Where’s the Alberta Advantage?

Budget 2026 missed the mark for small businesses. 81% say reducing the overall tax burden should be a high priority for the provincial government in 2026.

CFIB Victory

You asked, CFIB delivered!

Alberta introduced a NEW personal tax bracket of 8% (down from 10%).

Small Business Tax Rate (SBTR)

The Small Business Tax Rate has remained unchanged since 2017 and Alberta SMEs have been left behind!

Reducing the SBTR to 0% would mean up to $10,000 in savings for the average small business!

Thanks to CFIB advocacy, Manitoba has an SBTR of 0%, and Saskatchewan and PEI have an SBTR of 1%! AND Ontario is lowering their small business tax rate by over 30%!

Image shows a pie chart illustrating that if the SBTR is eliminated, the cost to AB government is $312 million and the remaining AB government revenue is $74.1 billion.

Education Property Tax

This year’s provincial Education Property Tax increase is unsustainable!

Businesses make up 17% of property tax assessments.

BUT they pay 33% of the property taxes.

2 pie charts illustrating the fact that businesses make up 17% of property tax assessments (83% other property assessments) BUT that they pay 33% of the property taxes (67% other property taxes).

DID YOU KNOW? Albertans are also paying a 4% Insurance Premium Tax!

Lowering the insurance premium tax rate by 2% will save taxpayers $372M in insurance costs.

IT’S TIME WE RECLAIM THE ALBERTA ADVANTAGE!

Premier Smith and Minister Horner,

CC: My member of the legislative assembly,

As an Alberta small business owner, I am calling on the Premier to recognize the real pressures we face: rising costs, labour shortages, and economic uncertainty.

Budget 2026 increased the deficit while raising education property taxes, directly increasing operating costs for small businesses. Despite claims of tax competitiveness, Alberta’s small business tax environment is falling behind, making it harder to grow, hire, and plan for the future.

When nearly half of small business owners say they would discourage their children from becoming entrepreneurs, it’s clear that meaningful small business tax relief is essential to protect Alberta jobs and our province’s economic future.

To help keep my business competitive and grow Alberta’s economy I am calling on you to:

  • Reduce the small business tax rate to 0% and increase the threshold to $700,000, indexed to inflation.
  • Cancel the $0.17 increase per $1000 assessment and rebalance the education property tax.
  • Reduce the insurance premium tax to 2%.
  • Introduce a small business property tax subclass taxed 20% lower than other non-residential properties.
CFIB logo

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 103,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings.