Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has announced she will put nine referendum questions to voters in October, including on charging temporary foreign residents a fee for health and education services. Other questions concern giving Alberta "increased control over immigration for the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels," legally mandating that voters prove their citizenship to cast a ballot in an election and abolishing the Senate. Smith blamed Justin Trudeau for his "disastrous" immigration policies, adding that Alberta's rapid population growth combined with lower oil prices has made the province's finances unsustainable.
‘Increased control over immigration?’ Nine questions on Alberta referendum in October https://t.co/g4PqQxbIp0
— insauga (@insauga) February 20, 2026
Canada could agree a comprehensive trade deal with India within 12 months, according to the South Asian nation's representative in Ottawa. High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik said he expects negotiations to proceed "much faster" than in the past – the two countries have been attempting to make a deal since 2010 – because "we both have had enough experience of doing these kind of free trade agreements in the last one or two years." Mark Carney is expected to head to India soon to speak with government and business leaders in the world's most populous country.
Ahead of PM's visit, India's envoy says Canada could sign trade deal "within a year." https://t.co/TMURNnCLMV
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) February 20, 2026
Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr, the federal government's secretary of state in charge of defence procurement, has claimed the new Defence Investment Agency bureaucracy created by the Liberals will soon have more authority to rearm Canada. He said the agency's creation will allow small- and medium-sized firms to access contracts despite not having "the ability to have these big lobbyists in Ottawa to go and do their bidding for them."
Ottawa is into its overhaul of defence procurement and will soon give the agency at the centre of its strategy more authority to ramp up the domestic defence sector and rearm the military. #procurement https://t.co/xryfI1HM1C
— Supply Professional magazine (@SupplyProMag) February 20, 2026
The US International Trade Commission has launched an investigation under CUSMA into the rules-of-origin regulations governing the auto trade. The Commission said it will look at the “impact on the U.S. economy, effect on U.S. competitiveness, and relevancy considering recent technology changes.” It comes after the Trump administration has repeatedly targeted Canada's auto industry, urging carmakers to leave the country and do business in the US instead.
U.S. International Trade Commission launches CUSMA rules-of-origin auto investigation https://t.co/JqBs4bLdMB
— Bay Street News (@PCullingham) February 19, 2026
In more Trump news, the American president has declared he will direct US agencies to release government files on extraterrestrial life. Trump also accused former president Barack Obama of revealing classified information when he responded to a question about aliens by saying, "They're real, but I haven't seen them."
