Alberta oil and gas companies lobby for tax break

EDMONTON, Feb. 20, 2026 – Tourmaline Oil Corp. and Enbridge are lobbying Alberta’s government for changes to how oil and gas companies’ property is taxed by municipalities.

Lobbying records show Tourmaline Oil, represented by the PR firm Alberta Counsel, updated its registration, which includes meeting with government officials to promote “competitiveness in how oil and gas companies are taxed municipally compared to similar projects across provincial borders.”

Enbridge also renewed its lobbying on municipal taxation and the “competitiveness and fairness of non-residential property tax, linear assessment and property tax in Alberta.”

The two companies are both targeting six government departments in their lobbying efforts, including executive council, municipal affairs, energy and minerals, and treasury board and finance.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs is currently reviewing the assessment models it uses to determine the market value of regulated properties like wells, pipelines, railways and machinery, which municipalities rely on for their own tax assessments. The review isn’t expected to wrap up until 2028.

“Rural municipalities host most oil and gas development in Alberta and rely on property taxes paid by the oil and gas industry and other property owners to provide local services and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. These local services and infrastructure are crucial to supporting the industry in rural Alberta and are often heavily used by oil and gas companies,” said Kara Westerlund, president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA).

“As the regulated assessment model is currently under review, led by the Government of Alberta and with participation of both municipal and industry stakeholders, it is crucial that all participants respect the terms of the review process and avoid advocating at the political level for changes that will benefit their sector,” Westerlund said.

Alberta introduced a 35 per cent assessment reduction for shallow gas wells and associated pipelines in 2019. Originally intended to last three years, the tax break has been extended until the province’s assessment model review is finished. Between 2021 and 2023, governments in rural Alberta reported the shallow gas tax break cost more than $25 million in lost tax revenue.

Enbridge, Trans Mountain and other pipeline companies successfully lobbied B.C.’s government to change how it evaluates pipelines, reducing the property taxes the companies would have to pay. After pushback from local governments, which said the tax cuts would cost their communities millions, B.C. announced in December it would not move forward with the proposed changes.

A spokesperson for Alberta’s Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams said the province is updating its assessment practices to ensure the system is fair and consistent.

Brett McKay is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Investigative Journalism Foundation. He is based in Edmonton, Alberta and specializes in investigative and data-driven stories. Title image: Tourmaline Oil and Enbridge updated their lobbying registrations to discuss municipal taxation, as the province reviews its tax assessment practices. (The Canadian Press/Larry MacDougal).