UCP promises `six months of relief'
Many inflation supports to launch in January: affordability minister
The Alberta government unveiled new details of its inflation relief program on Wednesday, including on targeted relief payments, price protections on energy and utilities as well as reindexing tax brackets and programs for low-income Albertans.
The plan calls for a series of legislative and regulatory changes that were largely announced by Premier Danielle Smith in a televised address on Nov. 22.
“This package has been structured to give Albertans six months of relief so that we can evaluate cost of living and inflation over that period so that we can tailor our response to what Albertans need at that time,” Affordability and Utilities Minister Matt Jones said Wednesday.
“This package provides significant immediate relief at a time when Albertans need it the most.”
The government's support plan includes utility rebates, electricity price protection, indexation of personal income, suspension of the provincial fuel tax, and delivery of upcoming targeted relief payments to families, seniors and vulnerable Albertans.
The province claims it provides $2.8 billion in relief across three fiscal years, with the strong majority of the funding coming in the first two.
Jones said the legislative and regulatory amendments needed to implement the package should be complete by next month.
“We intend to have the majority of the supports rolling out in January,” he said. “We will pass the regulations as soon as possible so we can get this relief to Albertans.”
Opposition Leader Rachel Notley had previously described the package as a plan designed on the “back of the napkin.”
“It speaks to me of a plan that was very quickly rolled out,” she said last month, adding the benefits are spread unequally among Albertans with youth among those excluded.
Many of the changes are included in the government's Bill 2, the Inflation Relief Statutes Amendment Act which passed first reading Wednesday.
RELIEF PAYMENTS COMING `EARLY NEXT YEAR'
Part of the package includes relief payments of $100 per month for six months directed to seniors and families with dependent children under 18 years of age with household incomes below $180,000 per year.
Jones wouldn't commit to an exact date for the payments but said to expect them some time “early next year.”
Benefits for those on Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH), Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD), and Alberta income support are slated to be reindexed to account for inflation, with benefits set to increase by six per cent.
AISH and Income Support clients will see this increase on their Dec. 22 payment for January with seniors benefits increasing on the Jan. 25 payment.
Jones added seniors and vulnerable Albertans already on core government support programs would receive the relief payments automatically.
Those not on the programs will have to apply through a government portal, though details on timing are still being worked out, Jones said.
The Alberta Child and Family Benefit will likewise be reindexed, with the per-child amounts growing by six per cent effective January 2023, up to $120 for one child, $198 for two children and to $260 and $307 for those with three and four children respectively.
Personal income tax brackets for all Albertans are also being reindexed, increasing 2.3 per cent (to $19,814 from $19,369) for 2022 and up to six per cent for 2023, bringing the basic personal allowable amount to $21,003.
The government claims the change will result in 80,000 to 95,000 Albertans paying no provincial personal income tax by 2023.
GAS TAX REBATE
The government also revealed its plans to change the Fuel Tax Act to suspend the 13-cents-per-litre tax on gasoline and diesel from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2023.
Unlike a prior version of the program, the suspension would not be contingent on the price of oil.
The details on oil price thresholds and how the reduction is calculated will be outlined in a regulation.
The earliest date the government would start to reinstate collection, or partial collection, would be July 1.
After that date, the government indicated it would revert to a quarterly review of the gas tax suspension with more relief to be offered whenever the average price of oil rises above US$80 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate (WTI).
UTILITY REBATES
Also Wednesday, the government announced its plan to amend the Regulated Rate Option (RRO) Act.
Among the changes is a threemonth price ceiling of 13.5 cents/ kwh to apply between January and March.
The government says it will fund that part of the program by offering interest-free loans to RRO providers to support the deferrals.
Those loans would be paid back through future RRO rates from April 1, 2023, to the end of 2024.
The government also promised to extend its electricity rebate program for another four months, resulting in $200 in relief with $75 in each of January and February and $25 in March and April.
The Natural Gas Price Protection Program will also continue through the end of March.