Alberta
Premier Smith hammers Liberal government for ‘slightly’ reducing immigration
As so often happens these days the headlines from major news outlets all look like they were written by the same people. All the major news outlets repeated the government talking point that immigration would be reduced significantly. In his news release, Immigration Minister Marc Miller spoke of “controlled targets” and even “marginal” declines in Canada’s population. Minister Miller made it sound like the feds are pulling way back on the number of immigrants being allowed into the country.
A few hours later, Premier Danielle Smith explained how Alberta sees things. According to Premier Smith, immigrants will still be pouring into the country at near record levels. Smith says this new immigration plan will offer almost no relief whatsoever to provinces buckling under the pressure of so many newcomers.
Premier Smith is right. When you take out all the adjectives and the self back-patting, the 2025 – 2027 Immigration Levels Plan shows the number of new immigrants will still hover near record levels.
From the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan.
The levels plan includes controlled targets for temporary residents, specifically international students and foreign workers, as well as for permanent residents.
We are:
- reducing from 500,000 permanent residents to 395,000 in 2025
- reducing from 500,000 permanent residents to 380,000 in 2026
- setting a target of 365,000 permanent residents in 2027
Quick facts:
- Canada’s population has grown in recent years, reaching 41 million in April 2024. Immigration accounted for almost 98% of this growth in 2023, 60% of which can be attributed to temporary residents.
- Francophone immigration will represent
- 8.5% in 2025
- 9.5% in 2026
- 10% in 2027
The Levels Plan also supports efforts to reduce temporary resident volumes to 5% of Canada’s population by the end of 2026. Canada’s temporary population will decrease over the next few years as significantly more temporary residents will transition to being permanent residents or leave Canada compared to new ones arriving. Specifically, compared to each previous year, we will see Canada’s temporary population decline by
- 445,901 in 2025
- 445,662 in 2026
- a modest increase of 17,439 in 2027
It’s interesting how the feds explain the situation with “temporary residents”. This group includes foreign students and temporary workers. Most Canadians would probably be shocked to know just how many people are “temporarily” here.
Minister Miller says this population will decline by 445,901 people in 2025. What he leaves out is that this still allows for just over 2,000,000 foreign students and temporary workers! (5% of 41,000,000 Canadians is 2,050,000)
It’s also very interesting that in the explanation for how the feds plan to cut the number of temporary residents down from about 2.6 million to just over 2 million, is by recognizing that many of the temporary residents will transition to being permanent residents. It’s not clear how that will reduce the number of people in the country. I guess we’ll have to see how that all turns out.
Meanwhile Alberta Premier Danelle Smith and Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism Muhammad Yaseen issued this joint statement on today’s federal government immigration announcement:
“Alberta has a long history of welcoming newcomers, and we plan to maintain that reputation.
“However, the federal government’s reckless and irresponsible open-border immigration policies, permitting almost 2 million newcomers to enter Canada last year alone, have led to unsustainable financial pressures on all provinces.
“With the cost of food, energy, housing and everything else in this country increasing, and with tens of thousands of new people moving to Alberta monthly, our hospitals and schools are at or above capacity.
“As a province, we need a reprieve from this explosive population growth so we can catch up with these pressures. So do all provinces.
“The federal government’s plan to cut a mere 105,000 new permanent residents will not solve these pressures when they are bringing in almost 2 million additional people annually.
“We call on the government to cut the number of newcomers to Canada from almost 2 million to well under 500,000 annually until further notice.
“Ottawa’s priority should be on reducing the number of temporary foreign workers, international students and asylum seekers—not on reducing provincially selected economic migrants.”
Agriculture
Lacombe meat processor scores $1.2 million dollar provincial tax credit to help expansion
Alberta’s government continues to attract investment and grow the provincial economy.
The province’s inviting and tax-friendly business environment, and abundant agricultural resources, make it one of North America’s best places to do business. In addition, the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit helps attract investment that will further diversify Alberta’s agriculture industry.
Beretta Farms is the most recent company to qualify for the tax credit by expanding its existing facility with the potential to significantly increase production capacity. It invested more than $10.9 million in the project that is expected to increase the plant’s processing capacity from 29,583 to 44,688 head of cattle per year. Eleven new employees were hired after the expansion and the company plans to hire ten more. Through the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit, Alberta’s government has issued Beretta Farms a tax credit of $1,228,735.
“The Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit is building on Alberta’s existing competitive advantages for agri-food companies and the primary producers that supply them. This facility expansion will allow Beretta Farms to increase production capacity, which means more Alberta beef across the country, and around the world.”
“This expansion by Beretta Farms is great news for Lacombe and central Alberta. It not only supports local job creation and economic growth but also strengthens Alberta’s global reputation for producing high-quality meat products. I’m proud to see our government supporting agricultural innovation and investment right here in our community.”
The tax credit provides a 12 per cent non-refundable, non-transferable tax credit when businesses invest $10 million or more in a project to build or expand a value-added agri-processing facility in Alberta. The program is open to any food manufacturers and bio processors that add value to commodities like grains or meat or turn agricultural byproducts into new consumer or industrial goods.
Beretta Farms’ facility in Lacombe is a federally registered, European Union-approved harvesting and meat processing facility specializing in the slaughter, processing, packaging and distribution of Canadian and United States cattle and bison meat products to 87 countries worldwide.
“Our recent plant expansion project at our facility in Lacombe has allowed us to increase our processing capacities and add more job opportunities in the central Alberta area. With the support and recognition from the Government of Alberta’s tax credit program, we feel we are in a better position to continue our success and have the confidence to grow our meat brands into the future.”
Alberta’s agri-processing sector is the second-largest manufacturing industry in the province and meat processing plays an important role in the sector, generating millions in annual economic impact and creating thousands of jobs. Alberta continues to be an attractive place for agricultural investment due to its agricultural resources, one of the lowest tax rates in North America, a business-friendly environment and a robust transportation network to connect with international markets.
Quick facts
- Since 2023, there are 16 applicants to the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit for projects worth about $1.6 billion total in new investment in Alberta’s agri-processing sector.
- To date, 13 projects have received conditional approval under the program.
- Each applicant must submit progress reports, then apply for a tax credit certificate when the project is complete.
- Beretta Farms has expanded the Lacombe facility by 10,000 square feet to include new warehousing, cooler space and an office building.
- This project has the potential to increase production capacity by 50 per cent, thereby facilitating entry into more European markets.
Related information
From Premier Danielle Smith and Alberta.ca/Next
Let’s talk about an Alberta Pension Plan for a minute.
With our young Alberta workforce paying billions more into the CPP each year than our seniors get back in benefits, it’s time to ask whether we stay with the status quo or create our own Alberta Pension Plan that would guarantee as good or better benefits for seniors and lower premiums for workers.
I want to hear your perspective on this idea and please check out the video. Get the facts. Join the conversation.
Visit Alberta.ca/next
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