Alberta Transfer System - Mandate Initiative

Learn about the Alberta Transfer System Mandate Initiative

What is the Transfer Mandate?

The Premier’s 2025 Alberta Advanced Education Mandate Letter directs the department to: "Work with adult learning providers to expand online access to high-quality transfer credit opportunities for introductory-level courses."

Funding and Goals:

Budget 2026 provides $1 million annually for the transfer system between 2026/27–2028/29 to support the mandate item, as well as improve the transfer system and foster flexible career and education pathways, as outlined in the Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs Strategy.

Goals:

  • Increased education learning provider collaboration and sharing of alternative offerings, for example, micro-credentials, online offerings, and military education and training, in the transfer system and its data & tools.
  • Expansion of learner access to member institution transfer credit decisions and pathways for introductory-level programming, including for transfer decisions for alternative offerings in online transfer system tools.

What are the Key Activities?

Engagement & Working Group(s)

Targeted institution/stakeholder engagement & creation of a broad transfer system-level advisory committee and a targeted member institution working group who will receive transfer assessment grants to support assessment and expansion of transfer decisions and pathways for the transfer system.

 

Transfer Assessment Grants

Grant funding for targeted Alberta publicly funded member institutions to support system capacity to assess & create pathways and data for transfer credit and mobility for the transfer system, including for introductory-level programming and alternative offerings.

 

Technical/Data Enhancements

Enhancements to the Learner Pathways System (LPS) & Transfer Alberta Search Tool to better support learner access to transfer pathways, including access to more learning providers and alternative offerings, for example, micro-credentials, online offerings, and military education and training, as well as portal development, data standards, and updated tools.

 

Interchange Positions

Temporary ACAT Secretariat expansion via two member-institution Interchange positions (Articulation Manager AND Pathways Research & Project Manager).

 

Stakeholder Engagement and Involvement includes:

1

Transfer system member institutions and networks

For Example: Vice-President Academics (VPAs)/Provosts, Registrars, Strategic and Operational Contact Persons, Transfer Credit Awarded (TCA) Contacts, Articulation and Affiliated Committees and other system networks and working groups, student groups.

2

Adult learning providers

For Example: Indigenous learning providers, employers, regulatory bodies/professional associations, private institutions, and agencies/bodies.

3

Learner pathways-related agencies/organizations in Alberta

For Example: Alberta Learning Information Service (alis), ApplyAlberta.

4

Councils on Admissions/Articulations and Transfer and like bodies in Canada (CATs) and other learner pathways jurisdictional and national organizations

5

Government of Alberta

For Example: Advanced Education, Education and Childcare, Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration.

Draft Data Standards

Draft - Alternative Offerings Data Standards and Transfer Alberta Search Tool Updates

Draft Alternative Offerings Data Standards Input - See CMVF3C Military Education and Training Working Group 

Transfer Assessment Grants

Coming Soon

 

Timelines and Project Updates

complete ongoing no details yet

Phase 1: Engage - System Communication & Stakeholders

Duration: April – June 2026
  • Complete initial updates & engagement sessions with system stakeholders via existing meetings and networks, with ongoing updates throughout the project.
  • Discuss and inform draft standards for LPS technology and data updates and initiate the LPS technical project with Technology and Innovation.

Phase 2: Initiate - Working Group(s), Grants, Technology & Pathways

Duration: July – December 2026
  • Initiate set up of an advisory committee and working group to support the mandate project and engage representatives on an ongoing basis, including targeted working group PSIs and grant holders for transfer pathways creation.
  • Initiate set up of targeted Alberta publicly funded member PSI transfer assessment and decision‑making grants to support system capacity for transfer decisions/pathways development and data, as well as ongoing engagement and reporting during the project.

Phase 3: Finalize - Testing, Technology & Pathways

Duration: January – September 2027
  • Stay tuned, more to come.

Phase 4: Launch - Updated LPS & Transfer Alberta

Duration: October 2027

Phase 5: Implement - Transfer System Maintenance Model

Duration: November - December 2027

Phase 6: Complete - Technology & Data Projects & Reporting

Duration: January 2028 - March 2029
  • Stay Tuned, more to come.

How Can I Get More Information?

For questions, input, or additional information, please contact ACAT@gov.ab.ca. 

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