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Albertans will vote on Question 1 this fall, which asks whether the province should take increased control over immigration to decrease levels, prioritize economic migration and give Albertans first priority on jobs. The question is the first of 10 referendum questions and opens the door to four other immigration-related votes.
Albertans are just weeks away from voting on 10 questions in the fall referendum, and Question 1 asks whether they support the Government of Alberta taking increased control over immigration.
Alberta's Case for Provincial Immigration Control
The question specifies the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels, prioritizing economic migration and giving Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities. Immigration is currently a shared responsibility between the federal and provincial governments, with Ottawa holding the majority of the power. The federal government sets a yearly capacity for all of Canada and then assigns every province an individual quota of permanent residency nominations. Last year, Ottawa allowed Alberta to nominate about 6,400 people for permanent residency.
Alberta's minister of jobs, economy, trade and immigration, Joseph Schow, argues the program would be more effective and potentially more efficient with less federal input. He told CTV News Calgary that provinces should be consulted more and given more consideration on the numbers Ottawa suggests. Schow said Alberta knows which sectors are investing in the province and which trends are coming, while the federal government does not. He argued the province is best positioned to make those recommendations.
Premier Danielle Smith tasked Schow at the beginning of his term with wrestling some control of immigration away from the federal government. Smith claims federal immigration levels over the past 10 years have been unsustainable. Like many other referendum questions, she implies former prime minister Justin Trudeau is almost entirely to blame. The argument is that more immigrants have impacted the province's ability to fund and deliver social services such as health care and education.
Immigration Ballot Questions and Public Services
Those issues are addressed more head-on in referendum Questions 2 to 5. Question 1 is instead a broad inquiry into immigration that starts the conversation but remains short on details. Schow admitted that much of the outcome relies on the other four immigration-related ballot questions. If the yes side sweeps those questions, he claims it offers a larger chance for the government to make extensive changes.
Schow said the province can provide the services people are told they will have access to when they arrive and give a full understanding of what is available to them in Alberta. He added that the immigration program in Canada needs to be evaluated. The minister says a yes vote would hopefully allow the province to revisit both the temporary foreign worker and permanent resident programs.
Schow framed the question as being about who should come to Alberta rather than who should not. He said the aim is to make sure those coming to Alberta have the skills needed to meet demand today and tomorrow. Under a provincially led system, he says that number would fluctuate year to year based on which industries are in demand and growing. He sees it as a chance to fill vacancies as Albertans move through post-secondary training.
Quebec Model and Immigration Concerns
Currently, Quebec sets its own annual immigration levels and manages its own economic selection criteria, which is the freedom Alberta wants, according to Schow. A Concordia University economics professor believes hypothetical sweeping provincial changes would scare off potential immigrants, whether they are wanted or not. Moshe Lander said it could send a signal that immigrants are unwelcome now and might be unwelcome in the future.
Lander said part of the problem is the assumption that no other place in Canada would want the skills immigrants bring. He said Alberta could spend a large amount of money while people merely use the province as a starting point to jump somewhere else. Ottawa's allocated permanent resident nominations come with an expectation that the individual try to settle in their nominating province, but there is no official law or minimum mandatory timeframe policing them.
That means nominated people are not always guaranteed to stick around. Someone could, for example, immigrate to one province, train in and be nominated in another and then move to another still for better employment. Lander says that would make the provincial policy confusing. He asked how exactly you stop someone from leaving Alberta once they come here, or how you stop somebody from Ontario coming to Alberta.
He believes the province has misrepresented the situation and not been forthcoming about what sustainable levels of immigration would be. Lander said Alberta does have some control over immigration right now and can create programs that incentivize certain immigrants to come, so it is not completely powerless. He said part of the problem is that the province has presented it as if they have no control of our policy whatsoever, which is not true.
Employment Priorities and Reform Challenges
The question also claims lowered immigration would give Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities. Business owners and employment experts believe that is a tricky thing to guarantee. They acknowledge some large companies have taken advantage of the temporary foreign worker program, but say concerns over a few bad actors have poisoned the entire conversation. Economists say the ins and outs of a new system would be nearly impossible to finalize.
Some business owners and employers worry what it could mean for jobs outside of Alberta's marquee industries. With weeks left before the fall referendum, the first question remains broad enough to start an immigration conversation but short on implementation details. Schow acknowledged that much of what follows depends on how Albertans vote on the four related immigration questions.
CTVNewsVI 
CP24:Alberta no longer calling? Why the province wants to wrench immigration control from OttawaThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Alberta Referendum Immigration Control Danielle Smith Joseph Schow Justin Trudeau Permanent Residency Moshe Lander Question 1
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