Alberta’s Smith to pursue immigration reforms, hints changes could take time

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government will be moving ahead with sweeping changes to immigration after Monday’s referendum.

But, in a TV address to Albertans Tuesday, she hinted it could be some time before her government takes action.

The remaining ballots were still being tallied late Tuesday, but it appears Albertans will approve eight of the nine immigration and constitutional questions Smith put to voters, while also overwhelmingly rejecting separation.

The constitutional questions appear to be coming down to the wire, but Smith said Albertans have given her a mandate to take action on immigration.

Those questions ask whether Alberta should have more say on who comes to the province to work and whether it’s time to put more limitations — and perhaps introduce fees — on temporary residents who seek access to health care and education.

She acknowledged there were more ballots to count but said it appeared the yes vote would win out. As of Tuesday evening, four of the immigration proposals were leaning towards the yes side with single-digit majorities. The fifth proposal to require proof of citizenship at provincial election polls had nearly two-thirds approval.

Smith said the mandate voters have given her will see the province take greater control over immigration to stabilize population growth and make sure Albertans are prioritized for jobs.

“We will be pursuing the reforms approved by Albertans through this referendum in the coming months and years ahead,” Smith said.

The premier didn’t promise action on the constitutional questions, saying she was waiting for Elections Alberta’s final count. The agency has said all ballots will be counted by Wednesday.

The Constitution questions sought Albertans’ blessing for Smith to lobby provincial counterparts to assist in amending the Constitution to reduce Ottawa’s power over provinces and to abolish the Senate.

As of Tuesday evening, the yes option was leading on three of those four questions by razor-thin margins with almost all polls reporting.

“We will know the answer to those questions in a couple of days,” Smith said.

The lone question with the no side in the lead was whether provinces should be allowed to opt out of federal programs without losing federal funding.

Smith has said she needs a yes to the nine questions so she can better bargain with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Carney told reporters in Ottawa that the federal government will “take into account” the votes on the nine questions but cautioned that constitutional change can be a “difficult” and drawn-out process.

Critics have called the immigration questions anti-immigrant dog-whistling, and some, including Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, say the results seem to be an underwhelming mandate for the premier and called on her to move on.

“If she wanted a mandate, she should have been able to get 85 per cent on questions like this, and she was unable to carry the day,” Nenshi told reporters earlier Tuesday. He called on Smith to stop scapegoating immigrants and “be a premier for all Albertans.”

Colin Aitchison, a former United Conservative Party press secretary turned government relations consultant, said the result was a mandate for the premier.

“Governments get elected on less than 50 per cent in this country, and then they move forward with implementing a mandate,” said Aitchison, with Enterprise Canada.

Smith’s government has yet to give specifics on how the proposals would work or how they would be implemented.

Avnish Nanda, a lawyer who had campaigned against the immigration proposals, said he was shocked by the results as he was expecting the questions to pass with much larger margins.

“We thought we would be blown out,” Nanda said.

Nanda said he didn’t think the results represent the will of Albertans. He pointed to polls that suggest some voters were confused by the wording of the questions. He said they may have also been misled by the government advertising campaign.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he was proud to see a majority of voters in his city reject the immigration proposals, saying it affirms Calgary as a welcoming place for newcomers.

Farkas also said Ottawa was already acting to address immigration concerns. “That, to me, kind of leads me to ask, ‘What was the point of this whole exercise to begin with?'” Farkas said.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack also called for Smith to ditch the immigration questions.

“I don’t want our neighbours to feel like they’re not welcome in our city,” Knack said late Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2026.

— With files from Lisa Johnson in Edmonton and Dayne Patterson in Calgary