TORONTO - Roughly 1 million Albertans voted ‘Yes’ to immigration reform questions on the referendum ballot Monday. While the results are preliminary and non-binding, they have sparked a renewed conversation about immigration policy across Canada. “I think the provinces have always wanted a greater say in immigration policy, it’s a concurrent power under the constitution,” said Geoffrey Cameron, a political science professor at the University of Guelph. “So I think what we’re hearing from other provinces right now is they want the federal government to give them more of a say over the numbers they get in existing programs,” he said. While Ottawa sets the overall annual immigration levels and makes the final decisions on admissibility, each year provinces and territories nominate a set number of economic immigrants through Provincial Nominee Programs. Quebec is the exception as it sets its own immigration targets, selects its own economic immigrants and runs its own settlement services. When asked in Ottawa on Wednesday whether Alberta could get a deal similar to Quebec’s, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s response was brief. “We’ll see,” he said in French. Alberta’s premier says her province is looking at Quebec’s deal with Ottawa in terms of shaping a revamp in its own deal with the federal government. “We have been looking for some inspiration from Quebec’s 1991 Canada Quebec accord. They have had this kind of authority over economic migrants for some time,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Thursday. Smith noted that it is early in this process but that conversations with the prime minister have begun. “We talked yesterday morning, and he is accepting that Albertans want to have a more collaborative approach between his government and ours on issues of immigration,” she said. “And so I told him that we would be working on putting a proposal together.” After several years of cutting immigration numbers, Ottawa has recently hinted levels could soon see a modest increase, citing slow population growth and the government’s infrastructure plans, which require a surge in skilled workers. Speaking in Ottawa on Wednesday, Carney stressed that any change would be “sustainable.” “It’s a question of making those judgments in a way that works for Canadians, works for Canada and is sustainable,” he said. “I just want to underscore we will not budge from overall levels that are sustainable. We’re getting them to that level now.” Provinces call for more immigrants, not fewer Alberta is not alone in wanting more autonomy. While experts say most provinces are asking Ottawa for more immigrants, not fewer, they want a greater say in who comes. “They want a larger share of total immigration to Canada to be allocated to them, where they can select on the basis of occupations they see as in demand in their provinces,” Cameron said. Both Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador have come out recently calling for more say in who comes to their provinces. “Prince Edward Island supports a greater provincial and territorial role in immigration planning and decision-making,” the province said in a statement. “We understand our labour market needs and the pressures on public services, so we should have a meaningful role in shaping immigration levels and programs.” In a statement Newfoundland and Labrador said “as immigration is a shared constitutional responsibility, Newfoundland and Labrador has continued to advocate for a stronger provincial role in economic immigration.” Meanwhile Saskatchewan says it “has and will continue to push for greater control over immigration.” The province says with respect to immigration, our focus is on meeting the specific skilled labour needs of our industries.” It adds that “this complements and does not replace the need to train more people here at home to address skilled labour needs…” Premiers will meet in Ottawa on Monday, with immigration expected to be among the many issues discussed.
