QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Internal Trade
Health Care System
February 24, 2026
Minister, immigration to Alberta has been falling precipitously since 2024. In the last quarter, there was a net migration of 197 international migrants. Nonetheless, last week, the Premier of Alberta announced a series of nine referenda, many of which deal with denying services to new Canadians. Yesterday, your office said that the province had every right to launch those referenda, and I agree that they have that right, but I am concerned about the specific questions that involve the denial of public health care to new Canadians.
Can you clarify the position of the Canada Health Act on the results of any referenda that deny medical services to people who are not Canadian citizens or landed immigrants?
Senator, thank you for the question. It won’t surprise you that I’m not going to offer a view on a hypothetical outcome of a hypothetical referendum in one particular province, but I can share what I think is the concern and the premise of your question about the responsibility that all orders of government have in our federation for providing public health care services to people entitled to those services. Canadians are understandably proud that we offer those services to those who are in Canada in a way that meets our obligation under the Canada Health Act.
We expect provinces will continue to want to do that, so we will allow the Province of Alberta and the Alberta legislature to make their decisions in the coming months. But we will always talk to our partners in the federation about the importance of offering medically necessary health care services to those entitled to those services, and that would include, of course, asylum claimants and others who are here in Canada, on Canadian soil.
Now, those nine referenda aren’t hypothetical. They are real. The premier has announced them. The tenth referendum is hypothetical, and that’s the referendum on Alberta’s sovereignty.
As this one is hypothetical, what role do you, as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, intend to play if Alberta does go ahead with a sovereignty referendum? What will the federal government’s stance on that be?
You acknowledge, senator, that it is a hypothetical question, so I’m not going to offer views on a hypothetical referendum.
You did identify the premier’s discussion of these referenda. The outcome, of course, is hypothetical, but in the tenth example that you used, the best thing that we can do is to focus on the work that we have committed to doing with the Government of Alberta and with Alberta business leaders and groups representing workers in the province of Alberta. The Prime Minister and Premier Smith have agreed on a memorandum of understanding. We are committed to implementing that within the time frame in which we agreed to do so. That’s the priority —
Thank you, minister.
