Alberta was calling, both Canadians and immigrants answered and now the government is working to address the consequence of an unprecedented number of people moving to the Prairie province over the past year.
In a televised address Tuesday night, Premier Danielle Smith said the Alberta government will be quadrupling the amount of capital money going towards K-12 school construction over the next three years via a new program called the School Construction Accelerator Program.
Alberta has seen record-breaking population growth: more than 200,000 people moved to the province last year and Smith said that’s like adding two new Red Deer-sized cities. Schools everywhere are inundated with new pupils.
“After several years of very modest student enrollment growth from around 2015 through the COVID years, Alberta’s student population is now surging in an unprecedented fashion,” Smith said.
“We estimate that it is increasing at about 33,000 students per year – that is equivalent to roughly 35 new schools each year.”
The province’s two largest divisions, Edmonton Public Schools and the Calgary Board of Education, have both said their schools are expected to have a utilization rate of well over 90 per cent this school year.
Some families are struggling to find schools that will accept their kids.
The addition of some $6.5 billion in capital funding would be a significant boost to what was budgeted in February.
Budget 2024 originally earmarked $1.9 billion in capital funding over the next three years for planning, design or construction of new and modernized school projects across the province.
In the summer, the government promised an added $215 million for school boards, including $90 million towards 100 more modular classrooms that are expected to be delivered by the end of the calendar year.
The premier said while this year’s provincial budget allocated $2.1 billion for new school construction and modernizations over the next three years — to add about 33,000 spaces — that is no longer enough to address population growth.
Instead, under the accelerator program, a one-time funding boost will see $8.6 billion spent on new school spaces and modernizations, as well as on portables.
“This will allow us to complete actual construction on approximately 50,000 new student spaces over the next three years and to complete and open over 150,000 new spaces over the four years after that,” Smith said.
It’s the fastest and largest build the province can manage given the availability of the construction workforce and the time it takes to permit, prepare and service school sites, Smith said.
While most of the money will go towards building new schools, they take years to complete and in the meantime, the province said it’s working to get portables in place sooner.
“This new program will also fund the purchase of new specialized modular classrooms to provide over 20,000 new student spaces over the next four years,” Smith said.
An undisclosed portion of the $8.6 billion will also go towards a pilot project called the “Charter School accelerator program” that Smith said is designed to add 12,500 new charter school student spaces over the next four years.
“And finally, we are also developing a school capital pilot program for non-profit private schools to incentivize investment in the creation of thousands of new independent school student spaces at a reduced per-student cost to taxpayers,” Smith said.
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In order to start work immediately, Smith said her cabinet has approved full construction funding for new schools but noted projects can be held up by sites not being prepared or permitted properly.
“That is why I am asking all school boards to work with their respective municipalities and the Ministry of Education on an expedited basis to get priority school sites permitted, serviced and otherwise prepared for immediate construction work. If you can prepare the sites, the province will have the dollars set aside to get shovels in the ground,” she said.
Smith said the same goes for Charter schools: if the government is approached with a solid plan, help will be provided to get it off the ground.
Municipalities that have seen big population growth, such as Calgary, Edmonton, Rocky View County and other growing mid-sized cities, were asked to make getting schools built a priority.
“Cut the red tape. Permit and service the sites to our public, Catholic, charter and private schools. We must all lend ourselves to this effort together,” she said.
Smith decries immigration levels, reiterates ‘shared values’ statement
According to Statistics Canada, Alberta’s population surged by 202,324 residents in 2023. That’s the largest annual increase in the province’s history, the equivalent of 550 people moving to Alberta every day.
While the bulk of the growth came from international migration, Alberta also shattered a national record last year for interprovincial migration, with a net gain of 55,107 people.
Most of the interprovincial migrants came from Ontario and B.C. Statistics Canada estimates that 38,236 Ontarians moved to Alberta last year.
Two years ago, the province launched its Alberta is Calling campaign, which is aimed at attracting skilled workers from other parts of the country.
The third phase of the campaign launched back in May, offering skilled tradespeople a one-time, $5,000 refundable tax credit to entice skilled tradesworkers to come to Alberta to help build housing and infrastructure.
The influx of migrants, both domestically and from overseas, has seen Alberta’s relative affordability begin to wane.
In her eight-and-a-half minute speech on Tuesday night, Smith took aim at the federal government and reiterated sentiments expressed in a statement released earlier this week saying the country’s immigration policies are allowing too many people into Canada, driving up the cost of living for everyone.
“Alberta has always welcomed newcomers who possess our shared values – and we will continue to do so,” Smith said when speaking about the thousands of people who have moved to Alberta for better opportunities.
“Welcoming those who believe in working hard, protecting our freedoms, contributing to society, following the rule of law, and who have a deep respect for other cultures and faiths different from their own, have long been a strength of our provincial culture and history.”
The premier went on to praise the immigration policies under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, saying they matched Canada’s economic needs and was “commensurate with our ability to build enough houses and infrastructure to keep up with that growth.”
She then slammed the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government’s “unrestrained open border policies” for admitting over a million newcomers each year into Canada.
Smith said the wave of newcomers has caused significant challenges and “has broken this delicate balance.”
While earlier this week Smith took aim at the feds over a potential plan that would see asylum claimants spread more evenly amongst the provinces, saying Alberta is can’t afford it.
On Tuesday, she made zero mention of would-be refugees and focused purely in immigration.
“These historically high immigration levels – especially as it relates to those with temporary visas – is exacerbating shortages in housing, job opportunities for young people, as well as health, education and other social services infrastructure in a manner that is a severe challenge for all provinces to keep up with, including our own,” the premier said.
“This drives up the cost of living and strains public services for everyone — new Albertan, life-long Albertan and everyone in between.”
The Alberta premier called on Ottawa to dial back how many newcomers Canada allows in, so provinces have time and resources to catch up with the growth, “and to ensure those coming here closely align with our country’s economic needs and our core values.”
“And if the current Federal Government won’t make these changes, our government will certainly support a new one that will.”
The province purchased commercial time with taxpayer dollars to get Smith’s message out to Albertans.
Sagging support for federal Liberals, but little appetite for an election: polling
It comes as Trudeau faces several political blows and calls from party faithful to resign as leader, after the loss of two Liberal strongholds in byelections that are being viewed as bellwethers of a political shifts happening in Canada.
Earlier this month, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also pulled out of a supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals.
Support for Trudeau and his Liberal government has hit a “new low,” new polling showed earlier this week.
Just over one-third of Canadians (33 per cent) approve of the Trudeau government, according to an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News and released on Monday. That approval rating is down by four points since the last time Ipsos did a similar poll in June.
Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has led in the polls for more than a year, was favoured by 45 per cent of Canadians surveyed by Ipsos, who said he would make the “best prime minister of Canada.”
At the same time, polling by Ipsos for Global News earlier this month also showed that a small majority of Canadians say they do not want to head to the polls early.
A federal election must take place under fixed date laws no later than October 2025.
Danielle Smith herself is facing a leadership review the first weekend of November, at the UCP’s annual general meeting in Red Deer.
The fall sitting of the legislature starts on Oct. 28.
Alberta is Calling campaign details
For the Alberta is Calling Phase 3, the 2024 provincial budget allocated $10 million for the $5,000 moving bonus. Alberta is Calling ads are running at post-secondary campuses, restaurants, bars, gyms, and on streaming and social media platforms in B.C., Ontario and Quebec.
Phase 3 of the Alberta is Calling campaign is expected to cost the Alberta government $2.5 million.
Phase 1 of the campaign targeted workers from the health, trades and technology sectors from Toronto and Vancouver.
Phase 2 was aimed at attracting workers from Ontario and Atlantic Canada, as well as internationally.
The advertising campaign touted the advantages of living in Alberta, saying the province has “the highest weekly earnings and lowest taxes in Canada,” an “excellent quality of life and affordable lifestyle,” as well as plenty of mountains and parks, plus more than 300 days of sunshine per year.
— With files from Caley Gibson, Saba Aziz and Uday Rana, Global News and Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
