Alberta is the richest province in the country — except where it really counts

It’s not often that you see the Fraser Institute and a major public sector union agree on anything, much less a data point that could portray a Conservative government in a negative light. But when it comes to per-student education funding, both the right-wing advocacy group and the Alberta Teachers’ Association are saying the same thing: the richest province in the country is spending the least. So much for that “Alberta advantage.”

The Alberta government wants the public to believe a very different story, of course. As Premier Danielle Smith’s chief of staff Patrick Malkin said on social media , “Alberta already has record funding and new classroom supports, and teachers are seeing those benefits.” But education funding is always going to be at “record” levels in a provin