The Heritage Savings Trust Fund used oil revenues to invest for the long term in such areas as health care, education and research and as a way of ensuring that the development of non-renewable resources would be of long-term benefit to Alberta.

[2] The strategy and goals of the fund have changed through successive provincial governments which moved away from direct investments in Alberta to a diversified approach, which now includes stocks, bonds, real estate and other ventures.

[8] The previous Social Credit government limited royalties on oil and gas at 16.6 per cent, which was written into each mineral lease.

[9] The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund was proposed in 1974 legislation was decided to include the first announced in the 1975-1976 election budget tabled by the Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Peter Lougheed in the 17th Legislature in February 1975.

Former Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister Allan Warrack claims the decision to introduce the legislation knowing the legislature would be dissolved was intentional to allow widespread public review, transparency, and accountability.

[13] Lougheed and the Progressive Conservative campaign was successful, and he returned to power with a strong majority government controlling 69 of 75 seats in the Legislature.

[21] The first investment of the Canada Division was the March 8, 1977, private placement loan to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador for $50-million for 21 years at a 10 per cent coupon.

[22] Alberta amended the policy on Canada Investment Division loans in the 1979-80 fiscal year to allow all provincial governments to borrow at the interest rate of the province with the strongest creditworthiness, a benefit for provinces who would otherwise be required to borrow at higher interest rates on the open market.

[25] The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund would go through several changes in the early 1980s under Premier Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservative government.

[26] Eventually, Provincial Treasurer Lou Hyndman announced the province would indefinitely suspend the Canada Investment Division and the possibility of future inter-provincial loans issued by the Heritage Trust Fund.

[28] Lougheed announced to Albertans that the "rainy day" had arrived and the government intended to put a billion-dollar umbrella over mortgage holders, small businesses, and farmers.

The Don Getty-led Progressive Conservative government facing deteriorating economic conditions and low oil prices tabled a 1987-88 budget that terminated the 15 per cent non-renewable natural resource deposits into the Heritage Savings Trust Fund and withdrew all interest income from the fund into general revenues.

[36] The Auditor General raised similar concerns as the fund claimed $2.8-billion on "deemed assets" which could not be liquidated or in any way recovered by the province.

[35] Furthermore, opposition MLAs Nicholas Taylor, and Sheldon Chumir claimed the fund created a needless backlash against Albertans in Toronto and Ottawa.

[37] The Don Getty government faced continued criticism over the handling of the Heritage Savings Trust Fund, particularly the dwindling principal which had seen four consecutive years of reduction by 1991.

[50] The Alberta economy's recovery from the early 1990s recession was jumpstarted by the 2000s energy crisis, which saw the inflation-adjusted price of a barrel of crude oil on NYMEX rise above US$30 in 2003, reached US$60 by 11 August 2005, and peaked at US$147.30 in July 2008.

[51] Provincial government revenues from oil and gas royalties grew leading Premier Klein to declare the province "debt free" in July 2004;[52] this included the province having set aside enough money to make payments on outstanding locked-in debts until 2013 when the final payment was made.

AIMCo transferred control of the province's various financial assets, which had previously been managed by a division of the Alberta Ministry of Finance.

Based on a look back at non-renewable resource revenue between 2000 and 2013, on average, the proposal would have resulted in a deposit of $500-million in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund over that period.

[63] Under Peter Lougheed, $25.5-million from the Heritage Savings Trust Fund was used for the construction of the Kananaskis Country Golf Course as a measure to promote the diversification of the province's economy.

The 1987 loan of $120-million to Millar Western for a Whitecourt pulp mill which the government never received interest or principle payments on despite the province awarding the company several contracts.

[66] The governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Canada took severe losses on the Lloydminster Bi-Provincial Upgrader during the early 1990s, the Heritage Savings Trust Fund held 24.17 per cent of the project for a commitment of $404-million.

[71] The Heritage Savings Trust Fund has proven to be a target of criticism from a wide spectrum of authors and organizations representing many positions on social and economic scales.

[75] Reports by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Fraser Institute[76]: 9  concluded that Alberta should be saving more of its non-renewable resource revenues.

The report noted if Alberta had followed the Alaskan formula, by 2011 the Heritage Savings Trust Fund would have had a value of $42.4-billion instead of $9.1-billion.

[1][76]: 9 In its annual report on the Canadian economy in February 2013, the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged Canada, and resource-rich provinces like Alberta and Quebec to "better manage boom-and-bust commodities cycles by stashing away more tax revenue in good times".