Independent schools in Alberta will still be required to report information related to private sources of revenue, including tuition, under the newly introduced Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, 2022, says Education Minister Adriana LaGrange.
Tanya Fir is associate minister of Red Tape Reduction. In a press conference prior to introducing the legislation on Monday, Fir said that under the proposed legislation the government would not require the reporting of tuition amounts because they are not public funds.
“With respect to eliminating the collection of financial data such as tuition that is because they are not public dollars, and so because tuition is not use of public dollars or taxpayer dollars that is why we are not looking for that to have to be reported,” said Fir.
An information sheet provided to reporters by Fir’s department prior to the bill being introduced stated, in part, that, “With stronger financial controls in place, Alberta Education would reduce the collection of financial data that does not support the oversight of public dollars, such as tuition.”
In a statement released late Monday, LaGrange said financial reporting will, in fact, still be required.
“Independent schools in Alberta will still be required to report to Alberta Education information related to private sources of revenue, including tuition. This will continue to be required as part of audited financial statements they provide to Alberta Education annually,” said LaGrange.
“This legislation, and the regulation we will be drafting will remove the requirement to report tuition/fee information using a specific Alberta Education-developed schedule. This is an example of how we are removing unnecessary red-tape in the education system.”
In a follow-up statement sent to Great West Media on Tuesday, Alberta Education spokesperson Katherine Stavropoulos said: “Alberta Education will still be collecting information related to tuition, through audited financial statements. We are reducing the collection of this information by no longer requiring independent schools to submit a specific, overly-prescriptive schedule related to tuition/fee collection. We will still know how much tuition revenue they are receiving.”
Sarah Hoffman is the NDP critic for education. She issued a release following the introduction of the Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act Monday.
“While school fees and education property taxes are climbing for all families, many will be left asking why some schools are allowed to charge excessive fees and then withhold that information from the public,” said Hoffman.
“As contributors to private school funding, Alberta taxpayers have a right to know what other revenue streams those schools have and what their balance sheets look like.”
If passed, the Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, 2022 will make changes to 15 pieces of legislation in nine government ministries, including Education, Environment and Parks, Children’s Services, Municipal Affairs and Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development.
One of the changes will enable intermunicipal business licences to be issued to small businesses operating in multiple municipalities.
Other changes proposed in the bill include allowing landlords to use electronic methods for returning security deposits and associated documents to tenants, modernizing the reporting process for notifiable animal diseases, and enabling increased flexible oversight of Alberta pharmacies by moving requirements to the Alberta College of Pharmacy standards of practices.
Paul McLauchlin is the president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta.
“Supporting a healthy business community is a priority for municipalities in local and regional economic development efforts,” said McLauchlin. “Reducing red tape and barriers to utilizing intermunicipal business licences and other regional approaches to economic development is an important step in allowing municipalities to play a larger role in growing their local and regional economies.”
