Half a billion dollars a year. Where it goes, and the part of the bill nobody gets to vote on.
Declassified
@THEBLACKBOXYEGSwipe →
EPS BUDGET FILENO. 02 / 10
The number they'll admit
$475M
What Edmonton hands its police every year. That's the approved 2026 budget. Nearly half a billion dollars.
Net operating, tax-supported. Total spend is higher: about $560M gross in 2024.
@THEBLACKBOXYEGSource: City of Edmonton
EPS BUDGET FILENO. 03 / 10
Where it sits
15.4%
of the whole City of Edmonton budget goes to one department. Police are the biggest single line the city has, ahead of transit and fire.
@THEBLACKBOXYEGSource: City resource analysis, 2022
EPS BUDGET FILENO. 04 / 10
It grows on autopilot
$356M → $475M
From 2019 to 2026 the budget climbed every single year, about 5% a year, on a council-approved formula that lifts it automatically for population and inflation. No fresh vote required.
Prior year + population + inflation − "efficiency factor" + salary settlements. The number only goes up.
@THEBLACKBOXYEGSource: EPS operating series
EPS BUDGET FILENO. 05 / 10
Now the hidden layer
The budget you SEE is not the budget you PAY.
On top of that $475M sits a layer that never reaches the ballot. Cost overruns, grants that skip the vote, and gear EPS won't put a price on.
Redacted
@THEBLACKBOXYEGThe black box
EPS BUDGET FILENO. 06 / 10
Money beside the budget
Overtime (2024)$18.3M
…that was budgeted at$11.6M
Provincial grants (2024)$50.4M
Overtime came in 58% over budget. And about $56–60M a year in outside grants and fine money lands on EPS on top of what taxpayers approve.
Every one confirmed in EPS's hands, dragged into the open by a breach or a lawsuit. The price? Never disclosed.
@THEBLACKBOXYEGConfirmed use · undisclosed cost
EPS BUDGET FILENO. 08 / 10
The receipts we do have
Body cameras (Axon, 5yr)$16M
Helicopter (Airbus H125)$5.95M
Tasers (of $3.6M plan)$2M
Armored rescue vehicle$500K
Tactical command centre$370K
An armored truck rated to stop .50-cal rounds. A city police force kitted out like a small army.
@THEBLACKBOXYEGSource: EPS capital records / CBC
EPS BUDGET FILENO. 09 / 10
Per resident: police vs armies
EDMONTON POLICE
$432
China
$328
Brazil
$153
Mexico
$142
India
$88
Indonesia
$71
Per person, Edmonton spends more on police than China, Brazil, Mexico, India, or Indonesia spend on their militaries.
Annual, per person, CAD. EPS at $432/resident net, $509 gross. Military figures: SIPRI 2025. By total budget, EPS still outspends the whole military of Belize or Fiji.
@THEBLACKBOXYEGSource: SIPRI · CAD @1.37
EPS BUDGET FILENO. 10 / 10
Case summary
One city's cops. A nation's army.
Half a billion dollars a year. A formula that only climbs. A whole layer of spending kept off the ballot. Ask what it buys, and who decided.
The claim that holds up: Edmonton's police budget tops the entire military of a long list of countries, several of them bigger than Edmonton.
Sources: City of Edmonton budget documents · EPS Commission variance reports · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database · CBC · Global News · Citizen Lab. Full receipts + methodology in bio.