The Alberta Construction Association (ACA) today released its response to Budget 2026, highlighting the importance of workforce capacity, capital certainty, and procurement reform in sustaining Alberta’s economic momentum.
Representing over 3,000 construction employers across Alberta’s industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) sectors, ACA acknowledges government efforts to balance fiscal discipline with continued investment in priority infrastructure.
“Budget 2026 arrives at a pivotal moment,” said Jen Hancock, Chair of the Alberta Construction Association. “Alberta’s population growth, major-project pipeline, and national economic role demand a construction sector that is skilled, modern, and ready. The budget’s direction should support both workforce capacity and capital certainty over the short-term. However, more work will be needed on long-term economic sustainability for future infrastructure projects.”
Alberta’s Growth Pressures Are Structural
Alberta continues to experience record population growth, with over 202,000 new residents in 2023 alone. This growth is placing sustained pressure on schools, healthcare facilities, and municipal infrastructure.
At the same time, BuildForce Canada projects the need for 59,000 additional workers over the next decade, including 43,400 retirements — resulting in a potential shortfall of 15,400 skilled workers if additional action is not taken.
These workforce pressures coincide with major industrial and national initiatives, including energy corridor upgrades, hydrogen and CCUS development, critical minerals, and defence-related infrastructure.
ACA Priorities for Budget 2026
- Strengthening Workforce Capacity
Alberta’s construction labour market faces a structural deficit driven by retirements and demand acceleration.
- ACA appreciates the funding towards the Apprenticeship Learning Grant to support increased seat capacity. Predictable, multi-year apprenticeship funding aligned with employer demand is needed to continue to build our province.
- Ongoing investment in skilled trades facilities is a priority to grow Alberta’s skilled workforce. ACA supports ongoing investment in NAIT’s Advanced Skills Centre.
- However, we are concerned that Northwestern Polytechnic’s Skilled Trades Centre may not be going ahead in Budget 2026.
- ACA will continue to work with industry partners and Advanced Education to develop the Alberta Trades Discovery Centre model, including a northern hub in Edmonton.
- We will also continue to encourage more reinforcement of programs to support understanding and transition into construction careers, such as Honour the Work, Dual Credit, RAP, and Trade Pathways.
- Encouraged to see programs that support workforce development, training and upskilling initiatives and the attraction and retention of skilled immigrants, especially into construction related professions.
- We look forward to seeing the details of these programs over the coming year.
“Workforce investment is not discretionary spending — it is economic infrastructure,” Jen added. “Without scalable training, mentorship, and immigration alignment, Alberta risks project delays, cost escalation, and lost competitiveness.”
2. Capital Investment Certainty
Stable, disciplined, multi-year capital planning enables companies to retain skilled workers, hire apprentices, and invest in productivity improvements. Volatility in project scheduling disrupts workforce planning and undermines long-term productivity. In our Budget submission to the government, ACA emphasized:
- Predictable multi-year capital plans developed in partnership with industry.
- Increased capital maintenance and renewal funding to reduce Alberta’s infrastructure deficit.
- Alignment of infrastructure funding with growth pressures experienced by local and regional authorities.
We are encouraged that there was a $2.2 Billion increase to Alberta’s Capital Plan growing to $28.3 Billion over the next three years.
- K-12 schools saw an increase of $712 million totaling $3.3 Billion to construct roughly 160 projects across the province.
- Additionally, there was an increase of $454 million from Budget 2025 for Capital Maintenance and Renewal. This totals $4.2 Billion to upgrade or maintain capital assets such as health facilities, schools and government facilities.
- ACA commends the government for the continued investment in infrastructure CMR.
- Of interest, there were very few new capital projects announced, and it is something that we will continue to encourage projects to continue to move forward. This continued momentum will enable employment within the industry building the province.
- ACA will continue to work with the province to develop a funding formula that can have long term predictability for our industry.
3. Procurement and Contract Modernization
Procurement reform remains a key lever in improving project outcomes. Compressed tender timelines, inconsistent practices across ministries, and disproportionate risk transfer can elevate costs and discourage bidder participation.
ACA has been working with the province on these outcomes, including:
- Enabling greater regional participation opportunities on upcoming tenders.
- Fair risk allocation aligned with the party best able to manage that risk.
- Procurement models that support digital project delivery and innovation
We are pleased with much of the progress being made at industry tables, such as the Industry Liaison Committee where ACA is a co-Chair. We look forward to new modernized contracts, and to begin work on procurement initiatives that can ensure fair, open and transparent procurement continues to ensure quality projects are built.
Building Forward Together
Budget 2026 presents an opportunity to position Alberta as a national leader in infrastructure delivery, economic growth, and workforce development.
“The construction industry is foundational to Alberta’s economic strategy,” said Jen Hancock. “With the right policy alignment, workforce scaling, capital predictability, and procurement modernization, Alberta can deliver infrastructure efficiently while strengthening long-term economic resilience.”
The Alberta Construction Association stands ready to collaborate with the Government of Alberta to advance these priorities and build a competitive, future-ready province.
Media Contact:
Warren Singh
Executive Director