Alberta votes on Monday on whether to stay in Canada or move towards separation

Albertans go to the polls on Monday in the first referendum in the province’s history to put the question of leaving Canada directly to voters.

The vote is nonbinding. Voters will choose whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada or whether the provincial government should start the legal process towards a second, binding referendum on separation. Canada’s Constitution has no provision for a province to leave on its own, so any break would need a constitutional amendment.

Interest has been high. Elections Alberta spokesperson Michelle Gurney said more than 174,000 people voted on the first day of advance polling and more than 180,000 on the second. A September poll by Abacus Data put support for remaining in Canada at 64%, with 24% backing a separation referendum and 9% undecided.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has spent the past week in the province urging people to vote to stay. “What we need is a decisive result on Monday to settle this question,” he told a Forever Canadian rally in Calgary on Thursday. “Don’t let anyone tell you this is already decided. Turnout will determine the outcome.”

The ballot also carries nine other questions put by Premier Danielle Smith’s government, which would give Alberta more power over immigration, seek support for working with other provinces on constitutional change and call for the Senate to be abolished. Smith wants a yes on all nine to show Ottawa that provinces need more autonomy. Critics call the immigration questions an anti-immigrant “dog whistle”, and Carney has urged voters to reject them.

Smith’s government has committed $4 million to an advertising campaign for the nine questions, while the Prime Minister’s Office is spending about $250,000 on its “O Canada” campaign.

The vote comes just after a fire at the Wainwright army base killed four Canadian soldiers. Results are expected after polls close on Monday night, Alberta time.