Alberta Referendum 2026: The 10 Questions, How to Vote and What the Result Would Mean

Albertans vote on Monday, October 19, 2026, in a province-wide referendum with 10 questions, each on its own colour-coded ballot. Voting places are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. MDT, and advance voting runs from Tuesday, October 13 to Saturday, October 17. The question most people are asking about, Question 10, asks whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada or whether the provincial government should start the legal process toward a later, binding referendum on separation. It is not itself a vote to leave Canada, and the order that created it says the result is not binding.

This page gives all 10 questions word for word, explains how to vote, and sets out what each kind of result would and would not set in motion. It does not predict the outcome. Status as of 11:35 a.m. MDT on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 (17:35 UTC): advance voting opened this morning, and there are no results yet.

When is the Alberta referendum, and when can I vote?

Voting day is Monday, October 19, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. MDT, and advance voting runs from Tuesday, October 13 to Saturday, October 17.

Elections Alberta says advance voting locations are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and it promises that every electoral division has at least one location open for the full five days. That leaves room for some locations to open on fewer days, so check yours on your Where to Vote card, at map.elections.ab.ca or by calling 1-877-422-VOTE (8683) before you go. The Canadian Press counts 310 advance stations and just over 1,400 voting-day stations across the province.

The 8 p.m. MDT close is 10 p.m. ET on Monday, October 19, which is 02:00 UTC on Tuesday, October 20.

What are the 10 referendum questions?

There are 10 questions, set by three orders in council: Questions 1 to 5 on immigration and voting rules, Questions 6 to 9 on changing the Constitution, and Question 10 on remaining in Canada or starting the path to a separation referendum.

The wording below is copied from Elections Alberta’s referendum page and matches the signed orders published by Alberta’s King’s Printer. Elections Alberta says it cannot interpret the questions and refers voters to the Government of Alberta or their MLA for that.

You receive the ballots in the order shown here, so Question 10 comes first. Questions 1 to 9 are answered “Yes” or “No”. Question 10 is a choice between two options, and you mark one.

Question 10 (O.C. 160/2026, results not binding)

Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?

• Option 1: Alberta should remain a province of Canada.
• Option 2: The Government of Alberta should commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada.

Questions 1 to 5 (O.C. 110/2026, results not binding)

• Question 1: 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?
• Question 2: 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 3: Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for social support programs as they do now, do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring all individuals with a non-permanent legal immigration status to reside in Alberta for at least 12 months before qualifying for any provincially-funded social support programs?
• Question 4: 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?
• Question 5: Do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring individuals to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or citizenship card, to vote in an Alberta provincial election?

Questions 6 to 9 (O.C. 109/2026, labelled “constitutional questions”)

• Question 6: Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to have provincial governments, and not the federal government, select the justices appointed to provincial King’s Bench and Appeal courts?
• Question 7: Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to abolish the unelected federal Senate?
• Question 8: Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to allow provinces to opt out of federal programs that intrude on provincial jurisdiction such as health care, education, and social services, without a province losing any of the associated federal funding for use in its social programs?
• Question 9: Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to better protect provincial rights from federal interference by giving a province’s laws dealing with provincial or shared areas of constitutional jurisdiction priority over federal laws when the province’s laws and federal laws conflict?

Elections Alberta calls these four “constitutional questions”. Unlike the other two groups, it does not say whether their results are binding. The section on binding results below explains why that matters.

Is Question 10 a vote to leave Canada?

No. Question 10 asks whether the provincial government should start the legal process toward a later, binding referendum on separation; it does not decide whether Alberta leaves Canada.

• It is non-binding by order. O.C. 160/2026 says the result “is not to be binding”. It was made under section 5.1 of the Referendum Act, the section for non-constitutional referendums, which lets cabinet decide whether a result binds.
• The government describes it the same way. Alberta’s official referendum website says the question does not directly trigger separation. If Option 2 won majority support, the government says it would start the legal processes needed to hold a binding referendum on separation at a later date.
• Smith presented it as a response to a court ruling and to two petitions. Premier Danielle Smith announced the question in an address to the province on May 21, 2026, eight days after a judge quashed a separatist citizen petition (see the background section below). In the same address she said the question would also respect the roughly 700,000 Albertans who had signed the two rival petitions on the issue. Cabinet approved the order on May 28.

Are the referendum results binding?

Questions 1 to 5 and Question 10 are not binding, because the orders that set them say so. Questions 6 to 9 were ordered under a different section of the law, which, under its wording, makes a majority result binding only in a narrow sense.

• Questions 1 to 5 and 10: O.C. 110/2026 and O.C. 160/2026 both state that the results are not to be binding. For referendums under section 5.1 of the Referendum Act, cabinet must say whether the result binds, and here it said no. These results guide the government; they do not oblige it to act.
• Questions 6 to 9: O.C. 109/2026 gives its authority as section 1 of the Referendum Act, which covers questions relating to the Constitution of Canada. The order itself says nothing about binding effect. Section 4 of the Act says that if a majority votes the same way on a question in that kind of referendum, the result binds the government that called it. The Act then defines “binding” narrowly: the government must, as soon as practicable, take any steps “within the competence of the Government of Alberta that it considers necessary or advisable” to implement the result. It does not have to implement a result if doing so would contravene sections 1 to 35.1 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which include the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the protection of Aboriginal and treaty rights.
• Why “binding” goes only so far here: Alberta cannot amend the Constitution on its own, and each of Questions 6 to 9 asks only whether you support Alberta working with other willing provinces to seek an amendment. The government’s referendum site says constitutional changes generally need seven provincial legislatures covering half of Canada’s population plus the House of Commons and the Senate, and that abolishing the Senate would need unanimous support.

Elections Alberta itself does not describe Questions 6 to 9 as binding. What is above is a description of the Act’s text, not a legal opinion on how a court would apply it.

Who can vote, and what ID do I need?

You can vote if you are a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years old on October 19, and ordinarily resident in Alberta, and you must prove both who you are and where you live.

Elections Alberta defines your ordinary residence as the one place where you live and sleep and to which you intend to return when you are away. To prove identity and address, you can use any of these:

• One piece of government-issued photo ID showing your full name, current physical address and photo, such as an Alberta driver’s licence or identification card.
• Two pieces of ID, both showing your full name and one showing your current physical address. Elections Alberta accepts more than 50 types, including utility bills, bank statements, student cards and Alberta Health Care cards.
• An attestation form signed by an authorized person, for people in specific situations: living in supportive living or long-term care, on a colony, on a First Nation or Métis Settlement, in student housing, in a shelter, in custody, or renting.

A few details trip people up:

• A passport cannot be your only ID, because the address in it is handwritten by the holder.
• A licence with only a PO box works on its own only if you are already registered at your current physical address. Otherwise, bring something else that shows your physical address.
• Expired ID is accepted as long as the name on it is correct, according to Elections Alberta as reported by The Canadian Press.
• Vouching is no longer allowed, and your Where to Vote card cannot be used as ID.
• Not registered? Online registration closed on October 9, but you can still register at your voting place. You will sign a declaration confirming that you are a citizen, at least 18 and ordinarily resident in Alberta.

Where do I vote, and what happens at the voting place?

During advance voting you can use any advance location in your own electoral division that is open that day; on October 19 you must vote at the one location assigned to your home address.

There is no “vote anywhere” option this time, and you cannot vote outside your electoral division. Not every advance location is necessarily open on all five advance days: Elections Alberta guarantees only one full-period location per division. Your locations are on the Where to Vote card mailed to registered voters, in Elections Alberta’s online Where to Vote tool at map.elections.ab.ca, or available by calling Elections Alberta at 1-877-422-VOTE (8683). The phone line is open 8:15 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and on voting days, and 8:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.

At the voting place:

• You check in at a registration table. If you are registered, your name is struck off the list; if not, you register there with your ID.
• You are offered 10 colour-coded ballots, one per question. You can decline any of them; declined ballots are set aside, and the number declined is reported in the official results.
• You mark them behind a voting screen and drop each one into the box for that question. A ballot box clerk can help.
• If you are in line when the voting place closes, you will be allowed to vote.
• Phones must be silent. You may text or use apps, but you cannot take photos, record, take calls or watch or listen to anything with sound, and smart glasses are banned. That rules out ballot selfies.
• Referendum advertising is not allowed on voting-place property.
• Don’t bring an unused mail-in ballot package. It cannot be accepted or disposed of at the voting place; shred it at home.

Accessible voting is available. You can bring an assistive tool, or a friend or family member who takes an oath to help you. Curbside voting is available if a disability prevents you from going inside; have the person driving you tell the site supervisor. Mobile voting is set up in some hospitals, care facilities and shelters for the people who live in or use them.

The Canadian Press reports that Elections Alberta is preparing for a record turnout of 80 to 85 per cent of the province’s nearly three million electors, so lines are possible on voting day.

Can I still vote by mail?

Not if you haven’t already applied: applications for mail-in (special) ballots closed on September 25, 2026, and completed ballots must reach Elections Alberta in Edmonton by mail by 5 p.m. on Friday, October 16.

• The deadline was moved earlier. It was originally October 9; Elections Alberta brought it forward to September 25 so ballots could make the round trip by mail in time.
• Demand was high. Elections Alberta processed just over 658,000 applications and approved more than 652,000. The Canadian Press reported that just over 300,000 completed ballots had come back by October 9.
• Mail only. Completed packages cannot be dropped off in person, and Canada Post recommended mailing them by October 9. Mail-in ballots are all white rather than colour-coded.
• Check your tracking link. If your package is not shown as received and processed by 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 18, you have not been marked as having voted and can vote in person.
• Missing ID copy or declaration? Elections Alberta says it will try to contact you. If the package is rejected, you can vote in person.

Do I get time off work to vote?

Yes. Alberta’s Election Act entitles you to three consecutive non-work hours to vote, on one of the advance voting days or on voting day.

• If your shift doesn’t leave three consecutive hours free, your employer must give you extra time off, and that time must be paid.
• Your employer can choose when the time off is given, on any advance day or on voting day, and cannot penalize you for taking it.
• If you have already voted, for example by mail, you are not entitled to the extra time off.

What would the result mean?

It depends on the question: Questions 1 to 5 and 10 are advice to the government, a Yes majority on Questions 6 to 9 would, under the Referendum Act’s wording, create only a limited duty to pursue changes with other provinces, and no result on October 19 can by itself take Alberta out of Canada.

What follows is what each outcome would set in motion under current law and the government’s stated positions. None of it is a forecast.

If Option 1 (remain) gets more votes on Question 10

• Nothing changes legally. Alberta remains a province, as it is now.
• No second vote, says the premier. Smith has said she would not hold another separation referendum if remain wins. “Not as long as I’m premier,” she told CBC News in an interview in Calgary on October 9; she made a similar commitment to CTV News in May. That pledge covers only her own time in office.
• The separatist petition is a separate legal track. It remains before the Court of Appeal (see below).

Smith said in her May 21 address that she supports Alberta remaining in Canada and would vote that way, and Global News reported on October 6 that she urged Albertans to vote to remain in a speech in Calgary. Her government’s referendum site also urges a vote to remain.

If Option 2 (start the process) gets more votes on Question 10

• It is still non-binding. O.C. 160/2026 says so. The government says it would begin the legal processes toward a binding separation referendum at a later date.
• It would not, by itself, start separation, set a date for a binding referendum, or open negotiations with Ottawa.
• The timing is unclear. In August, Smith told reporters that provincial legislation bars holding a referendum within a year of a general election, CTV News reported. Alberta’s next general election is scheduled for October 18, 2027.
• There is a legal obstacle the government itself acknowledges. Its referendum site says that until the May 13 court ruling is overturned on appeal or clarified, a binding referendum that triggers separation is not legally possible in Alberta. Separately, the Referendum Act says nothing in a referendum held under it is to be read as abrogating or derogating from Aboriginal and treaty rights.

Where Ottawa and the courts come in

• The Clarity Act does not apply to this question, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on May 26, 2026, citing expert advice, according to CBC News and the National Post.
• It would matter for any later secession question. Under the Clarity Act, the House of Commons must decide, within 30 days of a province officially releasing a secession question, whether the question is clear. A question that merely focuses on a mandate to negotiate does not count as clear. After a vote, the Commons decides whether there was a clear majority, looking at the size of the majority and the share of eligible voters who voted. The federal government may not negotiate secession terms if the Commons finds the question unclear, or unless it finds a clear majority.
• The Supreme Court set the ground rules in 1998. In Reference re Secession of Quebec, the court held that a province cannot secede unilaterally under the Constitution. Secession would require a constitutional amendment, which the court said requires negotiation. A clear majority on a clear question in favour of secession would give the initiative democratic legitimacy that the other participants in Confederation would have to recognize, and would create a reciprocal obligation on all parties to Confederation, the seceding province included, to negotiate.
• The Clarity Act spells out who would be at the table. Section 3(1) says the required negotiations would involve at least the governments of all the provinces and the Government of Canada.

Questions 1 to 5 and 6 to 9

• Questions 1 to 5 are advisory. Each asks whether you support the government taking an action or introducing a law; any actual change would need new provincial legislation or policy after the vote. In her May 21 address, Smith said the government would respect the outcome and direction of all the referendum questions.
• Questions 6 to 9, under the Act’s wording, carry the limited section 4 duty described above if a majority votes the same way: steps within Alberta’s own competence that the government considers necessary or advisable. Any constitutional amendment would still need other provinces and Parliament to agree.

How did Alberta end up voting on a separation question?

Through two rival citizen petitions and a court ruling: a separatist petition was quashed in May 2026, and the government then added its own question to the October vote.

• 2025: Changes to Alberta’s Citizen Initiative Act, in force July 4, 2025, lengthened the signature-gathering period and lowered the number of signatures needed. For the separatist petition, that meant 177,732 signatures, 10 per cent of the votes cast in the 2023 provincial election.
• December 2025: A Court of King’s Bench judge found that an earlier version of the separatist proposal did not meet the law’s then-requirement that a proposal not contravene sections 1 to 35.1 of the Constitution Act, 1982 (Chief Electoral Officer of Alberta v Sylvestre, 2025 ABKB 712). After the Act was amended, a new application was approved, and the petition, asking whether Alberta should become an independent state, was issued in January 2026.
• February 19, 2026: Smith announced the first nine referendum questions, on immigration and the Constitution. Cabinet approved O.C. 109/2026 and O.C. 110/2026 on March 31.
• May 4, 2026: Organizers delivered the separatist petition’s signature sheets to Elections Alberta.
• May 13, 2026: Justice Shaina Leonard of the Court of King’s Bench quashed the approval of the petition, finding among other things that the province had not met its duty to consult First Nations. The province and the petition’s proponent both appealed.
• May 21 and 28, 2026: Smith announced Question 10, and cabinet approved O.C. 160/2026.
• June 29, 2026: Court of Appeal Justice Alice Woolley granted a partial stay that let Elections Alberta verify and publicly report the signatures, but not send the proposal on toward a constitutional referendum. She also declined to expedite the appeal.
• July 24, 2026: Elections Alberta declared the petition successful under the Act, with 222,597 verified signatures against the 177,732 required, and said every further step is stayed pending direction from the Court of Appeal.

A rival “Forever Canadian” petition asking whether Alberta should remain in Canada gathered more than 400,000 names but had stalled in a legislative committee by spring 2026, The Canadian Press reported. Smith cited both petitions when she added Question 10. As of October 13, we found no Court of Appeal ruling on the appeals themselves.

What have polls found?

Two recent online polls each found 70 per cent of Albertans saying they would choose Option 1 on Question 10, but polls are snapshots, not forecasts, and both used online panels.

• Leger, October 2 to 4, 2026: 1,001 Alberta adults, surveyed online from Leger’s panel. Leger says that because the sample is non-probability, no margin of error can be associated with the results. Published shares: 70 per cent remain, 22 per cent start the legal process, 7 per cent undecided.
• Ipsos for Global News, September 18 to 22, 2026: 600 Albertans, part of an online sample of 1,500 Canadians. Ipsos gives a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points for the Alberta sample. Published shares: 70 per cent remain, 20 per cent commence the process.

These figures describe the people who answered during those dates. They are not a projection of the result, and this page makes none.

When and where will results be posted?

Unofficial results appear at results.elections.ab.ca once every voting place in Alberta is confirmed closed after 8 p.m. MDT on October 19, with Question 10 counted and reported first.

• The count is by hand. At each counting station, Question 10 is counted first, then Questions 1 to 9 in order.
• Figures go up as they come in. Results appear as returning offices confirm and enter them, broken down into voting-day, advance, mobile and mail-in votes. Voting places that open late or have long lines can stay open past 8 p.m., and the results site does not go live until all are closed.
• When to expect Question 10. The Canadian Press reports the result likely won’t be known until the early hours of October 20, with the other nine questions expected to finish by Wednesday, October 21.
• The legal deadline. With seven or more questions, the regulation requires the unofficial count to be finished within 48 hours of close of voting.
• Official results will be announced on Thursday, October 29, 2026.

Early figures on the night are partial counts, not final results.

Sources

• Elections Alberta: Referendum (questions, ballot order, results reporting)
• Elections Alberta: Referendum Advance Voting Now Open (October 13, 2026)
• Elections Alberta: Referendum Information Updates (October 1, 2026)
• Elections Alberta: Deadline to Apply for Special Ballots Changed to September 25, 2026 (September 3, 2026)
• Elections Alberta: Voters Reminded of Changes to the Voting Experience (September 1, 2026)
• Elections Alberta: Where Do I Vote?
• Elections Alberta: How to Vote in Person
• Elections Alberta: How to Vote by Mail
• Elections Alberta: ID Required to Vote
• Elections Alberta: Who Can Vote
• Elections Alberta: Ballot Count for In-Person Voting
• Elections Alberta: Citizen Initiative Petition Verification Completed, Results Announced (July 24, 2026)
• Elections Alberta: Alberta’s Next Provincial General Election
• Alberta King’s Printer: O.C. 109/2026
• Alberta King’s Printer: O.C. 110/2026
• Alberta King’s Printer: O.C. 160/2026
• Alberta King’s Printer: Referendum Act, RSA 2000, c R-8.4
• Government of Alberta: Premier’s Address to the Province (May 21, 2026)
• Government of Alberta referendum site: Separation Question
• Government of Alberta referendum site: FAQs
• Court of Appeal of Alberta: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation v Alberta (Chief Electoral Officer), 2026 ABCA 216
• Justice Laws Website: Clarity Act, S.C. 2000, c. 26
• Supreme Court of Canada: Reference re Secession of Quebec (1998)
• The Canadian Press via CP24: Elections Alberta ready to deliver as advance referendum polls open (October 11, 2026)
• The Canadian Press via Narcity: What Albertans can expect when they go to vote (October 11, 2026)
• The Canadian Press via CP24: A timeline on how we got here (September 19, 2026)
• CBC News: “Not as long as I’m premier”: Danielle Smith rules out 2nd separation referendum if Albertans vote to remain (October 9, 2026)
• Culture Alberta: Smith promises no second separation referendum as long as she is premier (October 10, 2026)
• CTV News: Smith promises not to hold later separation referendum if remain side wins (May 24, 2026)
• CTV News via CP24: Smith on fitting in a second binding referendum (August 26, 2026)
• Global News via Yahoo News Canada: Premier Smith encourages Albertans to vote to remain (October 6, 2026)
• CBC News via Radio Canada International: Carney says House of Commons won’t weigh in on Alberta’s referendum question (May 26, 2026)
• National Post via Yahoo News Canada: Clarity Act will not apply to Alberta referendum question, says Carney (May 26, 2026)
• Leger: Alberta referendum poll, October 2026
• Ipsos: Strong majority of Albertans plan to vote for Alberta to stay in Canada (September 25, 2026)