Alberta Capital Projects Procurement: Where $8.3B in Contracts Goes and Who Wins It

Alberta's public sector awarded $8.3 billion in 5,553 competitive contracts over 18 months, from Q3 2024 through Q4 2025, to 3,080 vendors from 271 buying organizations on Alberta Purchasing Connection. About 64 cents of every dollar went to construction, and the City of Calgary is the largest single buyer. Budget 2026 adds a $28.3 billion three-year capital plan on top. This page maps where that money lands and who wins it.

What is in Alberta's Budget 2026 capital plan?

Alberta tabled Budget 2026 on February 26, 2026 with a three-year capital plan of $28.3 billion, $2.2 billion more than Budget 2025, alongside a $9.4 billion deficit driven by trade uncertainty and lower oil price forecasts (Alberta Treasury Board and Finance). A deficit and a bigger capital plan in the same budget tells you where the priorities sit. Forget the deficit headlines and follow the construction dollars.

Capital priority	Three-year allocation	Change from Budget 2025
Municipal infrastructure	$7.1B
Healthcare capacity	$4.9B	+$1.3B
Maintenance and renewal	$4.2B	+$500M
School projects	$3.3B	+$712M
Highways, bridges and roads	$2.7B	+$200M
Streamlining service delivery	$1.2B
Family, social supports and housing	$1.1B
Post-secondary institutions	$800M
Public safety and emergency preparedness	$500M

Source: Alberta Budget 2026 capital plan. Blank cells: no change figure reported.

The province says the plan supports more than 31,000 direct and 14,500 indirect jobs a year through 2028-29. Municipal infrastructure is the largest line, and healthcare and schools together pass $8 billion (budget documents). Population growth makes this a political necessity: Calgary grew 19.4 percent over five years (GovCon Weekly). For contractors, the question is not whether the money is coming but how fast procurement offices can get it out the door. History suggests slower than announced, but the volume of projects means persistent opportunity.

Two caveats. Alberta Municipalities has criticized the budget for shifting costs onto property taxpayers, which could slow how quickly some capital reaches projects. And the province is advancing an AI data centres strategy, which technology infrastructure contractors should watch.

How much does Alberta award through competitive procurement?

The budget is the announcement; the award data is the reality check. Alberta Purchasing Connection (APC) is where ministries, municipalities and agencies post and award contracts through open competition. APC scaled quickly as Alberta onboarded buyers, so earlier data is too sparse to read. From Q3 2024 the portal has consistent participation from 140 to more than 200 buyers per quarter.

Quarter	Contracts	Awarded value	Active buyers
Q3 2024	830	$1.1B	145
Q4 2024	761	$857M	142
Q1 2025	1,027	$1.9B	169
Q2 2025	1,294	$1.9B	204
Q3 2025	899	$1.3B	172
Q4 2025	742	$1.2B	142

Source: competitive awards on Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 to Q4 2025, analysed by Publicus (GovCon Weekly).

Compare Q4 2024 with Q4 2025, both with 142 active buyers: awarded value rose 39 percent, from $857 million to $1.2 billion. The growth came from larger contracts moving through the portal, not more organizations posting (quarterly analysis).

These figures exclude Alberta's separate sole-source service contract disclosures, roughly 14,000 records worth $17.8 billion, which are mostly staffing contracts for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and group living support. The competitive picture is the one that matters for contractors pursuing the capital plan.

Which construction categories get the most Alberta contract dollars?

Construction accounts for $5.3 billion, or 64 percent of all APC value. Nearly two in three dollars go to hard infrastructure (APC award data).

Construction category	Awarded	Contracts	What it covers
Roads and highways	$1.3B	451	Highway grading, paving, resurfacing
New construction	$1.3B	281	Schools, hospitals, government buildings
Renovation and retrofit	$1.1B	481	Building upgrades
Underground utilities	$816M	238	Water mains, sewer trunks, pipe replacement
Bridges and structures	$323M	117	Bridges, overpasses, structural rehabilitation
Mechanical and electrical trades	$286M	261	HVAC, piping, power systems, lighting
Demolition	$21M	37	Site clearing for new builds

Source: competitive awards on Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 to Q4 2025, analysed by Publicus (GovCon Weekly).

Renovation and retrofit stands out: 481 contracts, the highest count of any category on APC. That lines up with the budget's $4.2 billion maintenance and renewal allocation, up $500 million (Budget 2026). There is no shortage of aging infrastructure to address.

What else does Alberta buy besides construction?

Information technology is the next largest domain at $698 million across 510 contracts. Cloud services lead at $243 million, about 35 percent of technology awards, split roughly evenly between software as a service ($128 million) and infrastructure as a service ($112 million). The single largest technology award is a $63.6 million mainframe services contract that the Ministry of Technology and Innovation gave a global IT infrastructure services firm. AI and machine learning is still early: $10 million across 5 contracts (technology breakdown).

Technology category	Awarded	Contracts
Cloud services (SaaS, IaaS)	$243M	155
Hardware (servers, storage, networking)	$172M	208
Software development	$140M	54
Telecom and connectivity	$54M	24
IT consulting and strategy	$39M	24
Data and analytics (incl. AI/ML)	$20M	21
Cybersecurity	$18M	24

Source: competitive awards on Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 to Q4 2025, analysed by Publicus (GovCon Weekly).

Domain	Awarded	Contracts	Notable
Transportation and logistics	$634M	495	Calgary's $205M electric bus order, $80M fire apparatus
Facilities and operations	$422M	642	Building maintenance, grounds, janitorial, snow removal
Professional services	$307M	418	Project management ($124M), recruitment ($106M)
Engineering	$248M	300+	Structural ($167M), hydraulic ($26M), geotechnical ($8M)
Environmental	$194M	302	Waste management, water treatment, site remediation

Source: competitive awards on Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 to Q4 2025, analysed by Publicus (GovCon Weekly).

Who wins the largest Alberta public contracts?

A handful of primes win the biggest awards. Graham Infrastructure leads on value with $701 million from two City of Calgary water contracts (City of Calgary buyer profile).

Vendor	Awarded	Contracts	What they win
Graham Infrastructure	$701M	2	Calgary water infrastructure (Fish Creek, North Calgary)
Clark Builders	$367M	3	Construction management (NorQuest campus, Red Deer hospital)
Nova Bus	$210M	2	Electric buses for Calgary Transit
PCL Construction	$210M	17	General construction across multiple buyers
KTI Limited	$161M	4	Smart metering infrastructure for Calgary
Aecon Transportation West	$131M	18	Highway construction for the transportation ministry
Lear Construction	$104M	5	School construction
Knelsen Sand & Gravel	$103M	30	Road materials across 13 buyers
WSP Canada	$98M	68	Engineering advisory across 31 buyers

Source: competitive awards on Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 to Q4 2025, analysed by Publicus (GovCon Weekly).

Clark Builders dominates institutional construction, campus and hospital. WSP Canada is the most diversified, with 68 contracts across 31 buyers, which suggests blanket engineering advisory agreements with several ministries and municipalities. For smaller firms the takeaway is not discouraging: these primes need subcontractors and supply chains, and 3,080 vendors won at least one competitive award in the window (vendor rankings).

Contract	Buyer	Vendor	Value
Fish Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade	City of Calgary	Graham Infrastructure	$547M
Battery electric buses (40-foot)	City of Calgary	Nova Bus	$205M
NorQuest College campus construction management	NorQuest College	Clark Builders	$175M
West Village senior living construction	Good Samaritan Society	PCL Construction	$169M
North Calgary water servicing	City of Calgary	Graham Infrastructure	$154M
Red Deer hospital patient tower and renovations	Alberta Infrastructure	Clark Builders	$147M
Automated metering infrastructure	City of Calgary	KTI Limited	$106M
TransCanada sanitary trunk	City of Calgary	Ward & Burke Microtunnelling	$89M
Fire engines and rescue apparatus	City of Calgary	Commercial Truck Equipment	$80M
Electric bus supporting infrastructure	City of Calgary	Graham Construction	$79M

Source: competitive awards on Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 to Q4 2025, analysed by Publicus (GovCon Weekly).

Calgary accounts for 7 of the 10 largest contracts. That is partly city size and partly an aggressive infrastructure cycle; the Fish Creek wastewater upgrade alone is larger than most municipalities' entire annual procurement (Calgary awards).

Does Alberta award data match Budget 2026 priorities?

This is the comparison that matters most: how each capital priority maps to what is already flowing through APC (budget against APC awards).

Budget priority	2026 allocation	Matching APC activity	18 months of APC awards
Municipal infrastructure	$7.1B	Municipal buyers	$3.4B+
Healthcare facilities	$4.9B	Mostly outside APC (Alberta Health Services runs its own procurement)	$147M via the Infrastructure ministry
Maintenance and renewal	$4.2B	Renovation and retrofit, plus facilities maintenance	$1.1B + $247M
Schools and post-secondary	$3.3B + $800M	Education buyers and new construction	$728M
Highways, bridges and roads	$2.7B	Roads ($1.3B), bridges ($323M), utilities ($816M)	$2.5B
Technology	Not broken out	IT domain	$698M

Source: competitive awards on Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 to Q4 2025, analysed by Publicus (GovCon Weekly).

Municipal infrastructure is already the dominant buyer group. Municipalities account for more than $3.4 billion in APC awards, with Calgary at $2.4 billion alone. The $7.1 billion allocation accelerates activity that is already substantial, and it reaches well past the two big cities: towns such as Whitecourt ($52 million) and Okotoks ($53 million) are on the portal too (municipal analysis).

Healthcare is the biggest gap. The budget allocates $4.9 billion for healthcare capacity, but APC shows only $147 million in healthcare construction, the Red Deer hospital project through Alberta Infrastructure, and $33 million in direct health procurement. Alberta Health Services buys outside APC, so most of that money will move through channels the competitive portal does not show yet. Watch for new procurement vehicles, dedicated project offices or Infrastructure ministry postings (healthcare capital).

Who are the biggest public buyers in Alberta?

On the provincial side, Transportation and Economic Corridors leads with $1.1 billion, mostly highways, grading and bridges. Infrastructure follows at $761 million for schools, hospitals and government buildings, then Technology and Innovation at $189 million and Forestry and Parks at $152 million (APC awards).

Municipal buyer	Awarded	Contracts	Vendors
City of Calgary	$2.4B	397	323
City of Edmonton	$328M	153	131
Rural Municipalities of Alberta (collective purchasing)	$236M	40	40
Strathcona County	$229M	83	71
City of Lethbridge	$140M	111	88
City of St. Albert	$92M	87	68
City of Grande Prairie	$59M	101	74
City of Medicine Hat	$57M	135	119
Town of Stony Plain	$56M	35	34
City of Red Deer	$55M	84	74

Source: competitive awards on Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 to Q4 2025, analysed by Publicus (GovCon Weekly).

The Rural Municipalities of Alberta collective purchasing, at $236 million, shows smaller communities actively use the portal. This is where the cost-shifting criticism becomes tangible: if the $7.1 billion does not reach smaller municipalities, they will stretch local budgets to maintain infrastructure the province is supposed to fund (GovCon Weekly).

Education buyers account for $728 million: NorQuest College $178 million across 7 contracts, the University of Alberta $91 million, Calgary Catholic Schools $90 million across 18 contracts, and the Calgary Board of Education $60 million (APC awards). NorQuest's $175 million campus expansion, Calgary Catholic's individual school builds of $58 million and $72 million, and the University of Alberta's mix of equipment, IT and facilities show established channels ready to absorb more volume.

NorQuest College deserves a specific mention as a sleeper hit of the past few years. Its teams show up at conferences, bid and win on RFPs, pursue grants and run a real business development function. Technology is the bulk of what it posts. The open question is whether it will face the same drop in international students that has hit many Ontario colleges.

How can contractors win work from Alberta's capital plan?

• Get in front of the primes. Graham, Clark Builders, PCL, Aecon, Lear and WSP win the largest contracts. Subcontractors and specialty suppliers should direct business development at them, not only at government buyers. Graham alone holds $701 million in Calgary water awards (Calgary buyer profile).
• Position for the healthcare ramp-up. Against $4.9 billion budgeted, APC shows $147 million in healthcare construction today. Treat the Red Deer hospital project, $147 million to Clark Builders, as the template, and watch Alberta Infrastructure postings closely (Budget 2026).
• Target renovation and maintenance. Renovation and retrofit has the most contracts on APC (481, $1.1 billion), and the $4.2 billion maintenance and renewal line feeds it. These contracts are more accessible than megaprojects and spread across dozens of buyers (APC).
• Follow education. With $728 million through education buyers and a $712 million increase for schools, this sector produces steady mid-sized contracts. Calgary Catholic Schools and the Calgary Board of Education alone account for $150 million (education buyers).
• Watch the municipal funding flow. Municipal awards are heavily weighted toward Calgary. Track how quickly provincial money becomes procurement in communities already active on APC, such as Lethbridge ($140 million), St. Albert ($92 million) and Grande Prairie ($59 million) (public buyers by province).
• Document your Alberta credentials. With Buy Canadian policies tightening at every level of government, Alberta-based firms have a structural advantage. Proposals should spell out local employment, local supply chain relationships and Alberta tax contribution (how Publicus tracks this).

About the data

Figures are competitive procurement awards from Alberta Purchasing Connection, Q3 2024 through Q4 2025: 5,553 awards worth $8.3 billion from 271 buyers to 3,080 vendors, in Canadian dollars, analysed by Publicus. Earlier portal data is excluded because buyer onboarding makes it too sparse to compare. Sole-source social services disclosures are excluded, and Alberta Health Services procurement largely sits outside APC, so health totals here are a floor. Budget figures are from Alberta Budget 2026. This analysis first appeared in GovCon Weekly on March 10, 2026.