The Alberta government said Wednesday it will not be cutting low-income transit pass funding.
In a statement, Jason Nixon, the minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, said following conversations with the mayors of Edmonton and Calgary the province will continue to fund the program.
“It is clear that the cities are not able to pay for their full programs at this time,” Nixon said. “As a result, Alberta’s government will continue to extend this funding to the cities and work with them to ensure their low-income transit program continues to be funded in the future.
“Alberta’s government understands the need to support low-income Albertans. That’s why we provide direct transit subsidies to Albertans on income support and AISH in communities across the province, including Calgary and Edmonton.”
On Tuesday, the mayors of both Calgary and Edmonton issued statements addressing the issue.
The province has been funding low-income transit passes in both cities since 2017. Originally, Calgary and Edmonton each received $4.5 million to fund their respective programs.
In 2023, both cities received almost $6 million each to fund low-income transit passes. An additional $1.7 million was announced to start similar programs in other municipalities.
In Edmonton, over 250,000 passes were sold in 2023, an increase of around 20 per cent compared with 2019. In Calgary, the low-income transit pass program was used nearly 119,000 times from January to March this year.
“Yesterday’s decision by the UCP to pull funding from the Calgary and Edmonton low-income transit subsidy program was extremely cruel and Albertans were rightfully outraged by this decision,” said NDP transportation critic Lorne Dach.
When Global News asked for comment on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services did not provide details about funding for low-income transit passes but instead shared information about other programs, adding transit is a municipal responsibility in Edmonton and Calgary. The ministry also reiterated its commitment to invest over $800 million for LRT projects in Edmonton and $600 million in Calgary.
— with files from Paula Tran, Global News.
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