Premier Danielle Smith is trying to rewrite history.
After spending over $17 million on the massive "Alberta is Calling" ad campaign and even handing out moving bonuses at the peak of our population increase to convince people to move here.
She is now claiming the population surge is a crisis and blaming it entirely on the very immigrants she welcomed, while calling a Fall 2026 referendum to invite Albertans to join her in blaming immigrants.
The Alberta Advantage is about the founding promise that you will be measured by the content of your character and what you do for your community. Albertans know what built this province. Sign the petition to demand the Premier stop scapegoating immigrants for her own failures to manage Alberta's healthcare and education systems.
FAQ: The Truth About Immigration and the Deficit
Click to expand.
Q: Will targeting temporary residents and asylum seekers save Alberta money?
A: No. The government claims this referendum will save Alberta money on healthcare and social services for asylum seekers and refugees, but this is false. The federal government or private sponsors pay for those services, not the provincial government.
Q: Are temporary residents draining our tax dollars without contributing?
A: Temporary residents, international students, and asylum seekers pay the exact same taxes as everyone else. Even the Alberta government admits temporary residents don't significantly add costs to the budget. There is no logical reason why they should pay additional taxes or fees purely due to their immigration status.
Q: Is Alberta facing a unique crisis caused by temporary residents?
A: No. Temporary residents make up less than 5% of all Alberta residents, and that number is already dropping. Furthermore, the United States, Europe, and other western countries have very similar or higher levels of temporary residents. We are not experiencing a unique crisis; we are experiencing a manufactured political distraction that feeds on racism.
Q: If immigrants aren't costing the province, why is the government focusing on them?
A: Blame shifting. The heavy focus on immigration is being used as a wedge issue to distract voters from unprecedented provincial spending, massive deficits, and rapidly declining public services. It is a smokescreen masking mismanaged funds and incompetent governance.
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Why I'm supporting...
ronald s
spruce grove, AB
I am telling Daniel Smith she has not run on these outlandish ideas and her referendum ideas are against most Albertans values.
mahdieh h
crossfield, AB
I’m seeing more racism in the schools I teach at and in my small rural community since Danielle Smith blamed immigrants for our problems. We don’t need the province’s leader normalizing racism. This leadership is detrimental to our province.
rodney w
edmonton, AB
As a Canadian citizen I feel immigration is a very important part of our country. I also feel Alberta needs to stay part of Canada.
katie t
calgary, AB
I believe in equality for all human beings. No matter from whence we came we are human and this is the bond that must be dignified and respected.
susan g
edmonton, AB
I’m supporting this because your allegations that somehow our new Albertans immigrants are the reason your Provincial government is in a financial disaster. This is untrue and you are indicating a supporting prejudice towards immigrants in our province. It’s time for you to admit that YOU are the cause of Alberta’s financial woes, not the immigrants who answered the call of « Alberta’s calling »
tyler w
duffield, AB
Immigrants helped build this country and province. To punish them when you were begging them to come is just cruel.
christine d
calgary, AB
Canada was built on the backs of immigrants, I myself am only 3 generation Canadian on my mother side. What you and your party are proposing is nothing less than bigotry. Stop pandering to the worst of Albertans/ Canadians and do the right thing.
trudy p
peace river, AB
I believe that hardworking immigrants like my own parents built this province, and current immigrants are here to continue to build a strong and tolerant culture which we all can thrive in.
joanna f
edmonton, AB
I am supporting this because every single person in this province except its indigenous population has immigrated here or descended from those who have immigrated here. We should all acknowledge this. It is not appropriate for this UCP government to target new immigrants for extra taxes and penalties. The kindest and hardest working people I know are immigrants. No person should be illegal or treated as less than because of the amount of time they have been here in this country. This is not what Alberta is all about. Alberta should be safe for everyone who lives here regardless of immigration status.
evelyn b
calgary, AB
My family, 100+ years ago, your family...EVERY family in Alberta that isn't Indigenous, we're immigrants. Immigrants built Alberta to the Alberta that exists today. Stop cherry picking which immigrants you think are the acceptable ones!
shirley p
st. albert, AB
Charging a modern-day head tax on legal, hardworking, low-income residents to distract from the government's fiscal failures is disgraceful. I demand you scrap this discriminatory referendum immediately.
cody s
red deer, AB
I support this petition because Daniel Smith's harmful rhetoric engenders violence and hatred and normalizes ignorance. We are built of many nations on this land, and there is no justification for the rejection of others who wish to call this place home.
edwin c
calgary, AB
I am supporting because Alberta should be for everyone.
annette t
edmonton, AB
My husband is an immigrant, my parents were immigrants. This is not USA, here we care about people, no mater where you come from. Most immigrants I know are working, many in jobs Albertans will not do.
lorna c
calgary, AB
The immigrates I have met in Alberta work harder and in one case charge a much more reasonable rate for better work. I consider myself lucky these immigrates moved to Calgary, the city is a better place having them here.
bette y
edmonton, AB
I'm supporting this petition because we're all immigrants or come from immigrants aside from indigenous people & immigrants built this province!
rollande g
beaumont, AB
I'm supporting this effort because, since they are here by your request and they help this province. The jobs that they do pays low wages but immigrants will work instead of taking handouts. Please scrap that referendum asap. Thanks.
patricia c
calgary, AB
I’m supporting because we cannot function, as a province, without the services new people provide as they arrive in our country. What happened to your very own “Alberta is calling”?
heidemarie s
calgary, AB
All the above reasons
annette b
edmonton, AB
Unless you are First Nations you are all immigrants.. don’t behave like you’re better than newcomers and bully them