Fire adds to deficit: Key numbers in Alberta’s first-quarter fiscal update

EDMONTON – Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci released revised budget estimates Tuesday in his 2016-17 first-quarter fiscal update. Here are some key numbers:

$10.9 billion — Alberta’s estimated deficit pushed up $500 million to almost $11 billion by the wildfire in Fort McMurray

$195 million — Amount paid out by the province in disaster relief after federal aid transfers

$300 million — Amount Alberta estimates it lost due to wildfire’s impact on energy and forestry industry

8 per cent — Unemployment is expected to remain at this level

2.6 per cent — Decline expected in average weekly earnings

80,000 — Job losses in the goods-producing sector since mid-2015

$877 million — Decline in corporate tax revenue to $3.4 billion from the April 14 budget forecast

$11.6 billion — Revenue expected from personal income tax. About $215 million more by the end of the fiscal year than originally forecast

$32.2 billion — Alberta’s estimated debt Expected to climb to $58 billion by 2019

$7.1 billion — Alberta’s estimated borrowing this year to pay for day-to-day operating expenses

$19.6 billion — Amount expected to be in the Heritage Fund, Alberta’s long-term savings account

1.5 per cent — Amount Alberta’s population is expected to grow this year, partially due to the influx of Syrian refugees