Rural municipalities across Alberta are facing a growing infrastructure deficit that threatens both community well-being and provincial prosperity.

RMA members manage the majority of Alberta’s roads and bridges and thousands of kilometres of linear water utility systems, but provincial funding has been declining in recent years, and federal funding formulas continue to overlook the unique realities of rural communities such as longer distances, smaller tax bases, and higher per-kilometre costs. This has left rural municipalities struggling to maintain essential assets.

Sustainable, predictable funding is vital for the sustainability of rural municipalities. Rural roads, bridges, and utilities are not just for local residents; they are the backbone of Alberta’s economy, connecting industries with access to markets and natural resources, and linking families with communities. To ensure these systems and the industries they support remain reliable, municipalities and the province must work together on funding approaches that reflect rural realities and support proactive, long-term infrastructure planning. By building this partnership, the Government of Alberta can foster both local and regional resilience and province-wide prosperity.

Continue reading to learn more about the issue at hand. Then, download RMA's Member Toolkit resource to help advocate and close the gap.

Overall Deficit Results Summary

Throughout 2024, RMA worked in collaboration with Tantus Solutions Group to develop a series of reports to quantify and better understand the rural infrastructure deficit. To learn more about the scale and nature of this issue, RMA’s Infrastructure Deficit Project reports can be found here:

• Bridge Report
• Road Report
• Utility Report
• Summary/Final Report

Overall Rural Municipal Infrastructure Deficit
Putting all three studies together reveals an alarming deficit figure.

Collectively, across all asset types, the RMA member Infrastructure Deficit is $17.25 billion.
The graph below shows that the overall RMA member portfolio is well below the target condition level. All three asset types currently sit on an expensive point of the curve, which increases the risk to fundamental usability, safety, and reliability of the network.

Grey Line = Inverted S-Curve (Road and Bridge Assets) | Yellow Line = Utility Curve (Utility Assets)

The following table shows a comparison between the current portfolio and a hypothetical ideal target state portfolio. The comparison shows overall portfolio values, life consumed, condition, the annual holding cost (investment required to hold the position on the curve), and the effective age.

2023-2028 Outlook

If the Government of Alberta maintains current grant funding levels and methodologies for municipal infrastructure, 2028 will see a dramatically decreased infrastructure portfolio condition rating. Such a decline in condition places serious risk to the viability, resiliency, and safety of core municipal infrastructure.

Note: This graph provides an estimate of future conditions and may not align precisely with the life consumed shown in the subsequent chart. While both are closely related, the chart figures should be considered more accurate in representing future conditions.
The current level of provincial funding is nowhere near enough to maintain the current 67.20% condition rating. Further, in 2028, the cost to move the portfolio to the target levels will more than double to $40.71 billion. This highlights the urgent need for increased funding and strategic investment to prevent further deterioration and ensure the safety and functionality of core infrastructure.

Calculating an Infrastructure Deficit

Given the target point on the curve above, the infrastructure deficit is the difference between the current condition of assets observed and the target state level of condition. The deficit calculation, therefore, is based on the one-time investment required to move the portfolio to its target state, and can be represented by:

Infrastructure Deficit = Portfolio Target State Value ($) – Portfolio Observed Condition Value ($)

Financial Summary

As noted above, the overall infrastructure deficit for RMA member-managed bridges and culverts is $2.29 billion. To understand the gravity of this number, there are a few things to consider. Firstly, it is important to understand the meaning of the term "holding cost".

Holding Cost:
How much it costs to keep the portfolio at the same condition level from one year to the next. As an example, if a culvert sits at 50% condition in 2023, it naturally deteriorates to approximately 48% condition in 2024, consistent with the deterioration curve.
The cost to “fix” the bridge in 2024 and return it back to 50% condition level constitutes the holding cost.

Resiliency in rural infrastructure spans economic resilience, climate adaptation, and long‑term structural durability – all of which are essential to keeping Alberta’s economic engine running and ensuring the rural networks that support core industries remain reliable under growing environmental and industrial pressures.

Proactive investment in rural infrastructure is how Alberta builds that resilience. Once the condition rating of an asset falls below a certain point, the costs of repair and replacement rise quickly, and the risk of load restrictions, closures, or even structural failures increases significantly. With nearly 40% of rural municipal roads already below a 50% condition rating, many rural municipalities are approaching a tipping point where the costs of keeping roads, bridges, and essential corridors functional will become financially unsustainable.

By acting now to strategically manage and invest in rural infrastructure, the province can prevent escalating holding costs, protect public safety, and ensure rural infrastructure can withstand severe weather events and continue to support economic and industrial growth. Investing in resilience today ensures Alberta’s rural infrastructure remains reliable tomorrow, safeguarding both communities and the economy.

Learn more about infrastructure resilience here.

Call to Action: Build Alberta’s Future Resilience
Rural infrastructure resilience is essential to Alberta’s long‑term stability, safety, and economic strength. The risks of inaction are growing, and the costs of delay are escalating. Alberta has a critical opportunity to shift from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience planning.

RMA urges the Government of Alberta to recognize rural infrastructure investment as a cornerstone of provincial economic and community resilience. Budget 2026 is an opportunity to begin stabilizing aging assets, reduce long‑term costs, and ensure Alberta’s transportation and utility networks are resilient enough to withstand future pressures. By prioritizing resilience today, the province can protect communities, safeguard economic activity, and build a stronger, more secure Alberta for generations to come.

Fair and sustainable provincial funding is essential to maintaining the rural infrastructure that empowers Alberta’s economy, as rural municipalities manage the majority of Alberta’s roads, bridges, and utility systems. Despite changes to provincial funding frameworks in 2024, current funding levels do not reflect rural realities, such as larger and more remote geographic service areas, heavier industrial traffic, escalating construction costs, and more dispersed residential and industrial development. When funding amounts and formulas do not align with these pressures, municipalities are forced to defer maintenance, reduce service levels, and absorb rising costs that ultimately weaken the infrastructure supporting Alberta’s core industries.

A fair funding model must recognize that the benefits of rural infrastructure are not strictly local; rather, rural roads, bridges, and utility networks are economic assets that benefit the entire province. Agriculture, energy, forestry, and emerging industries depend on reliable rural networks to move goods, access resources, and sustain supply chains. When rural roads and bridges deteriorate, industry costs rise, productivity declines, and Alberta’s competitiveness suffers. Ensuring that infrastructure funding formulas reflect unique rural cost drivers is essential to protecting the infrastructure that underpins nearly one‑third of Alberta’s GDP.

By adopting funding approaches that align with rural realities and keep pace with inflation and industrial demand, the province can reduce long‑term costs, strengthen economic growth, and ensure rural infrastructure remains safe, reliable, and resilient. Investing fairly in rural infrastructure is investing in Alberta’s prosperity – supporting the communities and industries that power the province today and into the future.

Review RMA’s recommendations for improvements to provincial infrastructure funding here

Invest Today to Protect Alberta’s Prosperity Tomorrow
Alberta’s economic engine runs on rural infrastructure. Budget 2026 is the moment to invest fairly, reflect rural cost drivers, and protect the networks that keep industry moving. Strategic investment today will reduce long‑term costs, prevent failures, and secure Alberta’s competitiveness for the future.