Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday that if Alberta were to quit the Canada Pension Plan, it would need to launch a "complex and multi-year process" of negotiating international social security agreements to deal with contributors who work abroad. 

Freeland listed that effort among other steps she says the Alberta government, as well as the federal government, would need to take if Premier Danielle Smith decides to withdraw the province from the federal retirement plan and set up its own program. 

Her remarks came following a virtual meeting with provincial finance ministers, in which she says they discussed the consequences of Alberta going ahead with its proposal. 

"Of course Alberta has the right to withdraw," Freeland told reporters. 

"But Alberta's choice about the (Canada Pension Plan) also implicates every single Canadian." 

Freeland, who called herself a "proud daughter of Alberta," said she is hearing from Albertans who are concerned about the idea and is asking the chief actuary to "provide an estimate of the asset transfer," based on  a "reasonable interpretation of the provisions in the (Canada Pension Plan) legislation." 

On the issue of negotiating international social security agreements, Freeland told reporters during Friday's news conference that if Alberta launched its own program it would need to do so to "ensure similar treatment of contributors who spend part of their careers aboard." 

Quebec has negotiated its own such agreements with 39 countries, while Canada has done the same with 60. 

"This would be a complex and multi-year process and it would be taking place at a time of real uncertainty," Freeland said, both in terms of "geopolitical uncertainty" and "global economic uncertainty." 

The Alberta government argues that its workers have contributed an oversized share to the national fund and would be in line for big savings and payouts if it were to leave the CPP.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had planned to hold a possible referendum on leaving the CPP in 2025, but now says she won’t go ahead with such a vote until governments or the courts deliver a hard number on how much Alberta will get if it leaves the plan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2023.