordable for all Albertans."

Mickey Amery, Minister of Children’s Services

Supporting seniors and other vulnerable Albertans

Seniors aged 65 and over with a household income under $180,000 based on the 2021 tax year are still eligible to receive direct payments of $100 per month for six months (January 2023 to June 2023).

Albertans who receive the Alberta Seniors Benefit, AISH and Income Support have been automatically enrolled to receive the same Affordability Relief Payments of $600 over six months.

Alberta’s government is further supporting seniors, low-income and vulnerable Albertans with a six per cent increase to core benefits in 2023. Benefits including AISH, Income Support and the Alberta Seniors Benefit are indexed to inflation, which is helping Albertans combat today’s increased cost of living.

Budget 2023 helps put food on Albertans’ tables by funding local food banks, including $10-million direct funding through the Family and Community Support Services Association of Alberta and $10 million to match private donations, over two years.

Alberta’s government values the work done by disability service providers and workers throughout the province in caring for the disability community. That is why Budget 2023 provides a five per cent increase to the disability sector to help with administration costs in Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) and Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) provider contracts and family-managed agreements.

It is important that Albertans are able to get to and from work, to a doctor’s appointment, the grocery store or a pharmacy. To support low-income transit pass programs, Budget 2023 is investing $16 million in 2023-24 to support municipalities throughout the province as they provide affordable transit to their residents.

“For so many seniors, low-income individuals and Albertans living with disabilities, the increased cost of living has made life more and more difficult to afford. Alberta’s government is continuing to take steps to support these individuals and families, which I know will have a huge impact for many households across the province.”

Jeremy Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

Supporting social services and disability services workers

The government is helping to attract and retain more social service workers to support more people in need. Budget 2023 includes $102 million in 2023-24 to increase wages for more than 20,000 workers in disability services, homeless shelters and family violence prevention programs. This funding builds on the $24 million the government provided to service providers in February to enable wage increases retroactive to Jan. 1, 2023. 

Alberta’s government is also providing $8 million in 2023-24 for disability service providers to address increasing administrative costs.

Budget 2023 secures Alberta’s bright future by transforming the health-care system to meet people’s needs, supporting Albertans with the high cost of living, keeping our communities safe and driving the economy with more jobs, quality education and continued diversification.


Le budget 2023 assure l’avenir de l’Alberta en fournissant de l’aide aux Albertains qui doivent faire face à des coûts plus élevés pour leurs besoins courants.

Le budget élargit l’aide accordée pour faire face aux coûts élevés des services publics et prévoit de nouvelles aides pour les étudiants et les travailleurs des secteurs des services sociaux et des soins personnels.

Afin de réduire les coûts des services publics, le gouvernement de l’Alberta prolonge de façon permanente le programme de remise sur le gaz naturel. Dès que le prix du gaz naturel dépassera 6,50 $ le gigajoule, le rabais entrera en vigueur.

Soutien aux étudiants

Les étudiants du postsecondaire bénéficieront de 238 millions de dollars en mesures d’abordabilité. Le budget 2023 limite également à deux pour cent l’augmentation des frais de scolarité pour les étudiants canadiens. Les étudiants qui reçoivent une aide financière obtiendront davantage d’aide pour rembourser leurs prêts et le taux d’intérêt sur les prêts étudiants sera ramené au taux préférentiel.

Soutien aux familles

Les familles admissibles bénéficieront de mesures d’abordabilité, dont les paiements directs de 100 $ par enfant et par mois jusqu’en juin 2023.

Une autre somme de 90 millions de dollars sur trois ans permettra d’indexer la prestation pour enfants et familles de l’Alberta à l’inflation, ce qui augmentera le montant des prestations de six pour cent en 2023.

Soutien aux personnes âgées et aux autres Albertains vulnérables

Les personnes âgées de 65 ans et plus dont le revenu du ménage est inférieur à 180 000 $ d’après l’année d’imposition 2021 sont toujours admissibles à recevoir des paiements directs de 100 $ par mois pendant six mois (de janvier 2023 à juin 2023).

Les Albertains qui reçoivent la prestation pour personnes âgées de l’Alberta (Alberta Seniors Benefit), le revenu garanti pour les personnes gravement handicapées (AISH) et du soutien au revenu (Income Support) sont automatiquement inscrits pour recevoir les mêmes paiements d’abordabilité de 600 $ sur six mois.

Le gouvernement de l’Alberta soutient davantage les ainés, les personnes à faible revenu et les Albertains vulnérables en augmentant de 6 % l’AISH, le soutien au revenu et la prestation pour personnes âgées de l’Alberta en 2023.

Pour soutenir les programmes de laissez-passer de transport en commun pour les personnes à faible revenu, le budget 2023 investit 16 millions de dollars dans le transport en commun abordable.

Soutenir les travailleurs des services sociaux et des services aux personnes handicapées

Le gouvernement aide à attirer et à retenir un plus grand nombre de travailleurs en services sociaux afin d’appuyer un plus grand nombre de personnes dans le besoin. Le budget 2023 prévoit 102 millions de dollars en 2023-2024 pour augmenter les salaires de plus de 20 000 travailleurs des services aux personnes handicapées, des refuges pour sans-abri et des programmes de prévention de la violence familiale. Ce financement s’ajoute aux 24 millions de dollars que le gouvernement a versés, en février, aux fournisseurs de services pour les augmentations salariales.