Voters in the Canadian province of Alberta have chosen by a wide margin to remain part of Canada, the unofficial Alberta referendum result shows. In the vote on Monday 19 October, about three in four voters backed staying a province of Canada rather than asking the provincial government to start the legal process towards a binding referendum on separation. All figures in this report are unofficial. Elections Alberta finished its unofficial count on 24 October, and its official results and turnout, due on 29 October, had not been published when this article was last updated early on 29 October (UK time).
Early returns reported by Euronews, with more than one million votes counted, put support for remaining at 77%. After the full unofficial count, the Canadian Press reported the figure at nearly 75%.
What Albertans were asked
The separation question was one of ten on the ballot. Question 10 asked voters to choose between two options: that Alberta should remain a province of Canada, or that the Government of Alberta should begin the process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on separating from Canada.
It was therefore not a direct vote on independence. A win for the second option would have opened the way to a further, binding referendum rather than triggering separation itself.
Premier Danielle Smith of the United Conservative Party (UCP) called the referendum in a televised address on 21 May, the Canadian Press reported. Euronews reported that she did so under pressure from separatists within her own party, although she opposes independence. A pro-Canada petition organised by Thomas Lukaszuk, a former deputy premier who went on to lead the Forever Canadian campaign, had gathered more than 400,000 signatures, but Smith’s question did not use its wording.
The other nine questions
The remaining questions covered issues including immigration, voting requirements, the Senate and the division of powers between Ottawa and the province. According to the Canadian Press, voters narrowly backed the immigration questions, including more provincial control over newcomers, but narrowly rejected the constitutional questions, such as talks with other provinces on taking powers from the federal government.
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A record count by hand
Because voters received a separate ballot for each question, the count was unusually large. Elections Alberta said its workers hand-counted 20,574,612 ballots, the most cast in any Canadian electoral event. More than 1.3 million people voted early, either in the five-day advance period or by special ballot.
The agency had aimed to finish within 48 hours but completed the unofficial count at 9:14pm on Saturday 24 October. Spokesperson Michelle Gurney said that despite the efforts of more than 47,000 election workers, finishing within that window “just wasn’t possible”. Official turnout figures were also due on 29 October.
Reaction to the Alberta referendum result
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, who grew up in Alberta and had urged a decisive outcome, welcomed the vote as a choice for national unity. “Above all, Albertans chose Canada,” he said, according to Euronews.
Smith said she was pleased with the initial results. “Albertans have voted for a stronger Alberta in a united Canada,” she wrote on social media, as reported by Daily Hive.
Separatist campaigners said their cause was not over. Jeffrey Rath, a leader of the Alberta Prosperity Project, told supporters at a watch party in Edmonton that the campaign had built a major movement and dominated the province’s political debate over the past year. He said the next step was to win control of the governing UCP and form a government.
Lukaszuk, whose campaign argued for remaining, described Canada as a country united from coast to coast.
Why it matters beyond Canada
The vote drew international attention partly because of interest from figures close to US President Donald Trump. Euronews reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had described Alberta as a natural partner for the United States, that Elon Musk had posted that the province should separate, and that separatist leaders had met officials at the US State Department. Euronews described Carney’s welcome for the result as coming amid mounting pressure from Washington. Westferry Times examined US talk of Canada as a “51st state” in December 2024.
Separatist parties in Alberta once won only 1% to 2% of the vote, according to Euronews, and anger over Covid-19 restrictions helped energise the movement. This time roughly a quarter of those voting on Question 10 chose the option that would have started the separation process.
Canada is one of the 15 Commonwealth realms that share the King as head of state with the UK. The official figures from Elections Alberta will confirm the final margins on each of the ten questions.
Sources: Elections Alberta, Referendum results (accessed 29 October 2026); Euronews, ‘Albertans chose Canada’: Carney hails vote to reject referendum (20 October 2026); Euronews, Alberta rejects independence referendum plan, but separatists vow to keep fighting (20 October 2026); Canadian Press via Narcity, Record unofficial count of ballots complete after referendum (25 October 2026); CP24, Unofficial referendum count complete: Elections Alberta (25 October 2026); CP24, Official referendum results expected before 10:59 p.m. MT (21 October 2026); Daily Hive, Alberta referendum unofficial results (20 October 2026); Canadian Press via Narcity, Referendum on a referendum (21 May 2026); CP24, More than 1.3 million Albertans voted ahead of Monday referendum: Elections Alberta (18 October 2026); CTV News, These are the 15 Commonwealth realms (accessed October 2026).
