Calgary, December 5, 2025 – Following the passage of Edmonton’s 2026 Budget, Kayode Southwood, Alberta Senior Policy Advisor for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), issued the following statement:
“CFIB is disappointed in Edmonton’s new city council for passing a 6.9% property tax increase in the 2026 budget. City Council needed to find efficiencies, and they left Edmontonians holding the bag instead. City Council is starting off on the wrong foot, with a property tax increase that neglects the reality of the affordability issues facing the city’s businesses, and citizens.”
“It’s disappointing to see so few councillors exercise fiscal restraint. In a pre-election survey of CFIB’s Edmonton members, we saw that nearly 9 in 10 (87%) Edmonton small businesses believed their municipal council had not paid enough attention to small business issues, and less than a quarter (19%) believed their business was treated fairly by Edmonton’s municipal government. This budget will only worsen that sentiment.”
“Currently, businesses pay a property tax rate over three times more than residents. As a result, businesses pay almost half (45%) of the city’s property taxes, despite only making up 22% of its property value. Edmonton small businesses also view this ratio as unfair, with only 15% believing they receive a fair value in services given the taxes they pay. Ahead of the budget, CFIB recommended a 2% annual property tax shift for four years (8% total) to reduce property tax unfairness. Doing so would have provided business owners with valuable cost savings, 20 times greater than the cost to residential properties.”
“Not only did Council increase spending, they blew through the 6.4% property tax increase which was approved by previous council. Edmonton’s small businesses can’t take much more property tax burden, and they are looking at more competitive jurisdictions outside of Edmonton where they won’t be penalized. Edmonton wants to increase its tax base and incentivize business downtown. This is not how its done.”
For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Kayode Southwood, CFIB
403-489-7595
Kayode.Southwood@cfib.ca
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members (10,000 in Alberta) across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.
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