Update, 23 October 2026: Numbers below are refreshed to Elections Alberta’s unofficial count at 11:42 a.m. MT (1:42 p.m. ET) on 23 October, with 5,518 of 5,540 locations reporting. The material change: on the 4:59 a.m. MT count of 21 October, Questions 6, 7 and 9 led Yes. On this count all four constitutional questions (6 to 9) trail. In her 20 October address Premier Danielle Smith said the government was “waiting for Elections Alberta to confirm whether Albertans have provided direction to pursue more provincial autonomy over the selection of judges, to abolish the unelected federal Senate, and to better protect our provincial rights.” She also said: “for as long as I am Premier, I will honour this mandate from Albertans and will not be holding another referendum on this issue.”

Alberta voted on 19 October 2026 in a 10-question provincial referendum. Elections Alberta’s unofficial results feed showed this count at 11:42 a.m. MT (1:42 p.m. ET) on 23 October, with 5,518 of 5,540 voting areas and locations reporting:

  • Question 10, Option 1 (“Alberta should remain a province in Canada”): 1,549,916 votes, or 74.9%.
  • Question 10, 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”): 519,283 votes, or 25.1%.
Option 2 would only have started a legal process toward a later, binding separation vote. On the unofficial count, about three in four ballots chose to remain.

Elections Alberta says referendum ballots are counted by question. Question 10 is counted first, then Questions 1, 2 and so on, and results are reported question by question as each count is completed. That is why the policy-question totals moved more than Question 10 as counting went on. Elections Alberta says the unofficial results are subject to verification and are not final until official results are published on 29 October 2026.

The nine policy questions (unofficial, 11:42 a.m. MT 23 October)

  • Q1 (province takes more control over immigration to reduce it to “more sustainable levels”): Yes 54.8% (1,121,494 to 923,568).
  • Q2 (only citizens, permanent residents and people with Alberta-approved immigration status eligible for provincially funded programs): Yes 52.5% (1,065,618 to 962,813).
  • Q3 (12-month residency before people with non-permanent status can get provincially funded social support): Yes 53.1% (1,087,818 to 959,309).
  • Q4 (a “reasonable fee or premium” on people with non-permanent status for health care and education): Yes 52.0% (1,062,599 to 979,878).
  • Q5 (proof of citizenship to vote in provincial elections): Yes 58.1% (1,190,638 to 859,862).
  • Q6 (provinces, not Ottawa, select King’s Bench and Appeal Court justices, by constitutional amendment): No 54.7% (1,120,731 to 926,916). It led Yes 50.2% on 21 October.
  • Q7 (abolish the Senate, by constitutional amendment): No 52.7% (1,068,868 to 959,537). It led Yes 52.8% on 21 October.
  • Q8 (provinces may opt out of federal programs in provincial jurisdiction and keep the federal funding): No 57.6% (1,179,122 to 867,320).
  • Q9 (provincial laws prevail over conflicting federal laws in provincial or shared jurisdiction): No 55.5% (1,132,047 to 907,069). It led Yes 50.9% on 21 October.

Questions 6 to 9 ask the province to work “with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution.” Alberta cannot make those changes on its own. Questions 1 to 5 ask about provincial laws or powers the government could act on itself.

Where the counted ballots came from

Elections Alberta’s results feed attributes 40.3% of counted votes to advance voting, 33.7% to Election Day, 25.0% to special (mail-in) ballots and 1.0% to mobile polls. All 87 special-ballot counting units have reported. Its 18 October release reported 1,356,873 advance and special ballots cast (837,791 advance plus 519,082 special) out of 3,148,343 eligible electors before Election Day began. Final turnout will come with the official results.

Citizen impact: No separation process starts. The government now has majorities it can point to on immigration control (Q1, 54.8%), limits on program eligibility (Q2, 52.5%), a 12-month residency wait for social support (Q3, 53.1%), fees for temporary residents (Q4, 52.0%) and proof of citizenship to vote (Q5, 58.1%). Nothing changes for any newcomer until a law is tabled and passed. Who could pay: temporary residents and their families, if those measures become law. On this count, voters did not back the four constitutional asks: provincial selection of judges, abolishing the Senate, a federal-program opt-out and provincial-law paramountcy.

What this piece refuses

Do not write that “one in four Albertans voted for independence.” Option 2 asked only to start a legal process toward a later binding referendum, and the 25.1% is a share of ballots counted, not of all Albertans. Do not call any result final before 29 October. Do not report a turnout figure until Elections Alberta publishes one. Do not say Albertans “approved” Senate abolition or provincial judge selection: on this count both trail. Do not call the immigration questions a landslide: Q2 and Q4 pass with 52.5% and 52.0%.

Bottom line

Verified as of 1:42 p.m. ET, 23 October 2026 from Elections Alberta’s unofficial results feed, with 5,518 of 5,540 locations reporting: Alberta voted to remain by 74.9% to 25.1%. Questions 1–5 pass, and Questions 6–9 trail. Official results come on 29 October.