Head of the Alberta Teachers’ Union Jason Schilling stated, “Children do not choose their immigration status and should not be denied an education because of it.”

The first part is true. Kids don’t choose their immigration status. The second part is false. Nobody is being denied an education. Some temporary residents in Alberta may have to pay some of the bill for their kids if their kids attend Alberta schools, however.

Schilling is referring to some of the proposals regarding immigration being posed in the referendum to be held on October 19th in Alberta. If Albertans vote yes and the government follows through, it could lead to fees for temporary residents to put their children in public schools.

The ballot options in question are below.

Question 2 in the referendum asks:

Do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law mandating that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and individuals with an Alberta approved immigration status will be eligible for provincially-funded programs, such as health care, education and other social services?

Question 4 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 healthcare and education systems?

Charging a fee is not denial of access.

Charging non-permanent residents a fee for education is not unprecedented. Australia and New Zealand and Singapore all charge significant fees for the enrolment of the children of non-citizens in public schools.

Mass immigration has put strain on the educational systems of all developed countries. Charging a fee for non-permanent residents isn’t unreasonable and could help bring in resources so that teachers can better manage increasing “classroom complexity” due to immigration. The union has ironically been demanding those resources for years.

The cost to educate the children of non-permanent residents in Alberta is estimated to be $600 million per year. It’s not an insignificant figure to invest in the education of students expected to leave the country.

The door to education for the children of temporary residents won’t be closed if Albertans choose to vote yes on questions 2 and 4 despite the attempt to fearmonger from the provincial teacher’s union. Charging a fee for those students could lead to better educational outcomes for the children of citizens, and non-permanent residents alike.

Nobody is being blocked from getting an education any more than housing is being denied if a non-permanent resident is expected to pay rent.

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