EDMONTON — A Calgary "pro-immigrant" group has launched a campaign against Premier Danielle Smith's referendum questions, claiming that the UCP are attempting to blame immigrants for Alberta's problems. "Historically, this province has celebrated immigration," said Jennifer Garrison, co-chair of the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good's strategy team. "But this government's concern about the number of immigrants seemed only to arise when the colour of immigrant skin is brown or black." .Garrison's comments came at a June 3 rally in Calgary, where the alliance announced their "Vote for the Common Good" campaign against each question on Alberta's October referendum. "The four constitutional questions are separation questions in disguise," Garrison said. "Our Canadian constitution exists with our commitment to each other to ensure that power is not abused and that minority rights are protected.""Taken together, all the questions are a political act of scapegoating, blaming immigrants and the rest of Canada for the complex issues our communities and province face." The campaign calls on Albertans to vote against Smith's proposed questions seeking greater control over immigration, social services for non-permanent immigrants, voter verification, judicial selection, and provincial jurisdiction. Smith announced the referendum when previewing Budget 2026, and partially blamed bad federal immigration policies under former Prime Minister Justin Trudue for helping create Alberta's $9.4 billion deficit by flooding social services. "The fact is, Alberta taxpayers can no longer be asked to continue to subsidize the entire country through equalization and federal transfers, permit the federal government to flood our borders with new arrivals, and then give free access to our most-generous-in-the-country social programs to anyone who moves here," Smith said on Feb. 19. .Garrison and other individuals who joined her at the alliance's event said blaming immigrants for Alberta's problems is not the solution."Newcomers are not a burden on our community,” said Robina Hamdard, founder of the Afghan Canadian Women for Global Corporation. "They are assets, innovators, and they already paid taxes, around 90% of them." "They bring skills, education, innovation, cultural diversity, and a strong desire to contribute."Rabbi Mark Glickman said immigrants make up the backbone of Alberta. "Our community will only be great to the extent that we continually affirm our great tradition of welcome, and remain resolute in our opposition to those who would have us turn away the outside," said Glickman. .Smith has stated that she does not want to stop immigration; rather, she wants to help prioritize economic immigrants who contribute to Alberta. Statistics Canada reports there were over 2.97 million non-permanent residents in Canada in March 2026, including 518,489 asylum claimants, protected persons, and related groups. In March 2022, those levels were 1.41 million and 161,105, respectively.
