Alberta Budget Glossary

Fiscal balance: the difference between government revenue and expense over a fiscal period.

Budget anchor: the published base assumption used as the starting point for scenario analysis.

Fiscal year to date: official results for part of the fiscal year, rather than the full year.

WTI: a widely watched light crude benchmark quoted in US dollars per barrel.

WCS: Western Canadian Select, a heavy crude benchmark relevant to Alberta.

Light-heavy differential: the price gap between light crude and heavy crude benchmarks.

Sensitivity: an estimate of how much the fiscal balance changes when one input changes.

Break-even WTI: the modeled WTI price that would bring the estimated balance to zero, holding other active inputs in place.