Pipelines and free national park entries are items from the federal budget attracting a lot of attention from Albertans, but there’s still concern about funding priorities that are missing. Budget 2026 outlines $142 billion in new measures including projects benefitting Alberta’s energy sector, but a minor community centre expansion is the only money set aside specifically for Calgary. READ MORE: ‘Laughable’: Not enough earmarked for Calgary in federal budget, Farkas says While nationwide funding will support housing and infrastructure, it’s unclear how it will be divided. “As it stands, it’s almost comically vague in terms of the details. But that said, I could be proven wrong,” Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas told reporters on Thursday. Calgary faces a $52-billion infrastructure deficit over the next decade after overhauling its water and wastewater systems following the impacts of burst pipes including the Bearspaw South Feeder Main. “We need that federal and provincial participation to be able to catch up on and keep our water utility safe and reliable,” Farkas added. But despite Farkas’s disappointment, many Albertans are pleased however about clear support for energy projects including the Pacific Link pipeline. “(I’m) really impressed with it. I think this budget signals Canada is open for investment and supports the energy sector,” said Enserva President and CEO Gurpreet Lail. “Our only flag is that the projects are wrapping up really quickly and we don’t have enough labour to fill that gap.” Environmental advocates, meanwhile, say many of the projects are short-sighted. “There’s going to be no market, there cannot be a market because we have to get off fossil fuels to fight climate change and people can save money by getting off of fossil fuels. That’s the strategy that we need,” said Keith Brooks, program director with Environmental Defence. Affordability measures in the budget include $36 billion for the productivity mega deduction which aims to attract investment at home by allowing local businesses to write-off some new capital expenses. It will have a big effect in Alberta, according to University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe. “In this province, I estimate the overall average tax on investment or purchases of machinery and equipment and so on was about 11 per cent. With this deduction, it’s about two per cent,” Tombe said. Also in the budget is $76 million to renew the Canada Strong Pass, which for a third summer will allow free access to national parks and historic sites. That announcement comes as many Alberta mountain parks are already strained, and Parks Canada faces hundreds of upcoming job losses. “What’s the strategy here when you’ve got a program incentivizing more folks to come here for free and once they get here there’s going to be less service to support these visitors and their experience,” said Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno. She said a Canada Strong Pass which offers free entry in the spring or fall or only during the evenings in Banff National Park could encourage guests at times when the area isn’t already congested.
