Financial Statutes Amendment Act, SA 2023 c3
Amended
- Alberta Corporate Tax Act, RSA 2000 cA-15
- Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Act, RSA 2000 cA-23
- Alberta Personal Income Tax Act, RSA 2000 cA-30
- Alberta Personal Income Tax (Charitable and Other Gifts) Amendment Act, SA 2022 c18
- Business Corporations Act, RSA 2000 cB-9
- Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act, RSA 2000 cC-12
- Credit Union Act, RSA 2000 cC-32
- Debtors’ Assistance Act, RSA 2000 cD-6
- Fiscal Planning and Transparency Act, SA 2015 cF-14.7
- Horse Racing Alberta Act, RSA 2000 cH-11.3
- Infrastructure Accountability Act, SA 2021 cI-1.6
- Insurance Act, RSA 2000 cI-3
- Investing in a Diversified Alberta Economy Act, SA 2016 cI-10.5
- Local Government Fiscal Framework Act, SA 2019 cL-21.5
- Post-secondary Learning Act, SA 2003 cP-19.5
- Public Education Collective Bargaining Act, SA 2015 cP-36.5
- Securities Act, RSA 2000 cS-4
Summary
The Financial Statutes Amendment Act amended seventeen acts by making mostly consequential amendments. The following are notable:
Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Amendment Act
The Treasury Board must now approve the transfer of money from the General Revenue Fund to the Heritage Fund for the 2021‑2022 and subsequent fiscal years.
Alberta Corporate Tax Act
In addition to the corporation’s maximum expenditure limit for the year, the amount of any agri-processing investment tax credit deducted by the corporation in the taxation year must be converted to the functional currency at the average exchange rate for the purposes of determining a corporation’s Canadian tax results in a taxation year that is a functional currency year of the corporation for the year.
Alberta Personal Income Tax Act
The Act increases the maximum amount of child adoption credit from $13,247 to $18,210.
Alberta Personal Income Tax (Charitable and Other Gifts) Amendment Act
The Act enables the changes to Alberta’s charitable tax credit rate to retroactively come into effect on January 1, 2023.
Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act
The Director may provide health benefits for an adopted child who was placed for adoption by a licensed adoption agency, except in respect of an adopted child in an intercountry adoption, a child adopted by their step-parent or a direct adoption by an adoptive parent from the child’s guardian.
To determine or audit the eligibility or continuing eligibility for health benefits, a director may seek, verify, collect, use, and disclose personal information.
Credit Union Act
The Act:
- allows credit unions to accept deposits from, make loans to, or guarantee the obligations of non-members and non-resident members if the total funds do not exceed amounts allowed by regulations;
- amends the notice period for general meetings from a maximum of 40 to 50 days;
- allows credit unions to determine the frequency of the intervals at which they collect interest on loans;
- exempts credit unions in cases of amalgamations from the required common share redemption limit of 10%; and
- authorizes the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation to set standards for the recurrence and content of financial and statistical related reporting requirements for credit unions. The standards are exempt from the Regulations Act, but the Corporation must ensure that the reports are published in such a form that they are likely to be available to persons likely to be affected by them.
Horse Racing Alberta Act
Membership of the Horse Racing Alberta board has been increased from 14 to 15 with one person being a non-voting member. There are now four public members. The Board must establish three-member appeal panels to deal with a particular matter or class or group of matters and designate a member to chair each panel. The Appeal Tribunals may hold in-person hearings as well as virtual hearings.
Investing in a Diversified Alberta Economy Act
A new agri-processing tax credit program was created.
Post-Secondary Learning Act
A cap on tuition increases was instituted for domestic students at most public post-secondary institutions in accordance with the regulations or 2% for 2024-25 and future academic years.
Practitioners are advised to review the Financial Statutes Amendment Act to determine how the amendments affect their practice.
In Force: December 15, 2022 (with exceptions)