Overview
- The province held a ten-question referendum on Monday, October 19, 2026, with Question 10 asking voters whether the government should begin the legal process to call a future binding plebiscite on leaving Canada.
- Elections Alberta reported heavy advance participation before polls opened, with 1,356,873 advance, special and mail ballots cast, equal to 43.1% of 3.15 million registered electors.
- Counting of advance and mail ballots began before polls closed and provisional results are expected to take up to 48 hours to publish under provincial rules.
- Canadian law and the 1998 Supreme Court of Canada ruling do not allow unilateral secession but require federal negotiations if a clear democratic majority favors separation, so a pro-vote would trigger talks rather than immediate independence.
- The referendum follows a court-annulled citizen proposal over failures to consult Indigenous peoples, Indigenous leaders have criticized the current process, and polls before the vote showed 20–34% support for separatism with stronger backing among United Conservative Party voters.