Alberta’s third referendum question asks voters whether people with non-permanent legal immigration status should have to live in the province for at least 12 months before they can qualify for provincially funded social support programs. Newcomer advocates say a waiting period could leave families without help for basic needs, temporary housing and child care. Albertans will vote on Oct. 19.

The question assumes Canadian citizens and permanent residents would continue to qualify for social support programs under current rules. It asks whether Alberta should introduce a law setting the 12-month residency requirement for everyone with non-permanent status. The premier’s office said the proposal could apply to child-care subsidies, student aid, other benefits and income supports.

The Immigration Education Society supports thousands of people from countries including Afghanistan, India and Mexico. Its clients use provincial programs such as the Alberta Child and Family Benefit, which is intended for lower-income families. “Our clients, they struggle with basic needs,” said Noha Eltanahi, the society’s manager of settlement and financial literacy. “Social support is the first thing that gets them on their feet in the beginning.”

At the Centre for Newcomers, many clients rely on provincially funded social services for temporary housing. CEO Nketti Johnston-Taylor said restricting access could worsen housing problems. “(A ‘yes’ on Question 3) could exacerbate or create housing instability within the province,” she said.

Johnston-Taylor also pointed to the child-care subsidy, which helps eligible families with children in full-time kindergarten through Grade 6 cover costs. She said access can help parents seek employment and that a lack of subsidies particularly affects women. “The child-care subsidies, that’s, that’s a big one because it enables families to be able to go out and find employment and the absence of child-care subsidies, you know, affects women in particular,” she said.

The province estimates the services cost more than $100 million annually. In a statement to CTV News about Question 3, the province said: “Thanks to Justin Trudeau’s disastrous border and immigration policies, Alberta’s population grew by 600,000 people over the past five years alone. This created unprecedented pressures on health care, education and other social programs, with recent estimates indicating that delivering government social services to temporary residents is costing Alberta taxpayers over $1 billion annually.”

The province did not provide an estimate of how many people Question 3 could affect or a complete list of the programs involved. Its statement cited a cost of more than $1 billion annually for social services delivered to temporary residents, while its estimate for the services referenced in the report was more than $100 million a year.

Chad Williamson, a litigation specialist with Williamson Law, called the question “fundamentally an equal rights question.” He said the proposal distinguishes between citizens and non-citizens. “It’s definitely arguable that there is a breach of equality rights,” Williamson said.

If approved in the referendum, the measure could be challenged in court, Williamson said. The legal test would include whether Alberta could justify the restriction under section 1 of the Charter of Rights, including whether its objective is legitimate and whether a 12-month wait is a reasonable and proportionate way to achieve it. “Is the objective legitimate? And is this a 12-month wait a reasonable, proportionate way to get there?” he said.

Based on reporting by CTV News Calgary.