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The centre of this anger is in Alberta. Albertans pay a fifth of the cost of equalization, or about $3.5 billion, through their federal taxes. However, focusing strictly on equalization misses the big picture. Alberta’s contribution to the rest of Canada is far larger than that.

Alberta pays a lot more taxes to the federal government than the federal government spends in Alberta. In a 2017 study by the Library of Parliament, updating earlier work by Statistics Canada, the total contribution by Albertans to the rest of Canada in 2014 was about $6,000 per capita, or $26 billion. Equalization therefore accounts for only 13 per cent of the total transfer. (Ontario and Saskatchewan also make a net transfer to the rest of Canada but Alberta has contributed the most by far.)

What are sources of this humongous transfer? The federal government makes explicit transfers to provinces for health and social programs, equalization, infrastructure and several other expenditure programs. Federal spending on goods and services is lowest in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. Employment Insurance is also biased against Alberta and some provinces since payroll taxes exceed the benefits received. Even the Canada Pension Program results in a transfer from Alberta since it has a younger — and more productively employed — population compared to most provinces.

The whopping transfer is also related to federal revenues: Alberta pays $4,000 per head more than the Canadian average in taxes. In other words, two-thirds of the transfer from Alberta to the rest of Canada is due to Canada’s tax structure, which hits most heavily higher-income provinces and those with thriving corporate sectors.