Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides says he hopes the investment will send a message to teachers that the government is committed to listening to their concerns.--Image YourAlberta YouTube
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
The Government of Alberta announced Wednesday that education funding in the forthcoming budget will total $10.8 billion, a seven per cent increase over Budget 2025.
The $722-million increase will mainly be used to obtain more staff, but other major investments will support programs to address growing complexity in the classroom.
“Our government remains firmly committed to fiscal responsibility, and this deficit has forced us to make some tough decisions, but investing in the next generation of Albertans remains the utmost priority for our government,” said Premier Danielle Smith at a press conference Wednesday.
Smith and Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides framed the increase in spending as a response to the historic teacher strike in October.
“We had probably the largest expression of teacher voices just a few months back, so we were able to listen carefully to some of those concerns and take additional steps,” said Nicolaides.
Nicolaides said the funding will be used to hire 1,600 teachers in the next year, part of a larger hiring initiative that aims to add 5,000 new teachers, educational assistants and support staff over the next three years.
At a press conference Wednesday, Alberta Teachers Association president Jason Schilling described the funding announcement as a major success for Alberta teachers.
“In my seven years as president, I have not witnessed such a significant investment into our schools, one that is a meaningful step forward towards addressing the challenging learning conditions that have hindered our students and teachers for far too long.”
Schilling said he is pleasantly surprised by the scale of the government’s investment, but his optimism is cautious.
“Quite honestly, given the track record of this government and the way they have underfunded public education, I was expecting less. I was expecting the bare minimum.
“However, an investment on paper is just the beginning.”
Some of the funding announced Wednesday is directed toward addressing complexities Smith says stem from the growth of immigration to the province over the last four years.
The spending also includes $20 million to support reading and math programs for moderate language delay and English as an additional language students, representing a year-over-year increase of 60 per cent.
Smith says the English-language learning population grew from 47,000 in 2022 to over 100,000 in 2025.
Funding is set to reach $11.5 billion by 2028-29, a figure Schilling says represents the national average for education spending.
Alberta had previously invested the lowest funding per student in Canada. Schilling says it will take some time to repair the trust damaged by the UCP government’s use of the notwithstanding clause last fall.
Nicolaides says he hopes teachers see the funding increase as a measure of good faith.
“I do firmly believe it can be a strong demonstration of our intent to listen and respond effectively to the challenges we’re seeing.”
Schilling says there was no direct conversations between the ATA and the government during the formulation of this budget, but he believes October’s labour action has produced these results.
“Conversations with the association didn’t happen in terms of creating this budget, but it is something that we are constantly talking to government about. So maybe finally, when they say they heard us, that might just in fact be true.”
The school construction accelerator project has fast-tracked a total of 42 projects since its rollout in September 2024. The premier said more than 120 school projects are underway.
Smith and Nicolaides announced a $143-million investment in complexity teams earlier this month, which will send additional staff into 476 high-priority K-6 classrooms.
Budget 2026 will invest $355 million to address classroom complexity. Smith says $55 million will go to a classroom complexity grant that will be available to all school divisions, including students at the Grades 6 to 12 level.
