Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the province will hold a referendum on Oct. 19 focused on immigration and constitutional changes.Todd Korol/The Canadian Press
Premier Danielle Smith said she does not know exactly how much newcomers cost Alberta’s social programs, continuing to argue that Ottawa’s immigration policies are jeopardizing her province’s finances.
Ms. Smith on Friday defended her plan to hold a fall referendum where questions focused on immigration and constitutional changes will be put to a vote. The immigration questions, if later adopted as policy, could dramatically cut services for some newcomers.
The Premier announced the referendum, scheduled for Oct. 19, in a televised address Thursday evening that outlined broad aspects of her government’s fiscal plan as it braces for a significant deficit in its coming budget because of cratering oil and gas revenue.
She said the federal government’s immigration policies fuelled Alberta’s population boom, placing unsustainable pressure on provincial programs such as health care and education.
At a Friday news conference in Calgary, Ms. Smith told reporters that Alberta has a “certain number of residents who are very high users” of social programs, but she stumbled when pressed for details on the financial burden newcomers place on the province’s health and education systems.
“It’s tough,” she said when asked about the total figure. “We’d have to do the figuring out.”
She added: “We don’t track residents and how much they use. All I can give you is averages about what things cost.”
While Ms. Smith said she did not know the precise tally for health and education, she noted that it cost Alberta roughly $500-million to have the children of temporary residents in its kindergarten to Grade 12 system this year. The province budgeted $9.9-billion for education in 2025-2026.
And in a statement after the press conference, Alberta said health care costs, excluding those tied to hospitals, clock in at $100-million a year for non-permanent residents. Hospital care is the most expensive aspect of the health system.
Premier Danielle Smith says in a televised address that her government is putting nine questions to a provincewide referendum on Oct. 19, including proposals to restrict social services from some immigrants. Smith says she's not afraid of direct democracy and trusts the judgment of Albertans. (Feb. 19, 2026)
The Canadian Press
The Official Opposition New Democrats said Ms. Smith’s plan to hold a referendum on limiting access to education and health care for some immigrants is an attempt to pit residents against each other. The NDP renewed its calls for a provincial election.
In remarks that featured a handful of expletives, Alberta NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi on Friday said the proposals are designed to inflame and that she experienced first-hand evidence that racism is on the rise in Alberta.
“There is no doubt in my mind that underlying all of this is an attempt to be divisive, to pit people against each other, and it is emboldening some very dark and disturbing behaviour,” Ms. Pancholi told reporters.
The Premier, in response to those comments, charged the NDP with making “hysterical claims that are not true.”
Ms. Smith’s proposals could dramatically change who’s eligible to receive publicly funded social services in Alberta. One referendum question asks if voters support mandating that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and those with an “Alberta-approved immigration status” – which is undefined – should be eligible for provincially funded programs.
On Friday, Ms. Smith said her province would approve immigrants based on economic grounds, likening the approach to Ottawa’s agreement with Quebec.
Ms. Smith said she will pursue policy changes if a majority of Albertans consent to the referendum questions.
B.C. Premier David Eby on Friday said he doesn’t understand Ms. Smith’s approach on immigration, adding that he feels the constitutional questions are a “completely bizarre response to the moment.”
“To be engaged in a navel-gazing exercise with the federal government about our respective authorities, like, let’s all just work together and get the job done for Canadians.”
In Ottawa, the federal Liberal government responded to Ms. Smith’s address by pointing to the “unprecedented” moves it has taken to control Canada’s immigration system.
“We strongly believe that Albertans and all Canadians are best served when we work together,” wrote Gabriel Brunet, spokesperson for Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade and intergovernmental affairs.
“Albertans will express their views on these issues and others raised by Premier Smith, as they have on several constitutional questions in the past,” he later wrote.
Spokespeople for the governments of Ontario and Saskatchewan declined to comment Friday on Alberta’s referendum proposals.
Also on Friday, the Premier said that if the citizen group canvassing for support for Alberta separation gets enough signatures to force a referendum, its independence question would be put to residents on the same ballot.
Mitch Sylvestre, head of the signature-collection campaign to force an independence vote, told The Globe and Mail that he believes a constitutionally viable separation referendum shouldn’t be shoved onto a ballot with other questions.
“It’s a standalone question,” said Mr. Sylvestre, adding that he thinks the immigration proposals aren’t controversial.
But he also said he’s grateful for the opportunity to have a referendum date: “Given the opportunity to ask our question is all I could’ve asked of her.”
Gabriel Fabreau, a physician and professor who specializes in health systems, said policies that restrict access to health care for newcomers could be catastrophic to Alberta’s economy and social system.
Agriculture is a cornerstone of Alberta’s economy, and foreign labourers dominate jobs at industrial facilities such as slaughterhouses. The international labour pool also provides a crucial supply of health care workers, including skilled nurses.
If Alberta creates a system where newcomers must wait a year for social services or pay access fees, other jurisdictions will have an advantage over the province when trying to attract workers.
The health care system, which is already in a precarious state, would be especially vulnerable, Dr. Fabreau said.
“If we target these newcomers by revoking things, our health care system will collapse tomorrow.”
With reports from Laura Stone and Stephanie Levitz