How Much Of Our Property Taxes Goes Towards Education
- pritimama .
- Oct 11
- 2 min read
That’s a really good question — and it’s one that often causes confusion because your property tax bill includes an “education property tax,” but the money doesn’t actually stay with the City of Calgary.
Education Property Tax — the Basics
In Alberta, a portion of your property taxes is collected by the City on behalf of the Province to fund K–12 education.
The provincial government (Alberta Education) sets the rate each year — not the City of Calgary.
The City simply collects that portion and then forwards it directly to the Province.
So even though it shows up on your city tax bill, it isn’t used for local city services like roads or police.
How Much Is It?
On average, about 30–35% of your total property tax bill goes to education (the exact number changes slightly each year).
For example:
In 2024, the City of Calgary reported that roughly 34% of the typical residential property tax bill went to the provincial education levy.
The remaining 66% stayed with the City for municipal services (police, fire, transit, roads, etc.).
📄 Source: City of Calgary 2024 Property Tax Breakdown
Where That Money Goes
The province pools the education tax collected from all Alberta municipalities into a provincial education fund.
Alberta Education then allocates those funds to public, Catholic, and francophone school boards across the province, based on enrolment and need — not by how much each city contributed.
So, Calgary might contribute more than it directly receives back, depending on demographics and provincial funding formulas.
Public vs Separate School Declaration
When you get your property assessment notice, you’ll see a question asking whether you support:
Public School System (Calgary Board of Education), or
Separate (Catholic) School System (Calgary Catholic School District).
That designation doesn’t change how much you pay — only which system your portion of the provincial tax is assigned to.
