Feds won't stand in the way of Alberta's fall referendum, stress common immigration goals

OTTAWA — Federal officials say they won’t stand in the way of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s plan to put a number of constitutional and immigration-related questions to a referendum in the fall, and say they’re already taking meaningful steps to bring migration down to a sustainable level.

Gabriel Brunet, a spokesman for Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, said his office was aware of the nine referendum questions Smith put forward to Albertans in a televised address on Thursday evening and didn’t quarrel with her plan to seek input on these matters.

“(We have) taken note of Premier Smith’s address and the questions it outlines,” wrote Brunet in an email. “Albertans will express their views on these issues and others raised by Premier Smith, as they have on several constitutional questions in the past.”

Smith said in her Thursday address that strains created by Alberta’s rapid post-COVID population growth meant she’d need to seek a mandate from Albertans to pursue changes to the province’s immigration system that are a “ significant departure from the status quo.”

She announced that five immigration-related questions would appear on Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum ballot, including questions about a 12-month residency requirement for accessing certain social services, creating an Alberta-approved immigration status and requiring proof of citizenship to vote in provincial elections.

Alberta has welcomed some 600,000 new residents since COVID restrictions eased around 2022, a 13 per cent population increase, with seven in 10 newcomers arriving from outside Canada. The province’s two major cities, Edmonton and Calgary, have absorbed most of the new residents.

Immigration is a shared federal-provincial responsibility under Canada’s Constitution.

LeBlanc’s office said immigration was a file best handled cooperatively and stressed the progress the federal government has already made in bringing the national system back under control.

“ Our plan is working and real progress is being made, with substantial declines in asylum claims, new temporary foreign workers, and international student arrivals – so that we protect the bargain of a sustainable intake of newcomers that is consistent with our capacity to properly welcome them,” wrote Brunet.

Some 435,421 immigrants arrived in Canada between July 2024 and June 2025 . This was the lowest number in four years but still more than 150,000 higher than the pre-COVID baseline of 2018-2019.

Smith also revealed four constitutional questions that will be on the referendum ballot, including questions about abolishing the Senate, opting out of federally-run programs with compensation and giving preference to provincial laws over federal laws in competing areas of jurisdictions.

The nine questions are all in line with recommendations put forward in the final report of the Smith-chaired Alberta Next Panel, released in December .

Two citizen-proposed questions — one relating to Alberta independence and the other concerning coal mining in the southwestern Alberta foothills — have also been put forward and will appear on the referendum ballot if their respective sponsors collect enough signatures for this to happen.

National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.