Alberta votes on leaving Canada: 1.3 million ballots cast in advance; record turnout expected today

Polls opened for Alberta’s historic referendum on Monday, with voters lining up to cast a ballot over whether the province should consider separating from Canada.

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Voting day follows months of debate over the separation question, which has divided many in the province and prompted both sides to ramp up efforts to sway public opinion in recent weeks.

The referendum, which includes one question on proposed separation and another nine on various other constitutional matters, is expected to draw record numbers to the ballot box. Elections Alberta estimates record turnout as high as 85 per cent, compared with an average of just over 50 per cent in recent general elections. According to the agency, 1.4 million voters, or 43.1 per cent of eligible voters, have already cast advanced ballots or special ballots before Monday. That compares with 809,988 advanced and special ballots cast in the 2023 election, or 27.5 per cent of eligible voters.

Monday’s referendum vote is not explicitly a vote to leave Canada, but gives voters the option of either remaining in Canada or holding a second vote on whether to secede.

Polls opened at 9 a.m. MT and will remain open until 8 p.m. local time. However, some polling stations reportedly opened late on Monday and will remain open past 8 p.m. Elections Alberta will start counting advanced and special ballots starting at 5 p.m. MT. Early results will start rolling in after the final vote has been cast.

The separation question will be counted first and results are expected late Monday night. Check back here for the latest results after polls close. Results for the other nine questions will be announced within 48 hours.

The other nine questions ask Albertans whether Alberta should be given more control over immigration rates, work with other provinces to abolish the federal Senate, or give the province the right to opt out of certain federal programs, among others. Five of the 10 questions relate to immigration policy, including asking whether the province should halt some public services like health care to non-permanent residents.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly said she prefers that the province remain in Canada, despite the fact that it was her government that changed the law to enable the referendum on separation to be held. The premier has called for an “independent Alberta within a united Canada” and has been working closely with Prime Minister Mark Carney to repair the province’s fractured relationship with Ottawa.

Together, the pair have announced a flurry of joint projects in an effort to shore up support for the federalist side, including Carney’s promise to back the province’s proposed West Coast oil pipeline and pump $8 billion in new military spending in the province.

Carney was in Alberta last week for a final campaign aimed at pushing Albertans to vote to remain, saying the country is stronger united, particularly in the face of what he calls a dangerous and divided world.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s pro-separatist advocates have also been calling on voters to get out the vote, with some arguing a vote for separation can give the province useful leverage in its negotiations with Ottawa.

While results of the referendum are unlikely to be known until late Monday night, polling has consistently shown that roughly three quarters of voters support remaining in Canada, while the other 25 per cent are sympathetic to the separatist cause.

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?

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?

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?

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 health care and education systems?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

10. 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?

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