FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NISKU, ALBERTA, MARCH 16, 2026 – The Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) and Government of Alberta have released the final report of the Property Tax Accountability Strategy (PTAS). The PTAS was formed in spring 2025 to bring together municipal, government, regulator, and industry representatives to build a common understanding of the municipal impacts of non-payment of property taxes by some oil and gas companies, and develop recommendations to enable the recovery of existing arrears to the fullest extent possible and ensure that companies will be held accountable for paying property taxes moving forward.
“Unpaid property taxes from oil and gas companies have been an RMA advocacy priority for many years. The recommendations in the Property Tax Accountability Strategy provide a path forward to ensure companies are held responsible, and we look forward to working with the Government of Alberta and the Alberta Energy Regulator on implementing the recommendations. The PTAS process shows the power of collaboration in addressing tough policy issues. Sitting at a table with municipal, industry, government, and regulatory leaders allowed us to get on the same page about why the issue matters, why regulatory changes are needed, and how to move forward.” – Kara Westerlund, RMA PresidentThe PTAS final report includes seventeen recommendations divided into five themes. Combined, the recommendations will provide the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) clear authority and tools to take enforcement action against companies on the basis of unpaid taxes, treat unpaid taxes as a factor in evaluating broader industry and regulator performance, strengthen unpaid tax data collection and use, and enhance communication and collaboration between municipalities, the Government of Alberta, and the AER.
“The Property Tax Accountability Strategy recommendations will ensure that tools and processes exist to hold oil and gas companies accountable for paying property taxes. From RMA’s perspective, it was encouraging to hear willingness from government, the AER, and industry in not only ensuring regulatory authority exists to address the issue, but in understanding that this issue matters for municipalities, communities, and all rural residents,” explained Westerlund. “The PTAS recommendations show that government and industry want to work with municipal leaders to build strong rural communities, and companies not fulfilling legal property tax payment obligations will no longer be afforded a free ride.”Due to the unique nature of oil and gas properties, municipal tax recovery tools that are effective for other property types have little impact on compelling payment of taxes on oil and gas properties. As a result, rural municipalities face a cumulative shortfall of over $250 million in unpaid taxes incurred over the past several years. While the Government of Alberta has previously introduced legislative and policy changes intended to strengthen the ability of municipalities and the AER to enforce non-payment, they have had minimal impacts. Bringing all stakeholders together to develop a comprehensive regulatory approach represents a different way of addressing this issue. It shows the benefits of collaboration between provincial and municipal decision-makers to address complex issues with local and provincewide impacts. RMA looks forward to receiving details from the Government of Alberta on implementing the PTAS recommendations in the coming weeks and months.
“Rural communities are the backbone of Alberta’s energy sector, and deserve that taxes owed are taxes collected. I congratulate RMA for their advocacy and the results of the PTAS working group give us a clear path forward to ensuring municipalities have the resources they need to deliver services for their residents.” — Dan Williams, Minister of Municipal Affairs
“I would like to thank Premier Smith, Minister Williams, and Minister Jean for partnering with us to address an issue that has been contentious in the past. Their willingness to acknowledge the problem and understand the impacts from a municipal perspective was crucial to building trust. This led to a fulsome series of recommendations that will involve multiple ministries, regulatory bodies, and municipalities,” stated Westerlund. “I would also like to thank the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada for their participation on PTAS and recognition that this is issue needs to be addressed for the betterment of municipalities and the oil and gas industry. Finally, I would like to thank the Alberta Energy Regulator, Alberta Rural Municipal Administrators Association, Local Government Administrators Association, the County of Newell, Flagstaff County, Big Lakes County, Parkland County, and the County of St. Paul for dedicating significant time and expertise to the PTAS process. This collaborative approach was instrumental to developing recommendations that, if implemented, will lead to change on this crucially important issue.”