Question 4
Fees for Non-Permanent Residents
"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?"
Why You Should Vote No
Charging extra fees for healthcare and education to workers who already pay taxes is double-billing. It creates perverse incentives to skip care, endangers public health, and conflicts with the principles of the Canada Health Act.
Key Numbers
They Already Pay For It
Temporary foreign workers in Alberta pay the same provincial income taxes, federal taxes, CPP contributions, and EI premiums as every other working Albertan. The healthcare and education systems they'd be charged "extra" to access are already partly funded by their contributions.
Adding a surcharge on top of that is not cost recovery; it is double billing. A worker who pays $5,000 in provincial taxes annually and then faces a healthcare premium for the same services is being taxed twice for the same benefit. There is no principled argument for why someone who contributes equally should receive less.
Sources
Immigration News Canada. (2026). Alberta referendum 2026: Immigration rules and services.
Fees Deter People From Seeking Care, Creating a Public Health Risk
Decades of public health research consistently shows that when people face financial barriers to healthcare, they delay or skip treatment. Workers who know they'll face a bill are less likely to see a doctor for a respiratory infection, get a vaccine, or seek mental health support.
This matters for all Albertans. A food processing worker who avoids treatment for a contagious illness because of the cost puts colleagues, customers, and their community at risk as well. Public health systems only work when everyone can access them. Fees create gaps that cost far more to address downstream.
Sources
InfoImmigration. (2026). Alberta immigration referendum 2026: Shocking risks ahead.
It Conflicts with the Canada Health Act
The Canada Health Act establishes the conditions under which provinces receive federal health transfer payments. One of those conditions is universality: insured health services must be provided on uniform terms and conditions to all insured persons in a province.
If Alberta implements extra charges for a category of legal residents, it risks jeopardizing the $6.6 billion in annual Canada Health Transfer payments it received in 2025-26. Alberta could find itself in a legal dispute with the federal government that costs far more than any fees collected, while patients bear the cost of that uncertainty.
Sources
Department of Finance Canada. (2024). Letters to provinces and territories: Alberta 2024. Government of Canada.
Children's Education Should Not Be Contingent on Their Parents' Visa Status
The question explicitly includes families. Charging fees for children's school enrollment based on a parent's immigration status means that kids born into or raised in Alberta face an extra financial penalty for existing in the school system.
Children do not choose their parents' immigration status. Excluding them from full access to education, or making it more expensive, produces long-term social costs far exceeding any premium collected. An educated workforce, whatever its origins, benefits Alberta. Barriers to children's education harm everyone.
Sources
Factsmtr. (2026). Alberta's referendum: What problem is it solving?.
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