Alberta doesn’t write the province of Quebec or the Government
of Canada a cheque to pay for its share of equalization. But it also
means that Canadians with higher incomes will pay more into the
equalization program, much like Canadians with higher incomes pay higher
rates of income tax.

Because a lot of high-income individuals
live in Alberta, they do pay a larger share of the federal budget — and
an equal amount of federal spending does not end up back in Alberta.

This year, the federal government will transfer more than $78 billion to the provinces, $19 billion of which is delivered under equalization.