Nearly half of Albertans remain undecided on Oct. 19 referendum's nine key questions

With the Alberta referendum set for October 19, nearly half of Albertans polled have not made up their minds on nine key questions—even though attitudes on the separation question itself remain remarkably stable.

A survey of 1,200 Albertans conducted by Janet Brown Opinion Research and Trend Research between September 8 and September 21 found that 49% of respondents do not yet know how they will vote on the nine non-separation questions. Of those nine, five deal with immigration and four address constitutional changes.

On immigration control specifically, 54% agree Alberta should take more control over the province's immigration policy—down three percentage points from April. Support for "strongly agree" dropped from 40% to 33% over the same period, though "somewhat agree" rose by four points.

When asked about limiting temporary residents' free access to health care and education, 45% agreed. Notably, those who "strongly disagreed" with the proposal rose four percentage points since April, suggesting that as people engage with the specific policy, opposition is growing.

Pollster Janet Brown said: "There's a huge consensus—a bare consensus—that we should take more control over immigration, but not a consensus on what that should look like." She added: "With less than a month remaining, people aren't feeling very connected to these nine questions yet."

Lisa Young, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary, observed that as people engage with proposed policies to restrict temporary residents' access to public services, support for those ideas seems to be decreasing.

The nine questions were originally announced by Premier Danielle Smith in February. The separation question was added to the ballot in May.