Five months after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced her government would call a vote on whether the province should pursue secession from Canada, Albertans at last know the results of its historic referendum.
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Albertans → announce → referendum
The separation question, as well as nine other ballot questions on issues such as immigration, social services and judicial appointments, led to intense rhetoric and fierce campaigning.
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question → lead → rhetoric
In the end, roughly a quarter of ballots cast supported a new, separate vote that could begin the legal process allowing the Prairie province to secede from Canadian federation.
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province → cast → federation
While final results are still pending – Elections Alberta has said a full count is expected to take several days – preliminary tallies already reveal how voters have responded to the questions posed by the government.
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voters → pende → government
Here’s a look at Alberta’s referendum by the numbers.
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look → ’ → numbers
Turnout on separation
Preliminary results show that roughly 62 per cent of the province’s 3.1 million eligible voters cast a ballot on Question 10, which asked whether the province should hold a separate vote that could commence the legal process to separate.
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that → show → process
Turnout on that question was similar to the 2023 general election, when around 60 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot.
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cent → cast → ballot
Many voters chose to vote in advance or through a mail-in ballot.
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voters → choose → ballot
Roughly 43 per cent of eligible voters – 1.4-million people – cast a ballot this way during the referendum, according to Elections Alberta.
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cent → cast → Alberta
This is far in excess of the 28 per cent of eligible voters who did so in 2023.
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who → do → 2023
But an analysis also found that this turnout wasn’t uniform across the province.
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turnout → find → province
While Elections Alberta has not yet published a breakdown of eligible voters in 2026 for each of the province’s 87 electoral divisions, it has done so for 2025.
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it → publish → 2025
The Globe tallied up votes on the separation question for each district and compared that to the 2025 eligible-voter figures.
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Globe → tally → figures
That analysis shows that turnout in divisions won by the United Conservative Party in 2023 was five percentage points higher than in areas that went to the New Democrats.
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that → show → Democrats
Preliminary results show that only two of Alberta’s 87 electoral divisions voted in favour of a separation referendum – and, in both cases, it was a slim majority.
Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, represented by United Conservative Party Finance Minister Jason Nixon, saw the strongest support for a separation question, with 51 per cent voting in favour of a referendum.
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cent → show → referendum
The only other division to vote in favour of a separation question was Central Peace-Notley, represented by Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen, also with 51-per-cent support.
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division → vote → support
In fact, the next 42 divisions with the most support for a separation referendum were all won by the United Conservative Party in 2023, the data show.
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data → win → 2023
On average, areas won by the UCP in 2023 voted for separation 33 per cent of the time, while divisions won by the Alberta New Democratic Party voted for separation roughly 15 per cent of the time.
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divisions → win → time
The NDP district with the strongest support for separation was Banff-Kananaskis, a district located in the Rocky Mountains in southwest Alberta, at 20 per cent.
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district → locate → cent
The NDP division most staunchly in support of remaining in Canada was Edmonton-Strathcona, where 10 per cent of valid votes supported a separation referendum.
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cent → remain → referendum
At a glance, a map of the votes for and against separation falls along familiar Albertan lines: The big-city NDP strongholds of Calgary and Edmonton were strongly in favour of remaining in Canada, while rural areas, which have traditionally gone to the UCP, were more likely to vote to separate.
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which → fall → UCP
The Globe analyzed Alberta’s 87 electoral divisions and divided them into four buckets: districts representing Edmonton, those representing Calgary, those representing other major cities and those representing the rest of the province, much of which is rural.
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much → analyze → which
Edmonton and Calgary saw the strongest support for federalism, at roughly 86 and 83 per cent, respectively.
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Edmonton → see → cent
Other cities hewed more closely to the provincial average, with 73 per cent of districts voting to remain.
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cent → hew → districts
Those districts, which represent lesser-populated areas like Camrose, Peace River and Lacombe, saw 60 per cent support for remaining in Canada – a 26-point difference compared to Edmonton.
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which → represent → Edmonton
How Indigenous communities voted
Indigenous leaders in Alberta have been vocal opponents of Alberta’s separation movement, arguing that a break from Canada would infringe on their negotiated treaty rights.
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break → vote → rights
While Elections Alberta’s data does not identify which votes came from Indigenous people, an analysis of polling stations located within Indigenous communities shows that voters in those areas overwhelmingly want Alberta to continue being a part of the Canadian federation.
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Alberta → identify → federation
The Globe identified 50 voting locations that sit primarily on First Nations land or Métis settlements and were reporting votes as of publication time.
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that → identify → time
Of the 13,602 ballots cast at those locations, 95 per cent were in favour of Alberta remaining in Canada.
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Alberta → cast → Canada
At a polling station located on the Tsuut’ina Nation southwest of Calgary, 98 per cent of 342 ballots cast were in favour of Alberta remaining a part of Canada.
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Alberta → locate → Canada
A polling location on Siksika Nation land that received 512 ballots was 99 per cent in favour of staying in Canada, and a voting location in the Tallcree First Nation, which had counted 102 votes as of publication time, did not see a single ballot cast in favour of separation.
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ballot → receive → separation
The nine other questions
Votes are still being counted on the nine other questions put to people in Alberta.
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Votes → count → Alberta
Elections Alberta said it was giving priority to tallying votes on Question 10, which concerns separation.
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which → say → separation
Preliminary results for most of the other nine other measures – including questions about Senate and judicial appointments, immigration and self-determination – are still close.
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results → include → appointments
Question 5, which asks whether the government should implement stricter voter ID requirements, has the strongest support so far at 64 per cent.
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government → ask → cent
Seven other questions have support between 49 and 58 per cent.
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questions → have → support
As of publication time, only Question 8 – which asks whether voters support amending 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” – has a majority “no” vote, at 51 per cent.
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that → ask → cent
Elections Alberta has said it expects its count to take two days.
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count → say → days
The Aporia
