To improve reporting on resolution advocacy, the RMA is releasing a monthly bulletin highlighting recent actions undertaken on select active resolutions
The Monthly Resolution Update Bulletin is a way of routinely highlighting a selection of the over 70 currently active resolutions, offering members a more detailed insight into the work being carried out on their behalf. For the latest formal statuses and reactions to all resolutions, view the RMA’s Resolutions Database.
The August 2025 edition of the Monthly Resolution Update Bulletin features the following resolutions:
Resolution 1-23F: Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program Funding
RMA members endorsed Resolution 1-23F: Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program Funding at the Fall 2023 Convention. The Resolution emphasizes to the Government of Alberta (GOA) the critical service that rural roads and bridges provide to both local communities and important industries that operate in them. This expansive network connects communities and industry to the rest of the province and, indeed, the country. The importance of these routes cannot be overstated, and funding levels through programs like the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP) should match this importance.
The RMA Final Report and Recommendations on Rural Municipal Infrastructure Deficit found that Alberta’s rural municipal road portfolio had a functional deficit of $11.99 billion in 2024, while bridges held an additional deficit of $2.29 billion. These substantial amounts reflect concerns raised by resolution 1-23F. The 2025 Alberta Budget allocated only $2.5 billion through the Local Government Fiscal Framework program (LGFF), which may be used for road and bridge infrastructure projects – and is allocated across all municipalities, rural and urban -, but only $127 million over three years through STIP. This amount lacks the ability to address the concerns raised in the RMA Report.
However, RMA has been working with the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors (TEC) to address funding and allocation issues. TEC and RMA are currently developing a report assessing and reviewing the qualification framework for programs such as STIP and LGFF with the goal to improve the process to efficiently maintain essential infrastructure including roads and bridges. It is RMA’s goal that recommendations that flow from the report’s findings will address the funding needs of rural communities.
RMA members endorsed Resolution 14-24F: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Coverage for Community Peace Officers Under the Workers’ Compensation Act at the Fall 2024 Convention. Urban municipalities sponsored an identical resolution through ABmunis. The RMA resolution highlighted that although Community Peace Officers – many of whom are employed by municipalities – have similar responsibilities to other first responders and regularly face high risk traumatic incidents that could lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they are not considered first responders or awarded the same presumed PTSD protection under the Workers Compensation Act. This special protection, proposed in the resolution for Community Peace Officers (CPOs), means that when other first responders, including police officers or paramedics, are diagnosed with PTSD, they are not required to prove that their PTSD is a result of their work. Presumed coverage results in system efficiencies and would help CPOs get the help they need sooner.
RMA partnered with ABmunis and the Alberta Association of Community Peace Officers (AACPO) to advocate for this change. To date, the organizations have sent a letter to the Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade, released a joint infographic, shared a response to the Minister’s letter outlining evidence around presumed coverage in other provinces and territories, the trauma CPOs regularly witness, and how presumed coverage is the best known practice to get first responders the help they need. Minister Schow was appointed the Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade, and Immigration in May 2025. As a result of this submission, Minister Schow requested a meeting with our organizations to learn more in July 2025. RMA, ABmunis, and AACPO presented a strong case for why CPOs deserve this coverage. In the upcoming months, work will continue to supply Minister Schow with the appropriate evidence for why this protection is needed.
Stay tuned for future editions of the Monthly Resolution Update Bulletin, where RMA will continue to feature updates on selected resolutions.
Warren Noga
Manager of Policy and Research
825.319.2285
warren@rmalberta.com