Calgary’s mayor weighed in on the province’s plan for a referendum on the issues of immigration and the constitution, saying the province needs to welcome, not shun, newcomers.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas responded to questions on the matter at the Feb. 24, 2026, Regular Meeting of Calgary city council, following last week’s televised address by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

In that address, Premier Smith discussed the buoyance of Alberta’s economy; however foreshadowed the looming budget that’s to be presented on Feb. 26. Smith blamed rampant immigration to the province for putting a strain on Alberta’s schools, hospitals and social programs.

“To put it bluntly, people across the country and around the world continue to want to move to our province in very large numbers to pursue job opportunities and prosperity,” Smith said.

To potentially limit it, Smith and the UCP government will put forward five referendum questions in October around access to provincial programs and services for the newcomer population arriving in Alberta.

Smith had previously lobbied the federal government, in a letter to then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to increase immigrant access to the province in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Farkas said he’s long talked about his family’s immigration to Canada.

“My dad came here as a refugee, as an immigrant. He could have gone anywhere in the world, but he chose to come to Canada, to Alberta, to Calgary,” Farkas said.

“Central tenets of my campaign for mayor was how we can lean into the opportunity of the two-millionth Calgarian, and it is an opportunity.”

Balance the needs of newcomers with those of current residents, Mayor Farkas said

Still, Farkas said he understood the struggles of keeping up with the strain of having thousands of people migrating to the city. Calgary has been dealing with ongoing challenges around housing, social supports like the Low-Income Transit Pass and the impact on recreation facilities and transit.

He said that governments need to lean into that.

“We need to be thinking about ways we can be more welcoming for not just newcomers, but also level setting what the needs are for Calgarians who live here today,” he said.

“So, my vision for Calgary is certainly one that welcomes newcomers, that attempts to address those challenges so that we can convert what is some reasonable frustration that Calgarians have around scarcity to more of an abundance mindset.”

Farkas said that in the lead-up to the October referendum, he would be sharing more of his thoughts on the matter.

“There’s many questions that are being put on the table by the provincial government.  At this point, my understanding is many of them are not within even provincial control,” he said.

“So, I’ll be reviewing that very closely, and I’ll definitely have more to say in the coming months.”

The Alberta immigration and constitutional referendum is scheduled for Oct. 19, 2026.