The Council is intended to explore the potential use of alternative financing tools to support investment in infrastructure.
On June 23, 2026, Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams announced the formation of a Minister’s Council to explore new tools and approaches for the financing of municipal infrastructure (commonly referred to as “alternative financing tools”).
At this point, no formal information on the Minister’s Council has been made available, and the scope, process, membership, or intended outcomes are not yet known. Based on informal discussions with the Minister’s office, RMA expects to be invited to participate on the Council in the coming days.
While the concept of “alternative financing tools” is broad, it is RMA’s understanding that the Minister’s Council will primarily review and consider changes to how municipalities access and utilize debt financing of infrastructure, as well as opportunities for greater private sector involvement in infrastructure financing through tools such as municipal bonds, private-public partnerships (P3s), asset recycling, and others.
It should be noted that existing work on this issue is underway through a standalone working group formed by BILD Alberta; RMA has been a participant in this working group. It appears that the BILD-led working group will in some way become affiliated with the Minister’s Council. RMA is seeking clarity on the implications of this affiliation and whether the Minister’s Council will focus specifically on alternative financing as it relates to residential development (which is the focus of the current BILD working group). RMA’s expectation is that government-led work on this issue will take place using a municipal perspective, rather than a development industry perspective, as expanded availability of alternative financing tools will impact municipalities much more broadly than in relation to residential development.
While RMA looks forward to participating on the Minister’s Council, it is crucial that its focus be on critically evaluating the relevance of such tools in an Alberta context. RMA’s intent as a Council member will be to ensure a rural lens is used to assess the suitability of all potential tools, and that research and analysis considers how the tools intersect with broader municipal fiscal context, including reductions to grant availability, unpaid oil and gas taxes, and ongoing provincial downloading, as well as how they apply to both high-growth and low-growth municipalities, potential impacts on ICFs and intermunicipal collaboration, and other factors related to the importance of considering alternative financing tools within a broader municipal context.
RMA will share more information on the Council as it becomes available.
For more information, contact RMA’s Policy and Advocacy Team at advocacy@rmalberta.com or 825.319.2383.