ANALYSIS | What you need to know about Alberta referendum immigration questions 2, 3 and 4

Temporary residents’ access to public health care, education at stake in Alberta referendum

CBC News breaks down immigration questions 2, 3 and 4 in the Oct. 19 referendum

The countdown is on for the Oct. 19 referendum, when Albertans will cast their votes on 10 questions put forward by the provincial government.

Five of those questions have to do with immigration. In another story, we explored the first immigration question, on whether the province should take more control of immigration from the federal government.

Here, we’ll break down immigration questions two, three and four, which propose three methods to restrict non-permanent residents’ access to public and social services.

Those methods include taking away non-permanent residents’ eligibility for public health care and education, introducing a year-long waiting period before their eligibility for social programs kicks in, and mandating a fee or premium for them to be able to access public services.

Experts who have studied immigration and its impacts say that while other jurisdictions in Canada already implement some of these policies, Alberta's referendum lacks clarity on how the government intends to apply these restrictions and exactly who will be impacted.

The province claims high immigration levels have put pressure on Alberta's health, education and other social services, “resulting in delayed access to health care for Albertans, larger classrooms for students and unaffordable cost pressures to social services overall.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has previously said that “temporary individuals should be treated as that: temporary and tourists.”

Although the results of Oct. 19 are non-binding, they will give the provincial government a measure of public approval for the reforms put forward in the questions.

Here is what you need to know about non-permanent residents in Alberta and what implications the policies proposed in questions two, three and four could have.

Non-permanent residents are individuals who hold either study permits, work permits, visitor records or temporary resident permits issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or those who have claimed refugee status, according to the Government of Canada.

That latter group includes asylum claimants and protected persons (individuals who have made a claim in Canada and received a positive decision).

Family members living with work or study permit holders and who are not citizens, landed immigrants or permanent residents themselves are also included in the definition of non-permanent residents.

Now, let’s look at some statistics to get a better snapshot of Alberta.

There are approximately 260,000 non-permanent residents living in the province as of June, with the majority holding a work or study permit, or both, according to estimates from Statistics Canada.

Statistics Canada data show that population growth has slowed down in Alberta, as more temporary residents have left the province than arrived over the past year. A little over 14 per cent of Alberta’s non-permanent resident population hold only a study permit, down from 27 per cent about five years ago.

But what public and social services do non-permanent residents actually qualify for under the current system?

The short answer: many but not all.

Currently, temporary residents are eligible to receive health care services, enrol in the K-12 education system, and qualify for the Alberta Child and Family Benefit, the Alberta Child Care Subsidy and student aid, among other smaller programs, according to the province.

Temporary residents are not eligible for social programs like Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped and income support.

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Refugee claimants, resettled refugees and protected persons receive limited access to health care, though that isn’t through the province but rather through the federal government’s interim federal health program.

Question 2: Temporary residents lose access to public health and education

Now that we’ve done some homework, let’s take a closer look at the referendum questions.

The first thing to know is that none of the policies suggested in the immigration questions would affect those with permanent resident status or Canadian citizens residing in Alberta.

Immigration question two asks: "Do you support the government of Alberta introducing a law mandating that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and individuals with an Alberta-approved immigration status will be eligible for provincially-funded programs, such as health care, education and other social services?"

The lengthy question floats the idea of denying certain non-permanent residents public health care and education altogether — that is, unless the province approves their immigration status, effectively creating a tier system dividing Alberta-approved and non-approved temporary residents.

But what an “Alberta-approved immigration status” actually means is a little unclear.

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In its referendum FAQ, the province defines “Alberta-approved immigration status” as relating to the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program. That program allows the province to nominate around 6,600 people in 2026 for permanent residence, including skilled workers, entrepreneurs and others based on economic priorities. Each year, the federal allocation target is different.

So it appears economic migrants nominated under the program would continue getting access to publicly-funded programs. But what about others like temporary residents?

The government says it will only define which classes of foreign students or work permit holders will qualify as “Alberta-approved” after the referendum.

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But Ethel Tungohan, associate professor of politics at York University in Toronto, says the categories the province outlines in this question don’t capture the full picture.

“When it comes to these different categories, the referendum makes it seem as though there's a clear delineation between Canadian citizens, permanent residents and individuals with Alberta-approved immigration status,” says the Canada Research Chair in Canadian migration policy, impacts and activism.

In fact, she says, there’s a “lot of grey.”

“For example, how about Ukrainian temporary residents who, because of federal government programs, fled the war and are currently living in Alberta? Will they be affected?

“How about temporary foreign workers who have implied status to remain in Alberta but are simply waiting for the outcomes of their provincial nominee program applications?”

The province didn’t provide an answer to whether refugees from Ukraine (who remain on work permits or have other temporary status) would count as having “Alberta-approved immigration status.”

There’s also the matter of eligibility to explore.

Christopher Worswick, a labour economist and professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, points out that across the country, there's a lot of variation of whether non-permanent residents get access to provincial government benefits.

“There's some temporary [resident] statuses where we're quite comfortable not providing health care — or many, many Canadians are,” he said.

The Canada Health Act doesn’t mandate provinces to provide health insurance to temporary residents.

According to a 2026 report by the Canadian Health Coalition and the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre, Ontario and Manitoba exclude international students from public health care coverage entirely.

“It sounds really extreme, but the reality is not all international students automatically get health care in every province. So I think this [question] is in the range of our current sort of policy discussions.”

Question 3: Temporary residents wait 12 months to access social services apart from health care and education

Immigration question three asks: "Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for social support programs as they do now, do you support the government of Alberta introducing a law requiring all individuals with a non-permanent legal immigration status to reside in Alberta for at least 12 months before qualifying for any provincially-funded social support programs?"

Simply put, this question asks whether people who hold temporary permits should have to wait one complete year after arriving in Alberta before they become eligible for social services apart from health and education.

It’s important to note here that temporary residents also pay taxes. The Alberta government estimates the total taxes paid annually by temporary residents to be $150 million, which help fund provincial social services.

A “yes” vote on this question means temporary residents continue paying taxes but need to wait a year before they can reap the benefits of provincially-funded social support programs (like student aid, the Alberta Child and Family Benefit or the Alberta Child Care Subsidy, for example).

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The province estimates the cost of providing health, education and social services to temporary residents in Alberta comes in at more than $1 billion per year.

But the government notes on its website that the exact figure is hard to pin down.

The government also incorporates an additional factor into its calculation: “When you consider that some of the jobs filled by temporary residents could have been filled by Albertans and the additional capital costs required to support temporary residents, the net annual cost of temporary residents living in Alberta is over $1 billion."

Alberta Education estimates spending $600 million on temporary resident students this year. Health care costs “are less precise to track,” the province says, but estimated at about $400 million. Other social services for temporary residents are estimated to cost more than $100 million.

Question 4: Alberta charges temporary residents for public health care and education

Now for the last immigration policy option you’ll encounter on the October ballot.

Immigration question four asks: "Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for public health care and education as they do now, do you support the government of Alberta charging a reasonable fee or premium to individuals with a non-permanent immigration status living in Alberta for their and their family's use of the health care and education systems?"

The amount of the premium or fee would be decided after the vote, the province says.

The province’s FAQ notes it charges international students (not temporary residents) at least $11,000 tuition for public elementary or secondary school.

And again, temporary residents already pay taxes, so a premium on health care and education would be on top of that.

There aren’t many examples of this kind of policy in Canada, as some provinces don’t offer foreign students public health care at all while others, including Alberta, do.

British Columbia charges most international students a mandatory monthly fee of $75, according to the Canadian Health Coalition and the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre report.

On its website, the Alberta government gives the example of the United Kingdom, where temporary workers pay a premium in order to access health care: about $1,450 per year for students and nearly $2,000 per year for all visa and immigration applications from people over 18 years of age.

What your ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote could mean

So, there are three somewhat intertwined questions relating to immigration policy on the October ballot.

If a majority of voters say yes to question two, it’s a stamp of approval on future legislation that would make temporary residents ineligible for publicly-covered health and education, unless they are deemed to have “Alberta-approved immigration status.”

Those lacking that status (such as international students or temporary workers, potentially) would have to get private health insurance coverage or pay out of pocket, like visitors to Canada.

And for temporary residents who do have an “Alberta-approved immigration status,” they would still need to first establish residency in Alberta for a period of at least 12 months before qualifying for certain provincial social support programs, the government’s website says.

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Still, there are some unanswered questions.

We don’t know what the exact length of required residency would be or what social programs would still be made available to temporary residents. The province says it would determine that after the referendum.

A “yes” vote to question three would not impact temporary residents’ access to public health and education programs, but it would restrict them from accessing other social supports for at least the first year they reside in the province.

If voters say yes to question four, they agree to charge all temporary residents a “reasonable fee” (that has yet to be determined) for access to public health and the publicly-funded K-12 education system.

If a majority of Albertans vote “yes” to both questions two and four, only those with an “Alberta-approved immigration status” would have the option to pay the fee in exchange for access to public health and education.

Temporary residents would also have the option to pay for their children to attend private school, the province’s FAQ notes.

Follow all of our Alberta referendum coverage

What’s unclear, Tungohan says, is whether Alberta will apply these immigration policies only to new people coming to the province, or if it will mean affected groups already residing in Alberta will lose their access as well.

When asked to shed light on this, Sam Blackett, the premier’s director of media relations, said: “Questions two through four would apply to all those who are not Canadian citizens and those who do not have permanent resident status.

“The details of new legislation to implement the will of Albertans as expressed in the referendum, including the amount of any premium or fee, will be decided by the legislature thereafter.”

Rukhsar Ali is a multiplatform reporter with CBC Calgary. She has previously reported for The Globe and Mail, CTV News and Global News, as well as produced on CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup and Just Asking. Rukhsar holds a Master of Journalism from Carleton University and was a 2023 recipient of the CBC Joan Donaldson Scholarship. Want to share a story tip? You can reach her at rukhsar.ali@cbc.ca.

With files from Jason Markusoff