Before You Vote: Fee for Service
A Nonprofit’s Guide to Alberta’s October Referendum: Setting the cost of accessing public services
We explore Question 4 in our series breaking down the 2026 Alberta Referendum.
Non-permanent residents (NPR) are defined by Statistics Canada as individuals with a temporary resident status, which includes: individuals and their families with work permits; individuals and their families with study permits; or people who have made a refugee claim but whose status hasn’t been finalized.
What the Government is Asking
Question 4 on the referendum asks:
“Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for public health care and education as they do now, do you support the Government of Alberta charging a reasonable fee or premium to individuals with a non-permanent immigration status living in Alberta for their and their family’s use of the health care and education systems?”
Voters will be asked to choose yes or no.
A ‘Yes’ vote signals public support for the Alberta government to introduce a fee or premium charged to individuals with non-permanent immigration status for their use of health care and education. The government is not required to act on these changes.
A ‘No’ vote signals a lack of public support for pursuing a fee or premium through this referendum question. The government is still legally entitled to act on it.
Questions 2 and 4 both address how non-permanent residents access health care and education, but in different ways. Question 2 asks about restricting eligibility based on immigration status, while Question 4 asks about charging fees to non-permanent residents who use those systems.
Before you vote, it’s worth understanding how public services are currently funded, how non-permanent residents (NPR) already contribute through taxes, and what this proposal would mean in practice.
Why the Government Has Proposed This Change
The provincial government is supportive of a “Yes” outcome, and points to a sharp rise in the number of newcomers arriving in Alberta through federal immigration programs as the rationale for this question. It argues immigration has outpaced Alberta’s capacity to deliver core services, pointing to longer wait times for health care, larger class sizes in schools, and rising cost pressures across the social service system as evidence of strain.
Within this context, the Government of Alberta proposes introducing a fee for non-permanent residents to access provincially funded health care and education, framing the change as a way to make these services more sustainable, accessible, and affordable for Albertans over the long term. Cost is a central part of the government’s case: it estimates that delivering social services to NPRs currently costs taxpayers more than $1 billion per year and argues user fees would help cover those costs.
Newcomers make up 27% of Alberta’s nonprofit workforce
“User-pay” principle: Under a user-pay approach, the people using a service pay some or all of its cost directly through a fee or premium.
“Ability-to-pay” principle: services are funded from general tax revenue, with costs shared across the population according to ability to contribute, and access is not tied to payment at the point of use.
For Nonprofits
Many nonprofit organizations work directly with newcomers who have non-permanent immigration status, such as international students, temporary foreign workers, refugee claimants, and their families. Nonprofits support these newcomers by providing services such as childcare, education supports, healthcare, housing supports, food security programs, settlement services, and building community connections.
At the heart of the question is whether charging fees would help offset the costs of providing public health care and education. A fee or premium could reduce pressure on public finances by asking some users of those services to contribute directly toward their cost, rather than relying entirely on general tax revenues. At the same time, many non-permanent residents already pay taxes in Alberta, raising questions about whether an additional fee would amount to paying twice for the same public services. This referendum question also invites a broader conversation about how public services should be funded, including whether a "user-pay" or an "ability-to-pay" approach is more appropriate (see sidebar).
Any fee system would require deciding who pays, how much they pay, and how fees would be collected. It could also require verifying immigration status, determining whether anyone is exempt, and creating a process for appeals. Some of that work would fall to governments and service providers directly; some could be absorbed by community organizations helping people navigate the new requirements.
Many key details remain undefined, including what would count as a "reasonable fee or premium," whether exemptions would apply, and how any system would work in practice. As a result, it is not yet possible to know the full impact on individuals, service providers, or nonprofit organizations.
For nonprofits, the question is how changes in affordability and administration might affect both the people they serve and the people they employ. Depending on how a future policy was designed, organizations could see changes in demand for services, new financial pressures facing clients and staff, or an increased need for information and navigation support.
Current Eligibility
Many individuals with a non-permanent immigration status already contribute to Alberta's public systems through taxes, tuition, fees, and other charges. Eligibility for publicly funded health care and education currently depends on a person's immigration status and the rules of specific programs.
Some temporary residents qualify for Alberta's public health insurance plan (AHCIP) if they meet residency and immigration requirements – though Alberta sets the eligibility and isn’t required to insure temporary residents. For school, international students may pay higher tuition fees than domestic students, while access to kindergarten to grade 12 (K-12) education varies depending on a student's circumstances and legal status. For more, check out the section on eligibility in Question 3.
Question 8 on the referendum asks if the province should be able to receive federal funding without the attached conditions
How These Services Are Funded
Healthcare
Alberta’s public health care system, like other provinces and territories in Canada, is funded through a mix of provincial revenue and a federal transfer called the Canada Health Transfer (CHT). This is the largest financial transfer to the provinces, and it’s allocated on an equal per capita basis, meaning Alberta’s share is calculated using its total population, not the number of people enrolled in the province’s health plan.
While the calculation accounts for everyone currently residing in the province, the population count is only done once annually. If the provincial population surges shortly after the count is complete and funding is distributed, that province could see a strain on services for the rest of that fiscal year while trying to meet demand for an increased population by pulling from its own financial sources.
Attached to the CHT funding are the Canada Health Act’s (CHA) core conditions, including a rule against "extra billing" or "user charges": a province cannot charge someone it has classified as an "insured person" for health services already covered by the provincial health plan. If they do, the federal government could deduct that amount, dollar-for-dollar, from a province’s CHT payment. Currently, most NPRs do fit into the ‘insured person’ category, and if the system were to remain as it is now, the province cannot charge them extra for insured services without risking a CHT deduction. In order to bill users and stay in the rules, the Province would have to change eligibility for health coverage within the legislation.
Education
Alberta’s K-12 education system is funded by two revenue pools: general provincial revenue (the same source the province uses for healthcare), and the education property tax.
The education property tax is collected by municipalities from property owners and some renters – indirectly, through rent – and is added to the Alberta School Foundation Fund. This fund is then distributed to public and other school boards on an equal, per-student basis. It helps to pay teachers and provide classroom resources such as textbooks. The tax is paid by all Albertans, including those without children in school.
For 2026-27, the education property tax is set to fund 33.4% of education operating costs, which is up from 31.6% in 2025-26. The other 66.6% of funds will come from general provincial revenue.
Non-permanent resident contributions
NPRs who are working and living in Alberta are generally paying into the same provincial revenue base that funds these programs, whether through income or consumption taxes, or through property taxes (including renters). Anyone who meets the Canada Revenue Agency’s residency test for tax purposes – which is based on income, time spent in Canada, and residential ties, rather than immigration status – files and pays Canadian income tax, including the provincial portion.
As a baseline, NPRs working in Alberta are eligible for services they’re financially contributing to. They’re paying into the same general revenue pool that funds them, alongside every other taxpayer in the province.
How Nonprofits Can Get Involved
Interested in learning more about how you and your organization can get involved? See our post on the rules of engaging with the referendum, so that you and your organization can advocate responsibly.
Stay tuned for the next post. If you have any questions, reach out to us - policy@thenonprofitchamber.org