Albertans vote ‘Yes’ to most referendum questions not related to separation

Albertans vote ‘Yes’ to most referendum questions not related to separation

Published 8:58 am Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Red Deerians and Albertans voted to stay in Canada, but also voted “Yes” to most of the nine other questions on Oct. 19’s provincial referendum.

Albertans chose to support eight of the nine questions asked beyond the much-discussed question, “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?”

The following data is as of 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, with 83 per cent of polls reporting.

Question 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?”

— Alberta: 738,672 of 1,336,056 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-North: 13,020 of 20,958 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: 13,082 of 19,473 vote “Yes”

Question 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?

— Alberta: 638,466 of 1,125,150 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-North: 10,749 of 16,464 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: 12,619 of 19,461 vote “Yes”

Question 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?

— Alberta: 610,699 of 1,045,216 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-North: 10,971 of 16,611 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: 12,311 of 18,944 vote “Yes”

Question 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?

— Alberta: 578,571 of 1,007,600 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-North: 10,319 of 16,437 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: 9,426 of 15,291 vote “Yes”

Question 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?

— Alberta: 619,276 of 975,745 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-North: 11,802 of 16,458 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: Currently unavailable

Question 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?

— Alberta: 488,191 of 948,497 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-North: 9,640 of 16,325 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: Currently unavailable

Question 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?

— Alberta: 476,665 of 894,052 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-North: 9,851 of 16,260 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: Currently unavailable

Question 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?

— Alberta: 447,627 of 72,614 vote “No”
— Red Deer-North: 9,148 of 16,341 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: Currently unavailable

Question 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?

— Alberta: 436,688 of 861,944 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-North: 9,567 of 16,337 vote “Yes”
— Red Deer-South: Currently unavailable

Premier Danielle Smith with address Albertans live at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20 to discuss the results from the referendum.