Immigrant groups say racism rising in Alberta as referendum looms

From her home in northeast Calgary, Saima Jamal scrolls through nearly a dozen hateful comments posted online ahead of a Muslim event in the city.

“One person said, ‘Hey, someone should plow into them.’ Another person is saying, ‘Please check their ID, arrest, deport,'” she said.

Jamal, the co-founder of the Calgary Immigrant Support Society — a group first created more than a decade ago to help Syrian refugees settle into life in Calgary — has lived in Alberta for almost 30 years.

“Right now racism and hate is on steroids and I’ve never seen this level of hatred toward immigrant communities,” Jamal said. “Muslim communities, Indians, anyone that is wearing a turban.”

The online comments, ranging from threatening to unkind, appeared on a recent post promoting the city’s Muslim Heritage Day festival. Calgary police said there was no credible threat to public safety but assigned uniformed officers to attend the event. It was held a day after two men were stabbed at a Sikh temple in Edmonton. Edmonton police are still trying to determine whether that attack was a hate crime.

Sikh community leaders believe anti-Sikh hate within the province is on the rise.

“We’ve seen this in online forums,” said Harman Kandola, Alberta regional president for the World Sikh Organization of Canada. “When you see that hate leave social media and come into the real world where actual injuries have happened, it is extremely, extremely shocking.”

Edmonton police say there have been 139 hate incidents and 43 hate crimes to date in 2026. Calgary police say of 272 suspected hate crimes or incidents reports this year, 44 were deemed to be hate-motivated after investigation, with newcomers or immigrants targeted most often.

Following the Sikh temple attack, Edmonton police Chief Warren Driechel expressed concern about heightened tensions.

“We can’t politicize this incident (but) as the chief of the Edmonton Police Service, I see the heightened geopolitical tensions and increasing polarization around the world showing up locally,” he said Aug. 21.

University of Alberta political science professor Jared Wesley says the referendum debate in Alberta is contributing to the climate.

“I have concerns about where this is, not where it’s headed,” he said. “I mean, it is entirely predictable when you table a series of referendum questions about the future treatment of immigrants in Alberta society that the conversation would not be simply limited to economic questions.”

On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on 10 referendum questions put forward by the Alberta government, five of them dealing with immigration policy.

One question asks: “Do you support the Government of Alberta taking increased control over immigration for the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels, prioritizing economic migration and giving Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities?”