Alberta pays into equalization every year and gets nothing back.
Claimed by: Commonly stated by Alberta independence advocates
False: False as written according to the settled evidence. How we rate.
Summary
There is a real grievance underneath this, anchored to a genuine number: Albertans are large net contributors to federal finances, paying more in federal taxes than comes back in federal spending. The problem is how the claim frames it. Provinces do not pay into an equalization fund at all. Equalization is paid out of the federal government's general revenue under section 36(2) of the Constitution, so there is no provincial equalization contribution to be returned. Folding the broader net-contribution figure, which spans all federal taxes and programs, into equalization specifically is what makes the statement misleading, even though the underlying frustration rests on a real number.
Evidence
Equalization is financed entirely from federal general revenue; the federal government confirms provincial governments make no contributions to the program.
The Library of Parliament likewise states the program is fully funded from federal revenues and that provinces do not pay into it.
The real figure behind the argument is Alberta's net contribution to federal finances, estimated at $244.6 billion from 2007 to 2022, which measures something different from equalization.