Minister of Finance Joe Ceci announced Monday that the Alberta budget will be unveiled Oct. 27.

Ceci told reporters during a news conference he heard from thousands of Albertans during budget consultations over the last few months.

"There's no question that people are feeling the stress of the drop in global oil prices," he said.

Ceci said the NDP's first budget will outline a plan for jobs and economic growth, while stabilizing public services.

"Now is not the time to make things worse (with) knee-jerk reactions that would result in firing nurses and teachers during these tough economic times," he said.

"People were also clear they want to see a return to balanced budgets."

Ceci said previous governments relied too heavily on resource royalties to fund public programs and he intends to change that.

"It's been a challenge as ... the finance minister to look at other ways to fix that."

Ceci has also said spending would be linked to a revised forecast for the price of oil, but that Albertans won't see massive spending cuts.

As part of the consultations, Albertans had until Sept. 14 to submit ideas (maximum 1,500 characters or about 250 words) to the Alberta budget website.

Ceci also held two telephone town halls in September. He met with businesses and other organizations on ways to diversify the economy while keeping public services in place.

"I heard great ideas about how to diversify our economy so we are less prone to the commodity rollercoaster," he said.