Social Policy Trends: Alberta Government Program Spending

Authors

  • Margarita (Gres) Wilkins University of Calgary
  • Ronald D. Kneebone University of Calgary

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v11i0.43451

Abstract

ALBERTA GOVERNMENT PROGRAM SPENDING, ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION AND POPULATION

Since the mid-1990s, the government of Alberta has been unable to keep spending on health care from rising faster than inflation plus the population growth rate.

A fair assessment of how much the provincial government has spent on each Albertan over time requires adjustment of budget data, to remove the effects of inflation and population growth. The data in the graph reflect those adjustments. The data measure, since 1980, how much the government has spent, on average and after adjusting for inflation, on providing health care, education, and social services on each Albertan. We focus on these three areas because they are the three largest spending components for Canadian provinces, including Alberta. The graph also presents data on how much expenditures the government has had to devote to servicing its outstanding debt.

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Published

2018-03-19

Issue

Section

Communiqués