Casual legal: Annual financial reporting

DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated. 

By Austin Leask 

Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP 

Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider  

May 1^st marks the deadline for municipalities with regard to their financial information return (the “Return”), annual financial statements (the “Statements”), and an auditor report for each of the foregoing. The deadline is for the previous year, meaning the May 1^st, 2026 deadline relates to the year 2025. This article is a general summary of sections 276–283 of the MGA.  

Annual Financial Statements  

These Statements must be prepared according to (i) Canadian generally accepted accounting principles for municipalities, and (ii) any modification of those principles, supplemental accounting standards, or principles established by the Minister of Municipal Affairs (the “Minister”). The Statements must include a municipality’s debt limit and its current debt as defined by any regulations on debt created by the Minister. Municipalities must also prepare Statements for each corporation they control. The Statements, or a summarized version of them, and an auditor’s report must be made available to the public by May 1^st.  

Financial Informal Return 

The Return must align with the Financial Information Return Regulation, Alta Reg 158/2000. The content of the Return is set out in the Financial Information Return Manual, which is published by the Alberta Government. If the manual includes accounting principles and standards that differ from the generally accepted Canadian standards for municipal governments, the manual prevails. The completed Return and an auditor’s report of it must be submitted to the Minister by the May 1st deadline.  

The Auditor Reports 

The MGA requires auditor reports for both the Statements and Return. The auditor reports must comply with the following, among other requirements:  

1. The auditor be appointed by council;  

2. The auditor report be completed in accordance with the standards approved by the Public Sector Accounting Board included in the CPA Canada Public Sector Accounting Handbook; and 

3. The auditor cannot be a councillor, an employee of the municipality, or an employee of the Municipality’s controlled corporations. There are exceptions to this for Edmonton and Calgary.  

Municipalities should be prepared to disclose information to the auditor, including making records and data processing equipment available to the auditor. Councillors, CAOs, designated officers, employees, agents, or consultants are also required to provide any information or explanations required by the auditor to complete their report.  

In short, municipalities should be aware of their financial reporting obligations under the MGA and work with an appropriate auditor to ensure auditor reports are completed on time for the May 1^st deadline.   

To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1.800.661.7673 or email casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (casuallegal[at]abmunis[dot]ca) and reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please contact riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (riskcontrol[at]abmunis[dot]ca), or call 310.MUNI (6864) to speak to Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.