Changes to Industrial Property Assessment in Alberta – Bill 28

Submitted by: Lauren Sky, PwC Canada, Calgary, AB 

Bill 28, the Municipal Affairs and Housing Statutes Amendment Act, 2026, passed and received royal assent on May 14, 2026. This Bill results in amendments to sections 293, 295, 298, 322, and 499 of the Municipal Government Act (RSA 2000, c M-26).  The full text of the Bill can be reviewed here:

https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_31/session_2/20251023_bill-028.pdf

Material amendments included in Bill 28 are briefly summarized below.

  • Section 293 (Equity): provisions added regarding the application of equity in assessment of designated industrial property (“DIP”) and machinery and equipment (“M&E”).
  • Section 295 (Requests for Information): provisions added to impose administrative penalties “where the Minister is of the opinion that a person has failed to provide the information requested by the provincial assessor…”
  • Section 499(2) (Tribunal Procedure): provision added that the Tribunal must dismiss a complaint from a person referred to in section 295(4) [a person who has failed to provide information requested by the assessor within 60 days of the request]
  • Section 322(1): provisions added allowing the Minister to make regulations:
    • respecting DIP and M&E, including regulations to create categories on any basis the Minister considers appropriate, processes for assigning categories to DIP or M&E, and respecting valuation standards to be applied to each category of DIP and M&E.
    • Respecting applications of previous valuation standards and procedures, with or without modifications, to the assessment of DIP and M&E, including distinguishing between comparable property on the basis of the date of their previous or current assessments and the use of previous assessments to prepare assessments of DIP and M&E, notwithstanding the current valuation standards and procedures.
    • Respecting administrative penalties in respect of requests for information.

The CPTA Western Chapter provided commentary to the Minister by way of a formal letter on the proposed amendments in April 2026. We advised that the CPTA Western Chapter was opposed to the changes due to negative impacts on taxpayer rights to fairness and equity, the erosion of rights of review particularly in industrial assessment, and the imposition of penalty provisions which are considered punitive and vague and without sufficient protections for due process.