Working to address unpaid oil and gas taxes

March 16, 2026 Media inquiries

A new report outlines steps the province and municipalities can take to reduce and prevent unpaid oil and gas property taxes.

The report is the result of the Property Tax Accountability Strategy (PTAS) working group, which comprised Alberta’s government, the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), and rural municipal administrators, with support from representatives of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the oil and gas industry as observers. The report makes 17 recommendations aimed at recovering unpaid taxes from companies that are still operating and reducing future unpaid taxes.

The recommendations include integrating property taxes into the AER’s mandate and enabling the regulator to act faster and with stronger tools when companies fail to meet their tax obligations. They also call for improved data access for municipalities and increased data collection to better monitor the issue.

“Unpaid taxes put an unfair burden on Alberta taxpayers, who end up footing the bill or seeing their services reduced. Our government is focused on working with our municipal and industry partners to improve the way we address unpaid taxes to benefit them and taxpayers alike. This is a great example of government listening to industry and stakeholders and charting a path forward together.”

Dan Williams, Minister of Municipal Affairs