The Alberta government is proposing new rules governing political neutrality and freedom of expression at post-secondary institutions, alongside changes to student conduct policies and professional engineering regulations.Advanced Education Minister Myles McDougall introduced Bill 38, the Advanced Education Statutes Amendment Act, 2026, on Tuesday, proposing amendments to the Post-secondary Learning Act and Professional Governance Act.The proposed legislation would establish minimum requirements for institutional neutrality and freedom of expression policies at public post-secondary and independent academic institutions.Institutions would be expected to refrain from issuing official statements on political, social or ideological issues unrelated to their academic missions.The requirements would apply to institutions as organizations rather than restricting the personal views of students, faculty or staff..The UCP says the changes would not restrict academic freedom or lawful expression.Institutions would remain responsible for developing and administering their own policies, although the minister could direct them to consult campus communities and review submitted policies to ensure they meet provincial requirements.John Alho, executive director of the Alberta Post-Secondary Network, said institutional neutrality would help preserve an environment where students and faculty can express differing opinions."By remaining impartial on social and political questions outside of matters affecting our educational, research and institutional mandates, our institutions help preserve the broadest possible space for members of the academic community to express their views, challenge ideas and engage in open inquiry," said Alho. .Bill 38 would also give the provincial government authority to establish minimum standards for student codes of conduct at public post-secondary institutions.The changes follow a 2025 review of nearly 200 institutional policies that UCP said identified inconsistencies in how student conduct rules were written and enforced.Proposed standards would address academic and non-academic misconduct, sexual and gender-based violence, transparency, privacy protections and requirements for fair and timely disciplinary processes.Universities and colleges would continue to develop and administer their own codes of conduct within the established standards and handle individual disciplinary cases.The minister would also have authority to direct institutions to consult their campus communities and review their policies for compliance with the minimum standards.Changes would apply differently to independent academic institutions, with their student conduct requirements established through policy rather than the legislation's public-institution framework. Other private and First Nations post-secondary institutions would not be affected..Bill 38 would also overhaul Alberta's approach to post-secondary tuition by replacing the existing tuition growth caps with maximum tuition amounts for individual programs or groups of programs.The minister would have authority to establish maximums through ministerial orders, while post-secondary institutions would retain the ability to set their tuition within the limits.Existing domestic students would also receive a temporary safeguard limiting tuition increases to 2% in the 2027-28 academic year while the new framework is implemented."Students should be free to ask hard questions, debate ideas openly and know they’ll be treated fairly. Families should know what tuition will look like so they can plan ahead," McDougall said in a government news release."This bill would deliver both and would make licensing simpler for the engineering and geoscience professionals who help build Alberta.".The bill also proposes changes to Alberta's professional engineering and geoscience regulatory framework.At the request of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) and the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET), professional technologists and professional licensees would be combined into a single professional limited licensee class regulated exclusively by APEGA.The change would end the joint regulation of professional technologists by APEGA and ASET.The merger would take effect after both organizations are continued under the Professional Governance Act.The government says the changes are intended to simplify professional licensing while maintaining the existing governance models of Alberta's professional regulatory organizations.Additional details surrounding the tuition maximums, institutional neutrality, freedom of expression and student conduct requirements are expected to be established through forthcoming regulations.
