The forecast for Alberta for the current fiscal year is showing an expected budget surplus of around $465 million, and a loss of 31,000 jobs in 2015 due to oil prices that continue to fall. If oil prices continue to plummet this expected budget surplus for Alberta could change though, and experts are warning that caution must be used. A previous statement made by Premier Jim Prentice predicted a budget deficit for Alberta of approximately $500 million. Prentice stated “We have taken steps to protect our financial position that will help keep us in the black. Contract settlements made by previous administrations and significantly lower resource revenues have created a very challenging fiscal outlook for Alberta. This requires a reset of our fiscal foundation to address a $7 billion revenue gap.”

The expected Alberta budget surplus could disappear without much notice if the economic environment continues the same way, and this warning has already been issued by Finance Minister Robin Campbell. There is expected to be a decline of 20% in gas and oil investments in 2015, and this will be one of the weakest growth years for the energy industry so far. Campbell said “Let’s be clear, we’re about $300 million in the black and that could disappear in a heartbeat. The combination of all of those things has actually helped us but I would suggest to you that if the oil prices were to drop considerably over the next month, we could see that very small surplus disappear quite rapidly.”