Halting the spread of false or misleading financial information online in the province and new penalties for peddlers of illegal tobacco are among the proposed legislative changes the Alberta government introduced on Tuesday. Bill 12 – also known as the Financial Securities Amendment Act, 2025 – also looks to establish a new program to help increase income from employment for disabled residents while they continue to receive financial aid and to create a levy on the computer hardware of larger Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centres to help fund the province’s data centre strategy. Nate Horner, the province’s financial minister, said three parts of the securities changes will be put in place by the legislation, including “good faith” climate disclosure, penalties for so-called finfluencers (financial influencers) and a halt order. “When it comes to the finfluencers, what we’re trying to do is protect investors (from) people who don’t have to disclose their interest or intent and are attempting to drive a stock up or down,” Horner told reporters on Tuesday, adding the penalties would apply only to those within Alberta. The province is also proposing amendments to the Alberta Investment Management Corporation Act (AIMCo Act) to, according to a media release, “support the new leadership of the government-owned investment arm that manages its public-sector pensions, endowments, insurance and government funds “in delivering the best returns at low cost for clients, while also protecting taxpayer money.” “This change will protect taxpayers from financial risk arising from past investment decisions made by the prior AIMCo leadership,” the release said. Other changes being introduced in the legislation include a higher annual funding limit for the Alberta Heroes’ Fund for First Responders, a pledge by the government to continue to “financially backstop” the payment of any liabilities of the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation, and housekeeping amendments proposed for the Alberta Personal Income Tax Act, Employment Pension Plans Act, Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability Act, Legislative Assembly Act and Joint Governance of Public Sector Pension Plans Act.
