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Newcomers who are permanent residents, new citizens, or recently recognized Canadians arrive expecting to join the world’s second-largest country, with ten provinces and three territories, and to have the freedom to live and work anywhere in Canada.

This expectation is at risk whenever a province or territory considers holding a referendum to leave Canada.

If newcomers settle in a region that holds a secession referendum, they could find themselves in a much smaller country. This new country might face economic challenges, tense disputes with the rest of Canada, and stricter visa rules for living and working in Canada, even if both countries accept applications.

The new, smaller country might not automatically recognize newcomers as residents or citizens. Both the new country and what remains of Canada might not allow dual citizenship. This means a newcomer could lose Canadian citizenship without ever having a say in the secession referendum.

Today, there is also a greater risk that the United States could annex a weak, small new country or the weakened remainder of Canada.

If that happened, U.S. policies focused on assimilation could quickly remove language rights, multicultural protections, quality public education, and public health insurance. Immigration might become as restricted as it once was in Australia. ICE agents could even enter Canada for so-called 'ethnic cleansing' operations. For anyone who thinks Canada and the U.S. are similar, this would be a major shock.

Even though secession referendums affect all Canadians, especially newcomers, permanent residents are not allowed to vote in these provincial referendums. Why is that?

These referendums are very different from regular federal, provincial, or municipal elections.

It may seem reasonable that only citizens vote in these elections, since many are lifelong residents of Canada with no other place to go. Some are refugees or cannot simply return to their ancestral homelands without facing immigration hurdles. These residents are the only Canadian citizens who cannot avoid the impact of the governments they elect. We all benefit from good government.

In Japan, over 40 municipalities already let permanent residents vote in local referendums, even if they are not Japanese citizens.

Unfortunately, newcomers to Canada now face obstacles when trying to become permanent residents, citizens with proof of citizenship, and eligible voters.

Currently, about 250,000 people are waiting in a backlog for their permanent residency applications to be processed by the federal government. There is also a three-year delay in issuing citizenship certificates to new Canadians, with around 136,000 applications still pending.

This means that today, hundreds of thousands of people who could be directly affected by the breakup of Canada have no voice in any secession referendums.

Leaving out many current and future newcomers from the Alberta referendum and a possible third Québec referendum is a serious issue for Canadian democracy.

In Alberta, permanent residents cannot vote in a referendum about whether newcomers can enter and stay in Canada, access public services, or need to show proof of citizenship to vote. These questions have major consequences.

Because the identities, well-being, and futures of permanent residents and new citizens are at stake in secession referendums and many Alberta referendum questions, all permanent residents in Alberta should be on the voters list. But they are not, which raises questions about the referendum’s validity, no matter the result.

Some people argue that permanent resident newcomers should not have the right to vote in the referendum, just as women once could not vote in Canada and only men decided if women could be added to the voters’ lists.

A truly democratic approach would have let women help decide, through a referendum, whether they could vote. In the same way, it would be more democratic to let newcomers help shape the future of their new home, Canada.

Permanent residents and new citizens should think about proposing and supporting laws that let them vote in all secession referendums, since the results directly affect their lives.