Edition 2026.04 · Spring

albertalens.ca

Alberta LensA civic atlas of open spending
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Procurement

Alberta’s sole-source spend.

Contracts awarded without competitive procurement, drawn from Alberta’s sole-source disclosure ledger and joined to the Blue Book vendor universe. The headline figures and the yearly trend below clip to FY 2015–16 onward (pre-cutoff disclosures are too sparse for trend comparison); the scope-drift section keeps the full vendor history so earliest-period contracts predating that cutoff still surface.

Disclosed sole-source $
$18.68B
Contracts
15,542
Distinct vendors
4,781
verification
auto-extractedFigures here were produced by an automated extraction pipeline against the cited source. The extraction is reproducible from the source hash but has not been independently re-verified by a human.
derivation
Per-vendor and per-fiscal-year rollup of Alberta's sole-source contract disclosures (FY 2015-2016 onward, the producer's TREND_RELIABLE_FROM_FY cutoff). Vendor totals join against the Blue Book vendor-spending summary for the total-spend column.
source

Plate I

Sole-source spend by fiscal year

Total contract dollars per fiscal year. The series begins at FY 2015–16, the producer's reliability cutoff.

  • FY 2015-2016: $1,179,870,670 across 3310 contracts.
  • FY 2016-2017: $1,344,485,428 across 2036 contracts.
  • FY 2017-2018: $3,695,945,707 across 1577 contracts.
  • FY 2018-2019: $1,341,806,905 across 2072 contracts.
  • FY 2019-2020: $1,024,770,387 across 1300 contracts.
  • FY 2020-2021: $2,988,160,952 across 1177 contracts.
  • FY 2021-2022: $1,213,323,479 across 1010 contracts.
  • FY 2022-2023: $539,029,274 across 820 contracts.
  • FY 2023-2024: $3,366,457,935 across 919 contracts.
  • FY 2024-2025: $1,003,463,087 across 766 contracts.
  • FY 2025-2026: $986,613,171 across 555 contracts.
verification
auto-extractedFigures here were produced by an automated extraction pipeline against the cited source. The extraction is reproducible from the source hash but has not been independently re-verified by a human.
derivation
Per-vendor and per-fiscal-year rollup of Alberta's sole-source contract disclosures (FY 2015-2016 onward, the producer's TREND_RELIABLE_FROM_FY cutoff). Vendor totals join against the Blue Book vendor-spending summary for the total-spend column.
source

Plate II

The sole-source vendor universe

Every vendor with at least one disclosed sole-source contract since FY 2015–16. Sortable by sole-source dollars, total spend, or name; click a row to drill into the vendor's full payment history.

MinistriesYears
Catholic Social Services$615,583,900$1,668,07912015-2016 – 2025-2026
McMan Youth, Family And Community Services Association$266,134,014$3,174,01122015-2016 – 2025-2026
Hull Services$243,951,416$31,47412015-2016 – 2025-2026
Wood's Homes$214,427,293$1,854,12212015-2016 – 2025-2026
IBM CANADA LIMITED/IBM CANADA LIMITEE$143,715,628$52,220,87832016-2017 – 2025-2026
Alberta Health Services$141,460,347$64,936,436122015-2016 – 2025-2026
Unlimited Potential Community Services Society$137,750,815$2,140,67712015-2016 – 2025-2026
Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society$135,978,743$2,453,81722015-2016 – 2025-2026
Wood Buffalo Environmental Association$126,451,195$9,169,73222016-2017 – 2025-2026
Vecova Centre for Disability Services and Research$118,735,531$190,97712015-2016 – 2025-2026
DH Student Lending Corporation$86,000,000$23,745,41912019-2020 – 2025-2026
Chimo Youth Retreat Centre$84,079,976$1,004,58312015-2016 – 2025-2026
Responsive Childrens Supports Ltd.$74,696,941$53,60912015-2016 – 2025-2026
Oak Hill Foundation$68,345,134$2,064,10312015-2016 – 2025-2026
Microsoft Canada Inc.$63,734,625$45,388,740102015-2016 – 2025-2026
Enviros Wilderness School Association$53,193,055$1,449,27022014-2015 – 2025-2026
Closer To Home Community Services Society$50,943,390$496,91812015-2016 – 2025-2026
The Family Centre of Northern Alberta (Association)$46,215,208$3,543,75212015-2016 – 2025-2026
The Boyle Street Service Society$44,447,110$1,135,61712018-2019 – 2025-2026
Transitions Rehabilitation Association of St. Albert and District$42,279,733$98,39812016-2017 – 2025-2026
Tallcree Wildland Limited Partnership$42,276,503$3,609,99312017-2018 – 2025-2026
Crossroads Family Services$36,735,855$33,22912015-2016 – 2025-2026
Prospect Human Services Society$36,731,330$2,935,01222015-2016 – 2025-2026
Telus Health Solutions Inc.$36,581,608$13,349,09512017-2018 – 2025-2026
Deloitte Inc.$36,427,578$4,243,67162015-2016 – 2025-2026
verification
auto-extractedFigures here were produced by an automated extraction pipeline against the cited source. The extraction is reproducible from the source hash but has not been independently re-verified by a human.
derivation
Per-vendor and per-fiscal-year rollup of Alberta's sole-source contract disclosures (FY 2015-2016 onward, the producer's TREND_RELIABLE_FROM_FY cutoff). Vendor totals join against the Blue Book vendor-spending summary for the total-spend column.
source

Plate III

Recurring justification sentences

When the same justification sentence shows up across multiple ministries and many contracts, it is functioning as boilerplate rather than a contract-specific rationale.

Recurring sentences

98

Contracts authorised

7,290

Across ministries

31

Total amount

$11,245,595,668

  • “Home and Inclusion Community Supports”
    Contracts
    756
    Total $
    $3,090,236,555
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2021-2022

    Ministries · COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Support to Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD)”
    Contracts
    319
    Total $
    $1,769,135,686
    Ministries
    3
    Years
    2020-2021 – 2025-2026

    Ministries · SENIORS, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, Assisted Living and Social Services, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Group and Campus-Based Care and Supports”
    Contracts
    712
    Total $
    $1,115,757,282
    Ministries
    3
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2025-2026

    Ministries · CHILDREN'S SERVICES, Children and Family Services, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Living Arrangements and Housing”
    Contracts
    171
    Total $
    $750,813,443
    Ministries
    3
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2023-2024

    Ministries · COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES, SENIORS, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Group Living Arrangements”
    Contracts
    103
    Total $
    $739,084,072
    Ministries
    3
    Years
    2020-2021 – 2025-2026

    Ministries · SENIORS, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, Assisted Living and Social Services, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Home and Community Inclusion Supports”
    Contracts
    178
    Total $
    $728,534,038
    Ministries
    4
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2025-2026

    Ministries · SENIORS, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES, Assisted Living and Social Services, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Community-Based Living and Supports”
    Contracts
    291
    Total $
    $287,319,903
    Ministries
    3
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2024-2025

    Ministries · CHILDREN'S SERVICES, Children and Family Services, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Collaborative Service Delivery”
    Contracts
    28
    Total $
    $285,969,128
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2020-2021 – 2023-2024

    Ministries · CHILDREN'S SERVICES, Children and Family Services

  • “Child Intervention Early Childhood Development and Early Intervention”
    Contracts
    635
    Total $
    $233,511,983
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2015-2016 – 2019-2020

    Ministries · CHILDREN'S SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Family and Caregiver Supports”
    Contracts
    216
    Total $
    $210,582,383
    Ministries
    3
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2025-2026

    Ministries · CHILDREN'S SERVICES, Children and Family Services, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Specialized Services for Severe Disabilities”
    Contracts
    86
    Total $
    $155,725,931
    Ministries
    3
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2021-2022

    Ministries · COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES, CHILDREN'S SERVICES

  • “Family and Caregiver Support”
    Contracts
    262
    Total $
    $149,276,650
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2020-2021

    Ministries · CHILDREN'S SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Employment Supports”
    Contracts
    43
    Total $
    $135,720,856
    Ministries
    4
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2025-2026

    Ministries · COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, SENIORS, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, Assisted Living and Social Services, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Foster and Kinship Care Supports”
    Contracts
    44
    Total $
    $116,492,800
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2021-2022 – 2024-2025

    Ministries · CHILDREN'S SERVICES, Children and Family Services

  • “Cross Disability Support Services”
    Contracts
    18
    Total $
    $102,068,803
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2020-2021 – 2023-2024

    Ministries · SENIORS, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Specialized Services for Children with Severe Disabilities”
    Contracts
    48
    Total $
    $98,201,491
    Ministries
    4
    Years
    2015-2016 – 2025-2026

    Ministries · SENIORS, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, Assisted Living and Social Services, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Home living and community access”
    Contracts
    47
    Total $
    $93,508,476
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2015-2016 – 2016-2017

    Ministries · HUMAN SERVICES, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Child Intervention, Early Childhood Development and Early Intervention”
    Contracts
    236
    Total $
    $87,634,588
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2019-2020

    Ministries · CHILDREN'S SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Employment Supports, Home and Community Inclusion Supports, Living Arrangements and Housing, Respite Support”
    Contracts
    29
    Total $
    $85,915,747
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2017-2018

    Ministries · COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Home living, employment and community access supports”
    Contracts
    53
    Total $
    $85,784,727
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2015-2016 – 2016-2017

    Ministries · HUMAN SERVICES, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Supports and Services for Youth”
    Contracts
    108
    Total $
    $71,589,351
    Ministries
    3
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2025-2026

    Ministries · Children and Family Services, CHILDREN'S SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES

  • “Home living supports, community access and respite”
    Contracts
    27
    Total $
    $58,025,664
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2015-2016 – 2016-2017

    Ministries · HUMAN SERVICES, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Multi-Disciplinary Team Assessments”
    Contracts
    24
    Total $
    $56,966,817
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2022-2023 – 2024-2025

    Ministries · SENIORS, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

  • “Sole Source Firetack Crew”
    Contracts
    40
    Total $
    $56,500,000
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2022-2023 – 2023-2024

    Ministries · Forestry and Parks, Agriculture, Forestry And Rural Economic Development

  • “Home and Community Inclusion Supports, Living Arrangements and Housing, Respite Support”
    Contracts
    9
    Total $
    $44,187,223
    Ministries
    2
    Years
    2016-2017 – 2017-2018

    Ministries · COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HUMAN SERVICES

verification
auto-extractedFigures here were produced by an automated extraction pipeline against the cited source. The extraction is reproducible from the source hash but has not been independently re-verified by a human.
derivation
Justification sentences from sole-source disclosures are normalised (lowercase, punctuation collapsed, trailing punctuation stripped) and clustered by exact normalised match. Clusters appear when ≥5 contracts and ≥2 ministries share the same normalised sentence.
source

Plate IV

Scope drift between original and latest awards

Vendor/ministry pairs whose latest sole-source justifications share little or no language with the earliest awards in the same relationship — a signal that the original scope no longer constrains what is being purchased.

verification
auto-extractedFigures here were produced by an automated extraction pipeline against the cited source. The extraction is reproducible from the source hash but has not been independently re-verified by a human.
derivation
For each vendor/ministry pair with ≥2 fiscal years of sole-source contracts, justification tokens are normalised and the Jaccard distance is computed between the earliest and latest period token sets. Pairs with distance ≥ 0.7 are surfaced.
source

Plate V

Vendors paid across the most ministries

Vendor concentration across ministries — the agency2026 finding behind 'ARI Financial across 30 ministries' lives here. Ministries threshold defaults to 3 (the producer's cutoff).

VendorMinistriesSole-source $Total $Years
SUNDRY, OTHER VENDORS BELOW $10,00034$0$31,988,0252025-2026
ALBERTA RISK MANAGEMENT FUND32$0$13,652,5262025-2026
XEROX CANADA LTD.31$0$3,326,5452025-2026
ARI FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.30$148,381$16,583,8442022-2023 – 2025-2026
GRAND & TOY LIMITED30$0$3,111,4122025-2026
WESTJET29$0$815,8092025-2026
BELL MOBILITY INC.28$0$2,819,7502025-2026
Edon Properties Inc.27$47,000$43,841,0182021-2022 – 2025-2026
BDI BELL MOBILITY INC.26$0$1,661,5102025-2026
DATA COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT CORP. GESTION DES COMMUNICATIONS DATA CORP.26$0$359,5492025-2026
verification
auto-extractedFigures here were produced by an automated extraction pipeline against the cited source. The extraction is reproducible from the source hash but has not been independently re-verified by a human.
derivation
Vendor rollup `distinct_ministry_count` joined back to the sole-source totals. Ranked by ministry breadth descending, with the producer's `min_ministries=3` cutoff applied upstream.
sources