Table of contents

Overview

The Government of Alberta provides eligible municipal, regional, health and education authorities with financing for capital projects.

Important dates

Upcoming loan dates and application deadlines

Note: For airport authorities application deadlines, please refer to the respective Credit Agreement.

The upcoming loan issuance dates and application deadlines are as follows:

Issue date Application deadline
June 15, 2023 May 1, 2023
September 15, 2023 July 29, 2023
December 15, 2023 October 31, 2023

See how to apply.

Loan information

General loan terms

  • Refer to the Guide: Loan Types and Terms
  • For capital project purposes
  • Blended amortization, fixed rate loans
  • 3 – 40 year amortization (depending on asset life)
  • Semi-annual payments
  • Other structures offered, subject to availability

Interest rates

Interest rates are finalized about 2 weeks prior to the loan issuance date. Please see below for current and historical interest rate information.

Loan calculator tool

The Loan Calculator tool can be used to generate a semi-annual payment schedule based on the loan amount, term, interest rate and loan type. Submit the loan calculator schedule with your application documents.

Standard security

Local authorities are required to provide security in accordance with the Lending and Security Policy.

Loan prepayments

Full or partial prepayments are permitted. However, a prepayment cost referred to as the stop-loss settlement is applied to the prepayment amount. The Stop-Loss Settlement Policy protects the lender against significant losses that would occur in accepting prepayments of high interest rate loans and re-lending these funds at lower rates.

Eligibility

Eligible borrowers

Under the Local Authorities Capital Financing Act, the Government of Alberta provides local authorities with financing for capital projects. Eligible local authorities include:

Municipal authorities Regional authorities Education authorities Health authorities
  • Cities
  • Towns
  • Villages
  • Improvement Districts
  • Municipal Districts
  • Counties
  • Special Areas
  • Specialized Municipalities
  • Metis Settlements
  • Regional Service Commissions
  • Drainage Districts
  • Irrigation Districts
  • Regional Airport Authorities
  • School Divisions under the Education Act
  • Northland School Division
  • Comprehensive Community Colleges
  • Polytechnic Institutions
  • Universities
  • The Banff Centre
  • Regional Health Authorities
  • Non-profit Corporations that own approved hospital under the Hospitals Act
  • Non-profit Corporations that own a mental health hospital under the Hospitals Act
  • Provincial Health Boards

Examples of eligible loan purposes

  • Roads, bridges, grading and gravelling
  • Curb, gutter and sidewalk construction
  • Culverts
  • Hard surfacing  subdivision services
  • Landfill expansion and development
  • Vehicles
  • Equipment
  • Fire and ambulance equipment
  • Computer hardware and software
  • Transit
  • Airport infrastructure
  • Land purchases
  • Buildings
  • Irrigation and drainage
  • Utility infrastructure (water, sewer, gas, electric)
  • Energy retrofits

How to apply

See upcoming loan dates and application deadlines.

See specific application requirements related to your authority type below.

A separate loan application is required for each individual capital project. The Government of Alberta may request any other information or documentation from time to time. If you have not previously borrowed with us, please contact us for further information.

Application documents

All applicants are required to submit documents according to their authority type and as detailed in their respective loan application forms.

All applicants must submit the following documents:

  1. Loan Application
  2. Authorized Borrowing Bylaw or Resolution (Certified true copy) (see footnote 1)
  3. Most recent audited financial statement
  4. Loan calculator schedule

and the following additional documents as required for your specific borrowing situation.

Additional required application documents

Documents Munici-
palities		 Regional Service Commissions Post-Secondary Institutions School Boards Health Authorities
Debt Limit Worksheet and supporting documents
(See footnote 2)		          
Financial Information
Return		          
Master Loan Agreement
(See footnote 3)		          
Business Case
(See footnote 4)		          
Ministerial Approval (as applicable)
(See footnote 5)		          
Credit Review Documents
(See footnotes 6, 7)		          

Footnotes:

  1. Borrowing bylaw templates for municipal borrowing are provided in the forms section. For all other borrowers, you may also use the bylaw templates as a reference. However, all borrowers are advised to ensure compliance with their respective Acts and/or Regulations to ensure borrowing is properly authorized. Municipal borrowing bylaws must be advertised in accordance with the Municipal Governance Act. An example timeline (PDF, 113 KB) is available for information. However, please refer to the current version of the Municipal Governance Act to be sure you meet all advertising requirements.
  2. Provide support for all figures in the appropriate Debt Limit Worksheet in the forms section, including repayment schedules for all bank loans and/or capital leases for current calendar year, showing payment dates and breakdown of principal and interest amounts, details of loan guarantees (as applicable).
  3. Municipal and service commission borrowers are required to provide either a Master Loan Agreement or Amended and Restated Master Loan Agreement, as applicable (see the forms section).
  4. Business Case or Opportunity Paper including project details, financial analysis and cash flow projections, basis of assumptions, etc.
  5. For municipalities or regional services commissions exceeding their regulated debt or debt service limit, approval of the Minister of Municipal Affairs is required. For Education and Health borrowers, approval of their ministry is required.
  6. Credit review documents: for those municipalities or service commissions within 25% of debt or debt service limit, the following additional documents are required:
    • Include last 3 years’ Audited Financial Statements and Financial Information Returns; and
    • next 3 – 5 years’ operating and capital budgets.
  7. Regional services commissions established after January 1, 2011 must provide evidence that its membership agreements include a ‘take or pay’ clause.

Forms and templates

Trouble opening or completing PDF forms?

Fillable forms do not open properly on some mobile devices and web browsers. If the form doesn't open, or you can't complete the form, or you see a "please wait" message, follow these steps to complete and save fillable forms from the Loans to Local Authorities Office:

  1. Right-click on the form link and select "Save Target As" or "Save Link As", and save the form to your computer.
  2. Launch Adobe Reader.
  3. Open the PDF from within Adobe Reader. You can now fill and save your form.

Loan applications

Master Loan Agreements

Amended and Restated Master Loan Agreements

Calculation tools

Payment forms

Templates

Municipalities

Regional Services Commissions

Historical annual reports

Previously, loans to local authorities were administered through the Alberta Capital Finance Authority (ACFA), and prior to that, the Alberta Municipal Financing Corporation (AMFC). The mission of these non-profit corporations was to provide shareholders within the Province of Alberta with flexible funding for capital projects on a prudent basis. The ACFA was dissolved in 2020 and the function continued through the Loans to Local Authorities Office. These reports are provided for information and historical purposes.

Contact

Connect with the Loans to Local Authorities Office:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-427-9711
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

Address:
Treasury Board and Finance
Treasury and Risk Management
8th Floor, Queen Elizabeth II Building
9820 107 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta  T5K 1E9

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