ALBERTA CHOOSES TO REMAIN PART OF CANADA IN REFERENDUM, PROJECTIONS SHOW

Tue 20 October 2026:

A majority of voters in Alberta, a western province of Canada, chose to stay part of the country, according to projections by Canadian broadcaster CBC News following a nonbinding referendum.

As of 0630GMT, with 1,961 of 5,587 polling stations reporting, preliminary figures showed 76.6% of voters, or 946,632 people, favored remaining in Canada, while 23.4%, or 288,879 voters, supported initiating the separation process.

The referendum asked voters: “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?”

“Albertans made a clear choice. They chose unity, to build together, and to take care of each other,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement, welcoming the vote.

He said the vote meant Albertans and all Canadians “will move forward together with renewed purpose and high ambition.”

“Canada is so much greater than the sum of its parts,” he added.

Danielle Smith, premier of the oil- and gas-rich province, said she was “pleased” that Albertans voted against secession and thanked residents for participating in the “critically important referendum.”

Around 1.36 million residents cast ballots through advance and special voting mechanisms, according to provincial election agency Elections Alberta.

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The ballot included 10 questions, with the first nine addressing immigration and constitutional matters and the final question focusing on Alberta’s future within Canada.

The referendum is nonbinding and does not automatically determine whether Alberta leaves the Canadian federation.

Elections Alberta said ballots would be counted by hand, with the separation question counted first.

The agency said unofficial results were expected within 48 hours of polls closing, while official results were scheduled for Oct. 29.

Alberta has the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, and much of the secessionist momentum has been driven by anger over oil industry management.

Smith has blamed Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau for igniting the secessionist fire, accusing him of trying to crush oil production to advance his pro-climate agenda.

Alberta’s independence push has also drawn sustained interest from the allies of US President Donald Trump, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who called Alberta Washington’s “natural partner”. Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and eminent Trump supporter, also posted on X that Alberta “should separate”.

Carney, who grew up in Alberta, has worked to improve relations between the province and Ottawa since taking office last year. He has partnered with Smith on advancing a new pipeline to export more Alberta bitumen overseas, a project considered a nonstarter during Trudeau’s tenure.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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