Alberta Premier Danielle Smith proposed on Wednesday that the province deny newcomers access to health care, public education, and child care until they work and pay taxes for several years.
Smith told the Calgary Herald the approach mirrors restrictions other countries have adopted. The United Kingdom recently extended its residency requirement for permanent residence from five to 10 years.
“When you look at the United Kingdom which has a socialist prime minister and they’re talking about not being able to access social programs until you’ve worked for 10 years. That’s the kind of thing they’re talking about in a socialist country,” Smith said. “Those are the kinds of conversations we need to have here.”
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Under the proposal, newcomers would need taxpaying work history before accessing benefits. “Maybe you don’t get health care covered until you have been a taxpayer for a number of years,” Smith said. “Maybe you don’t bring your kids over to be educated in our publicly-funded education system or use our taxpayer-supported child-care system until you have a certain number of years as a taxpayer. You have to pay into the system.”
The proposals stem from Smith’s Alberta Next panel, which has surveyed whether the province should “withhold provincial social programs to any non-citizen or non-permanent resident who does not have an Alberta-approved immigration status.”
Smith said she wants an immigration system prioritizing economic migrants. “We would like an immigration system that chooses on the ability to find a job,” she said. “Alberta has been most successful when the province brings in economic migrants because then somebody comes in and they’re already a taxpayer.”
Smith blamed federal immigration policies following COVID-19 for straining provincial systems. “Everything is impacted by the fact the federal government just lost all control over the number of people coming into the country — and it’s hurting people. It puts pressure on every single aspect of our system here,” she said. “People are at the breaking point. Our public servants are at the breaking point.”
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