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Budget 2015 covers the period from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 corresponding to the 2015-16 fiscal year (FY). Due to the change in government on May 5, this budget replaces the March 2015 budget that was tabled but never passed by the previous government. In this Fact Sheet, Budget 2015 refers to the current budget introduced on October 27, 2015.
Budget 2015 forecasts a deficit of $6.1 billion, an increase of $1.1 billion from March. The larger deficit is due to several factors: reversing Conservative cuts to people services to cover inflation and population growth, a further drop in energy prices below levels forecast in March, and additional costs for forest fires and crop losses due to the summer drought. While the forecast deficit is a record in dollar terms, as a percentage of the overall budget, it is less than half that of budgets in the mid-1980s when there was a similar dramatic decline in energy prices.
Click to download: 2015 Alberta Budget Analysis
