Scott Moe continues attack on federal equalization payments as system of the West supporting Eastern and Central Canada

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is not giving up the fight to change the federal system of equalization payments to the provinces.

In a Dec. 11 post to X, he included a map that shows his province, Alberta and B.C. receiving nothing from 2026 equalization.

Several eastern provinces are set to get substantial sums: Quebec $13.9B, Nova Scotia $3.5B, New Brunswick $3.3B. Ontario is getting less, $406M, Newfoundland and Labrador is in line for $182 million while the smallest province in the country will be getting $723M.

The only western exception is Manitoba ($5B).

This is not the first time Moe has been critical of the system. He has described the equalization formula as unfair to provinces like Saskatchewan that rely heavily on natural resources, arguing that including the resource revenues in the equalization calculation penalizes provinces such as his.

He has regularly framed equalization as a pattern of the West being taken advantage of by Central and Eastern Canada.

“The equalization formula doesn’t reflect the economic realities of the western provinces,” says Saskatchewan’s executive director of media relations, Jill McAlister-Lane.

In a Friday email to National Post, she wrote: “Equalization is meant to ensure comparable public services across the country, but the current formula is inequitable. The formula masks the fiscal challenges faced by some provinces while supporting those in other provinces.”

While discussion about equalization has the potential to pit province against province, McAllister-Lane is careful not to go there.

“It isn’t about one province versus another. Saskatchewan respects each province has its own economic structure and needs. The issue is the formula, which doesn’t account for Saskatchewan’s economic contributions in areas like energy, mining and agriculture. Saskatchewan contributes significantly to the national economy. We would like a formula that acknowledges that contribution and treats all provinces fairly.”

One of the notable points in Saskatchewan’s battle against the current system came in 2018, when Moe put forward a plan to reform it by cutting the total by about 50 per cent and then redistributing the savings to all provinces on a per‑capita basis. Since then, he has continued to push for per‑capita transfers.

Under Moe’s proposal, non‑recipient “have” provinces like Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia would gain, while “have not” provinces would lose, relative to their present status quo. Quebec, which now receives more than half of all equalization dollars, would lose funding because part of its share would be removed and redistributed throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Moe’s government has been pushing back in the courts. It got involved in Newfoundland and Labrador’s legal battle, launched in 2024, when that province challenged the federal equalization program in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is claiming the formula unfairly penalizes it by not accounting for service delivery costs within its dispersed population, while also imposing a fiscal capacity cap and applying a GDP growth ceiling, potentially depriving it of billions.

Moe has similarly reiterated that Saskatchewan has not received equalization for many years while arguing the formula ignores structural costs involved in serving sparsely populated provinces.

The case is ongoing with no trial date set. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Saskatchewan government have been granted intervenor status to oppose demands for larger payments, citing risks of higher costs for net-payer provinces.

He continues to keep the issue alive, echoing criticism by Alberta’s Danielle Smith that Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. are “helping support the rest of Canada” while not receiving equalization payments themselves.

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