Alberta's population has grown rapidly in the last few years, and this population growth has led to enrolment pressures on Alberta schools. Since 2020, student enrolment has grown by almost 89,000 students, and school authorities, particularly in the Edmonton and Calgary metro areas, are expecting continued growth in the 2025-26 school year.
Budget 2025, if passed, will tackle the challenge of rising enrolments head-on with an investment of $1.1 billion over three years to address enrolment growth. This funding will allow school authorities to hire more than 4,000 teachers, education assistants and support staff over the next three years, so students can receive more of the focused time and attention they need.
"Over the next three years, we plan to invest an extra $1.1 billion into our education system. This funding will help hire more teachers, reduce class sizes and get more support staff into our schools. Our students deserve the best and Budget 2025 will make sure they get it."
Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Education
Budget 2025, if passed, also includes $55 million in classroom complexity funding, a 20 per cent funding rate increase over the previous year. These funds for classroom complexity empower school authorities to bring more resources into classrooms by hiring additional educational assistants, teachers, counsellors, psychologists and interpreters.
The classroom complexity funding is part of more than $1.6 billion in learning support funding grants that will be available to school authorities in the 2025-26 fiscal year. These grants provide funds for school authorities to support students with specialized learning needs, as well as groups of students who may need additional learning support, such as refugee students and those learning English as an additional language, and program unit funding.
These Budget 2025 investments bring more resources into Alberta classrooms as part of a record $9.88 billion operating investment in education for the 2025-26 fiscal year, an increase of $426 million.
"Budget 2025 recognizes the realities of growing school divisions like Edmonton Catholic Schools. We strongly advocated for a change to the funding formula, and this new two-year funding model will bring greater stability for us as we continue to experience unprecedented growth."
Sandra Palazzo, board chair, Edmonton Catholic Schools
"Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) appreciates government's responsiveness to feedback from our public, catholic and francophone member school boards on enrolment pressures, rising costs and increasing classroom complexity. This funding will help school divisions provide much-needed resources to support student success. We look forward to boards receiving the funding manual and operational funding profiles."
Marilyn Dennis, president, Alberta School Boards Association
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on supporting the economy.
Quick facts
Other highlights of Education's budget that benefit schools and students include:
- A new funding model, based on a two-year enrolment average.
- 30 per cent of funding will be based on the current year's enrolment and 70 per cent based on the upcoming year's projected enrolment.
- The new model is projected to increase funding to school authorities by $242.8 million over three years.
- Increasing grant rates by 2.32 per cent to:
- Program Unit Funding (PUF)
- Specialized Learning Support Grant
- Moderate Language Delay Grant
- English as an Additional Language
- Francisation
- First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Education
- Refugee Student
- Socio-Economic Status Grant
- Geographic Grant
- School Nutrition Grant
- Transportation Grant
- Increasing funding for operations and maintenance, including new funding to help rural school authorities maintain their buildings more effectively.
- Increasing the francophone equivalency grant by 25 per cent.
- Increasing SuperNet funding by 20 per cent.
- A new School Technology Grant to help strengthen cybersecurity at schools.
- The Funding Manual for School Authorities 2025-26 School Year and projected operational funding profiles are expected to be released by early April, providing school authorities with their funding information for the coming year.
Related information
