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Canadian provincial referendum in 2026
The independence question of the 2026 Alberta referendum is one of 10 questions of the 2026 Alberta referendum election, which took place on October 19, 2026. The question was a choice of two options: whether to remain in Canada or for the province of Alberta to take steps toward holding a binding referendum on separating from Canada.
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The independence question of the 2026 Alberta referendum was one of 10 questions of the 2026 Alberta referendum election, which took place on October 19, 2026. The question was a choice of two options: whether to remain in Canada or for the province of Alberta to take steps toward holding a binding referendum on separating from Canada.
In late 2025, the premier of Alberta Danielle Smith had been under pressure to call a referendum on separation. Under the existing legislation at the time, Citizen Initiative Act (CIA) Section 2(4) prohibited unconstitutional citizen proposals. On December 11, 2025, the UCP-dominated Legislative Assembly of Alberta passed legislation deleting Section 2(4) from the act. This paved the way for a separatist referendum, which would have not previously been possible. The province's Citizen Initiative Act does enable a group of citizens to force the government to hold a referendum. The Election Statutes Amendment Act, which had come into force on July 4, 2025, reduced the threshold of signatures needed for a referendum from 10% of all eligible electors to 10% of votes cast in the previous provincial election and also lengthened the time to obtain signatures from 90 days to 120 days, making citizen initiatives more viable. Knowing the situation and in order to preempt the discussion, Thomas Lukaszuk and others in favour of Alberta remaining in Canada collected signatures to force a referendum on Alberta remaining in Canada. The presentation of the question on the petition was nuanced—one size of lettering was used for one part: "we as represented by the signatory and applicant below propose a referendum on the following question:"; then bolder lettering was used for this part: "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?"
After Thomas Lukaszuk's petition drive had begun, on May 25, 2025, the Legislative Assembly passed an amendment to the Citizen Initiative Act, which greatly lowered the threshold required for a petition to trigger a referendum.
Stay Free Alberta collected signatures on a petition in support of an independence referendum. They claimed the petition had received 300,000 signatures. However, some questioned the credibility of this petition, once it was revealed that separatist groups had gained access to the Elections Alberta List of Electors, after the personal information of millions of Albertans appeared in an online database operated by the Centurion Project, another separatist group.
On May 13, 2026, the Court of King's Bench of Alberta struck down the petition after it was argued that the separatist groups had not properly consulted with Indigenous peoples in Alberta, which was considered to be a constitutional requirement given the implications that separation would have on treaty rights. Danielle Smith criticized the ruling as being undemocratic, and claimed that a Justin Trudeau-appointed judge was undermining the democratic will of Albertans. She also claimed that her government was prepared to utilize the notwithstanding clause to prevent the courts from being able to intervene. After another judge ruled that Elections Alberta should proceed with signature verification for the separatist petition, in case an appeal of the May 13 ruling was successful, the petition was verified as having received almost 223,000 signatures.
The petition in support of Alberta remaining in Canada organized by Thomas Lukaszuk was verified by Elections Alberta to have received over 400,000 signatures.
On May 21, 2026, Smith announced in a televised address that a remain/separate question would be added to the nine questions listed for the October vote. It incorporated the Thomas Lukaszuk's "Alberta Forever Canada" question, and in order to circumvent the court ruling against a vote on separation, the new referendum question also set out that if the leave vote won, it would not compel the government to seek separation from Canada, but instead would open the door to a subsequent referendum on remaining in Canada or independence. Smith argued that this question in the form of an A or B choice respected the wishes of both the separatist groups and the pro-Canada campaigns, although those on both sides of the debate criticized it.
The final question read (in the style of a "pick one" choice): 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?
On October 3, 2026, a Globe and Mail investigation found that political operatives tied to the American Republican Party were assisting the campaign for Alberta to secede. The investigation also found that when Alberta separatist leaders went to Washington, D.C., to meet with representatives of the United States Department of State, they were offered access to fresh water and royalties on crude oil. A few days later, Mitch Sylvestre, chief executive officer of the Alberta Prosperity Project, told the Mail that the office of Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner Anton Boegman contacted him and his group. The premier of British Columbia, David Eby, called the invitation of foreign interference by the separatist movement "treason" and other Canadian lawmakers called for updating Canadian laws on treason and foreign election interference.
Later that month, Researchers from the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data, and Conflict at the University of Regina found out that 80 per cent of suspected foreign influence activity had been linked to Russian sources and 20 per cent has been linked to US sources initially. However, researchers noticed that the American share rose to 24 per cent, while the Russian sources dropped to 76 per cent. The report points out that Russian content is covert and can be traced to a pro-Kremlin content farm known as Pravda Network. Meanwhile, US activity is more overt, with prominent American influencers, podcasts and websites promoting Alberta separation on a variety of platforms including YouTube, Reddit, and Rumble. Dr. Brian McQuinn, co-director of the centre, said the narratives targeting Alberta from Russian and American-linked sources have started to mirror each other as the referendum neared.
The following table shows responses to the question posed in the 2026 referendum. Polling on whether Alberta should separate from Canada, rather than on whether a future referendum on separation should be held, can be found in the article on Alberta separatism.
Shortly after midnight on October 20, Danielle Smith stated that she was "very pleased to see the initial results from Elections Alberta show widespread support for remaining in Canada" and that "Albertans have voted for a stronger Alberta in a united Canada". That evening, Danielle Smith held a public address in which she promised not to hold a second referendum on independence. In a video sent to members of the United Conservative Party on October 21, she said that the party was not in favour of Alberta separatism and that members of the party in favour of independence should "join a different party".
On October 20, Mark Carney described the referendum result as a "great result for Canada" and that he was "thrilled that Albertans have chosen unity".
Pierre Poilievre, the Leader of the Official Opposition, stated that "Albertans have decisively voted for a stronger Alberta within a united Canada".
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