Moving from BC to Alberta: Taxes, PST, Health Coverage and Benefits

Moving from British Columbia to Alberta ends the PST on your purchases, changes your income tax, takes you from ICBC to private car insurance and moves you from BC’s benefits and health plan to Alberta’s. The income tax change is smaller than many movers expect, and at some incomes it runs the other way. This page compares the two provinces for that move; the moving provinces guide has the general checklist.

Income tax: BC vs Alberta

Each row is a single employee with no other income, taxed under the 2026 rules with only the basic personal amounts and the CPP and EI credits claimed. The tax columns add federal and provincial income tax; the take-home columns also take off CPP and EI, which don’t depend on the province.

BC’s first bracket is 5.6%, against Alberta’s 8%, while Alberta’s basic personal amount ($22,769) is larger than BC’s ($13,216), and BC also has a tax reduction for lower incomes. Which effect wins depends on your income, as the table shows. The full schedules are on BC income tax rates and Alberta income tax rates, and income tax by province compares every province.

Sales tax: PST ends at the border

Once you live in Alberta, the 7% BC PST drops off your receipts and only the GST is left: 5% in place of 12%. On every $1,000 of taxable spending, that is $70 less tax in Alberta, at any income. Sales tax in BC lists what PST applies to, including the higher rates on vehicles.

Health coverage during the move

BC’s MSP keeps covering you for the rest of the month in which you leave the province plus two more months. For movers from another province, Alberta’s AHCIP: coverage begins on the first day of the third month after you establish residency. The two periods line up, so there should be no gap if you apply to Alberta as soon as you arrive and tell Health Insurance BC the date you left.

Prescription drug coverage works differently in each province, so check what replaces BC PharmaCare for you; the benefits by province page compares the drug programs.

Car insurance: from ICBC to private insurers

In BC, ICBC sells the mandatory Basic Autoplan coverage. In Alberta, private insurers sell all car insurance, and premiums vary between companies for the same driver, so quotes from several insurers differ. Car insurance costs by province compares average premiums. Alberta gives you 90 days to exchange your BC driver’s licence and change your vehicle’s registration (see the moving checklist).

Benefits: what replaces what

Each month, AISH’s single maximum is $456.50 higher than BC’s disability assistance maximum. The two child benefits are tested against different income levels, so which pays more depends on family income and the number of children. Neither province pays a carbon rebate any more: BC’s Climate Action Tax Credit ended in April 2025, and the federal Canada Carbon Rebate has also ended.

Housing

Greater Vancouver REALTORS put the MLS benchmark price of a typical home in Metro Vancouver at $1,075,900 for September 2026. In Alberta, the Calgary Real Estate Board reported an average sale price of $646,198 in the City of Calgary for September 2026, and the REALTORS Association of Edmonton $466,080 in the Greater Edmonton Area. A benchmark and an average measure different things, so treat the comparison as a rough one; the Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton market pages explain each figure, and the Calgary and Edmonton cost-of-living pages cover rent and other costs.

BC to Alberta checklist

The full list is the moving provinces checklist, and the tax rules for the year of the move are on tax implications of moving provinces.

Related reading

• Moving from Ontario to Alberta: the same comparison from Ontario.
• Money guide to British Columbia and money guide to Alberta.