Ottawa made a mess of immigration. Now Alberta wants immigrants to pay for the consequences

Albertans are being asked to vote this fall on a series of referendum questions that, taken together, amount to a rebuke of immigration and immigrants. Of the 10 proposed questions so far, five deal directly or indirectly with newcomers to the province.

Several of the proposed questions would give Alberta greater authority over immigration, while others would limit access to services such as health care and education for some non-permanent residents. Supporters argue the measures would ease pressure on housing, jobs and public services.

If you believe immigrants are responsible for every social ill Alberta faces, you may be inclined to vote yes across the board. But before doing so, it is worth asking whether the problems being blamed on newcomers are actually being caused by them.

Take health care. Alberta’s health-care system is under strain, but not because of a sudden flood of immigrants. It is struggling because successive governments, including the current one, have failed to build a system capable of keeping pace with population growth and changing needs. Newcomers did not create those policy failures.

The same applies to the labour market. One of the referendum questions suggests immigrants are somehow depriving Albertans of employment opportunities. Yet many newcomers are filling jobs that employers have struggled to fill for years, from health care and construction to agriculture, transportation and food services.

Housing is a more complicated issue. Alberta’s population has grown at a breathtaking pace, and housing construction has not kept up. Immigrants accounted for roughly 24 per cent of Alberta’s population in the 2021 census, up from about 17 per cent in 2001. Over that same period, the province’s population grew from just under three million to more than five million. That growth has driven up housing demand and made it harder for many people, especially young people, to enter the market.

But who invited much of that growth?

In 2022 and 2023, the Alberta government actively encouraged Canadians from other provinces to move here through its Alberta Is Calling campaign. The province advertised its affordability, employment opportunities and quality of life. People responded exactly as the government hoped they would. Having invited people here, Alberta can hardly feign surprise that they came.

At the same time, Alberta’s economy has continued to outperform much of the country. Recent economic forecasts project Alberta’s economy will grow by 2.6 per cent this year, roughly three times the national average. The province enjoys one of Canada’s strongest labour markets, relatively affordable housing compared with Toronto or Vancouver, and growing industries in technology, aviation, tourism and food processing.

That hardly sounds like a province being crushed under the weight of immigration.

None of this is to suggest that Canada’s immigration system has been managed perfectly. Far from it.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau badly mishandled immigration after the pandemic. Population growth surged far beyond the country’s ability to build housing and infrastructure. Temporary foreign worker programs expanded rapidly. International student numbers ballooned. Oversight often lagged behind reality.

The result was predictable: rising housing costs, strained services and growing public frustration.

Governments make mistakes. On immigration, Ottawa made a mess of things. Voters are entitled to demand that government do a better job.

What does not follow is the conclusion that Alberta should respond by restricting access to health care, education and social programs, or by attempting to seize far greater control over immigration policy than it currently possesses.

That is the fundamental flaw in these referendum proposals. They confuse poor government policy with the people who were affected by it.

Alberta is hardly powerless when it comes to immigration. Through the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program, the province can nominate immigrants whose skills match its economic needs, although the federal government makes the final decision. That’s a long way from the helplessness some referendum supporters often claim

Nor is there evidence that immigrants are draining public resources. Numerous studies have found that immigrants contribute more than they consume over the long term through taxes, entrepreneurship and labour-force participation.

That is why these referendum questions are so troubling. They are built on the assumption that immigrants are the source of Alberta’s problems when, in most cases, they are not.

There is a difference between fixing a bad policy and turning newcomers into political scapegoats.

Alberta’s future prosperity depends on attracting workers, entrepreneurs and families from around the world. A smart immigration system, properly managed, strengthens both the province and the country. The answer to Ottawa’s immigration failures is better policy, not resentment dressed up as reform.

Albertans should look carefully at these proposals and ask a simple question: are they solving the problems created by bad government policy, or merely blaming the wrong people for them?

The answer should determine how they vote.

Doug Firby is an award-winning editorial writer with over four decades of experience working for newspapers, magazines and online publications in Ontario and western Canada. Previously, he served as Editorial Page Editor at the Calgary Herald.