$23B capital budget: What Alberta is and isn't planning to build, fix and improve

Alberta is planning to spend about $23 billion of its $205-billion budget over the next three years on capital projects including billions on roads, hospitals and affordable housing.

Alberta is planning to spend about $23 billion of its $205-billion budget over the next three years on capital projects including billions on roads, hospitals and affordable housing.

The infrastructure expense total is about $8 billion in 2023-24. That is up about $500 million from the year before but down from the $9 billion the NDP government spent in 2017-18.

The highlights include paying for part of a new hospital in Edmonton, improving Deerfoot Trail, Yellowhead Trail and Terwillegar Drive and incentivizing the petrochemical industry.

There is no money specifically earmarked for a provincial police force, a new arena in Calgary or upgrades to Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Finance Minister Travis Toews was asked about Calgary getting more money than other parts of the province.

"The projects are based on need and priority. They have a ranking based on safety, they certainly have a ranking based on readiness. All of those factors are considered," he told reporters.

"From time to time it'll be Calgary, Edmonton or rural Alberta that seems to get the disproportionate amount of that investment but that's the process we stick to."