New year, new fees: What costs Calgarians can expect to see change in 2024
CBC
Mark your calendars, because the time to pinch pennies is here … well, still here.
If you thought everything was expensive already, the new year will be bringing new costs. From provincial and federal taxes to municipal fees and passes, Calgarians can expect a variety of price increases slated to come into effect in 2024.
Throughout 2023, fares for Calgary Transit have been frozen. Now, the fare freeze has defrosted — city council voted in favour of transit fare increases back in November, so Calgarians will see a three per cent transit fare increase annually over the next four years.
Effective Jan. 1, 2024, transit riders can expect to pay anywhere from five cents to $10 more for Calgary Transit, depending on what fare type you buy.
Service fees for city-operated skating rinks, swimming pools, climbing walls, gyms and more will see cost increases, too.
For recreation services, Calgarians have three monthly passes to choose from — there's a Child Pass Plus, Rec Pass and Rec Pass Plus — all of which will see price increases.
A monthly-paid for Rec Pass Plus gives Calgarians access to all of the city's recreational amenities.
Here's a breakdown of those service fee increases:
And if you plan on taking a vacation and getting to the airport by taxi, expect to be charged an airport access fee for a drop-off at YYC International starting on Jan. 15, 2024.
That said, the airport's taxi tax for cab pick-ups from the airport will fall from five bucks to $4.50.
The days of Jason Kenney's 2022 fuel tax pause are also coming to an end, and the Government of Alberta will be pumping up what Albertans pay at the pump.
Fuel stations across the province can be expected to bump up prices of gasoline, diesel and propane on Jan. 1 to reflect the reinstatement of Alberta's oil price-based fuel tax.
The gas tax will work on a sliding scale, according to the Albertan government, based on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil benchmark. Here's what that looks like:
Oil was sitting at $71.65 US per barrel midday Saturday.
A 36-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly trying to set a fire outside Vancouver City Hall late Friday night, police say.
Calgary city council reversed its decision to close the Inglewood Aquatic Centre Friday.
The Vancouver Police Board says its vice-chair has resigned following statements she posted to social media that were inconsistent with its code of conduct.
Hundreds of people showed up outside Queens Park Saturday afternoon to push back against the Ford government's controversial bike lane bill that would remove certain Toronto bike lanes to help address congestion.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has joined federal cabinet ministers and other politicians in condemning Friday night's anti-NATO demonstration in Montreal, calling the protesters' actions "appalling."
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree has formally apologized to Inuit in Nunavik for the federal government's role in the mass killing of sled dogs in the region in the 1950s and 1960s.
High winds and rain caused power outages to hundreds of homes and businesses in Prince County on Saturday.
Northerners will soon see RCMP officers with cameras on their person, as training for the body-worn cameras roll out for Mounties across the country.
Dozens of Indigenous women with a desire to learn how to hunt and to use traditional methods to prepare the animal will meet this weekend for the first-ever all-female deer hunt on Oneida Nation of the Thames territory.
A disgraced real-estate lawyer who this week admitted to pilfering millions in client money to support her and her family's lavish lifestyle was handcuffed in a Toronto courtroom Friday afternoon and marched out by a constable to serve a 20-day sentence for contempt of court, as her husband and mother watched.
A provincial child-care advocacy group says governments need to commit to pushing $10-a-day child care forward in Canada, but a conservative think tank says data shows it isn't working as intended in Newfoundland and Labrador.