Alberta referendum: 75% voted to stay in Canada; immigration questions narrowly passed

Albertans voted overwhelmingly Monday to remain in Canada, with 75% choosing to stay and 25% voting for another referendum. Voter turnout reached 80-85%, far exceeding the just-over-55% average for the last five provincial elections.

The referendum posed a 10-part questionnaire. While the membership question dominated headlines, results on the other nine items reveal sharp divisions. Four questions about constitutional amendments all failed to muster majorities, as did a question on Senate abolition. Four of the 10 questions focused on immigration measures, and yes votes held substantial leads on those — though support was narrower than on the separation question.

Just under 55% supported giving the Alberta government increased control over immigration to decrease to what it calls more sustainable levels. The government claimed on its referendum website that unsustainable immigration levels over the past 10 years had a profound impact on Alberta's ability to fund health care and education, and that immigration was costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

Premier Danielle Smith addressed Albertans Tuesday evening after official results were finalized between 1-4 a.m. that morning. "I am well aware that not every grievance Alberta has with Ottawa has been resolved," she said. "There are still many political and constitutional battles ahead of us."

At a news conference Wednesday, Smith acknowledged the gap between immigration and constitutional support. "There's a reason to be skeptical that some constitutional amendments would be worth the effort and what I'm seeing is that Albertans would just rather that we spend our time focusing on things where we can make some meaningful change. That's why I think the numbers were so different on the immigration questions versus perhaps the constitutional ones."

Abacus Data found that 32% of Albertans who favoured Option 2 (another referendum) had secession as their primary motivation, suggesting genuine separation sentiment among a minority.

Edmonton showed divided results on immigration questions. As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, only three Edmonton ridings had majority yes votes on the non-permanent resident premiums question: Edmonton-Castle Downs, Edmonton-McClung, and Edmonton-West Henday.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi characterized the government's approach as "scapegoating immigrants." On a reporter & Politics, he said: "The reality of the matter is even if you took all the young, healthy temporary foreign workers out of the health-care system, even if you denied public education to refugee children, it's not going to make the emergency room lineups any less. It's not going to make your classrooms any smaller. It's not going to make anyone's life better."

The Alberta Prosperity Project, which campaigned on the referendum questions, said it will carry on regardless of results.

HOC had reported in October that polls showed majorities in Calgary and Edmonton backed voter ID and immigration questions. In July, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi called nine of the 10 referendum questions racist and urged no votes.