Alberta referendum, October 19, 2026
The official ballot wording sits on the left and a plain-language version on the right. The plain versions are an aid to understanding, not a legal substitute. Elections Alberta cannot interpret the questions; direct meaning questions to the Government of Alberta or your MLA.
Question 10: Alberta's place in Canada
Choose one option. Results are non-binding.
10.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?
Option 1: Alberta should remain a province of Canada.
Option 2: The Government of Alberta should commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada.
10.Which do you prefer?
A) Alberta stays a province of Canada.
B) Alberta's government starts the formal legal process needed to hold a later, binding vote on whether to separate.
Option B is not a vote to separate. It is a vote to begin the steps toward a future binding vote.
Questions 1 to 5: Immigration, services, and voting
Yes or no. Results are non-binding.
1.Do you support the Government of Alberta taking increased control over immigration for the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels, prioritizing economic migration and giving Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities?
1.Should Alberta's government take more control over immigration, in order to reduce immigration, favour economic immigrants, and give Albertans first chance at new jobs?
Bundles three goals. "Increased control" is not defined.
2.Do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law mandating that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and individuals with an Alberta-approved immigration status will be eligible for provincially-funded programs, such as health care, education and other social services?
2.Should Alberta pass a law limiting provincially funded programs (health care, education, other social services) to citizens, permanent residents, and people with an immigration status approved by Alberta?
"Alberta-approved immigration status" is not defined.
3.Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for social support programs as they do now, do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring all individuals with a non-permanent legal immigration status to reside in Alberta for at least 12 months before qualifying for any provincially-funded social support programs?
3.Citizens and permanent residents would keep their current access. Should people with temporary immigration status have to live in Alberta for at least 12 months before they can use provincial social support programs?
4.Assuming that all Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to qualify for public health care and education as they do now, do you support the Government of Alberta charging a reasonable fee or premium to individuals with a non-permanent immigration status living in Alberta for their and their family's use of the healthcare and education systems?
4.Citizens and permanent residents would keep their current access. Should Alberta charge a fee or premium to people with temporary immigration status, and their families, for using health care and education?
The fee amount is not specified; "reasonable" was dropped as a judgment word.
5.Do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring individuals to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or citizenship card, to vote in an Alberta provincial election?
5.Should voters have to show proof of citizenship (such as a passport, birth certificate, or citizenship card) to vote in Alberta elections?
Questions 6 to 9: Constitutional change
Yes or no. Each depends on other willing provinces agreeing and on the constitutional amendment process.
6.Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to have provincial governments, and not the federal government, select the justices appointed to provincial King's Bench and Appeal courts?
6.Should Alberta work with other willing provinces to amend the Constitution so provinces, not the federal government, choose judges for the provincial King's Bench and Court of Appeal?
7.Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to abolish the unelected federal Senate?
7.Should Alberta work with other willing provinces to amend the Constitution to abolish the Senate?
"Unelected" was dropped; it describes the Senate but is not needed to understand the question.
8.Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend 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, without a province losing any of the associated federal funding for use in its social programs?
8.Should Alberta work with other willing provinces to amend the Constitution so provinces can opt out of federal programs in areas like health care, education, and social services, and keep the federal funding that would have paid for them?
"Intrude on" was dropped as a judgment word.
9.Do you support the Government of Alberta working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to better protect provincial rights from federal interference by giving a province's laws dealing with provincial or shared areas of constitutional jurisdiction priority over federal laws when the province's laws and federal laws conflict?
9.Should Alberta work with other willing provinces to amend the Constitution so that, when provincial and federal laws conflict in areas of provincial or shared jurisdiction, the provincial law wins?
"Protect from federal interference" was dropped as a judgment phrase.
Now try Ottawa mayor 2026: the four leading candidates, by issue in plain language
Election day is October 26, 2026. Names are left out on purpose, so each position stands on its own. Letters are labels, not a ranking.
Property taxes
Recent tax increases: 2.5% in 2023 and 2024, 3.9% in 2025, 3.75% in 2026.
- Keep yearly increases between 2% and 2.5% for the 2027 and 2028 budgets.
- Find another $250 million in savings at City Hall.
- Add a 1% charge to tax bills for infrastructure.
- No overall tax target. Decide what is needed first, then set the target.
- Start the budget process earlier.
- Freeze taxes in 2027, then 1% in 2028, then 2% or less in each of the next two years.
- Says this saves the average homeowner $759 over the term compared with A's pledge.
- No tax target.
- Review all city spending, cut programs that no longer serve residents, and open the city's books in the first 100 days.
Affordability and cost of living
Cost of living and housing costs were the top issues in a January 2026 poll of Ottawa voters.
- Cap tax increases and find savings (see Property taxes).
- Cut the monthly transit pass to $95 and cap daily fares at $10.
- Freeze city fees on new housing.
- Let residents and businesses defer property tax for one year after a job loss or death in the family.
- For seniors: freeze recreation fees and allow tax deferral when downsizing.
- Keep the small-business tax cut and end patio fees.
- Keep tax increases "affordable, reasonable and predictable," with no set number.
- Keep transit fares as low as possible.
- Never budget money that other levels of government haven't approved.
- The 1% infrastructure charge would cost the average homeowner about $28 a year.
- Tax freeze in 2027 (see Property taxes).
- Turn off all on-street parking meters.
- Raise the small-business property tax cut from 15% to 25%, at a cost of about $8.4 million a year.
- Create an online "red tape" reporting portal.
- Keep current transit fares and focus on reliability.
- A flat $1 transit fare, capped at $40 a month.
- Spending review to "keep taxes as low as possible," with no set number.
- Not-for-profit housing meant to cover its own costs through rents.
Transit
- Monthly pass cut to $95, daily fare cap of $10, two-hour transfers.
- Bulk passes for large employers.
- Count on a promised $4 billion provincial investment in light rail.
- More rapid bus projects, new buses, and express routes brought back.
- Reverse recent service cuts and restore frequent bus routes.
- A service guarantee for riders.
- Put a citizen seat back on the Transit Commission.
- Advance a bus rapid transit line on Baseline Road.
- Bring back rush-hour express buses and rebuild the schedule.
- More fare enforcement, a rider code of conduct, and cameras on every bus.
- A 90-day review of transit management.
- A training stream for bus mechanics at a local college.
- $1 a ride, capped at $40 a month, in a four-point plan.
- Leaves a yearly funding gap of $82.2 million, to be covered by light rail savings, other city savings, and a future real estate transit authority.
Housing
The number of people sleeping outside or in shelters has roughly doubled since 2022, according to B.
- Freeze city fees on new housing: permits, rezoning, variances and development charges.
- Build 1,500 non-profit homes a year on city-owned land.
- Create a fund to buy rental buildings at risk of being lost and hand them to non-profits.
- More housing-standards inspections, with escalating fines for repeat offenders.
- Cut development charges for one year.
- If builders don't deliver enough family-sized rentals, the city steps in directly.
- Create a not-for-profit, mixed-income "public option" through an existing affordable housing organization.
- Aim for 25,000 to 30,000 homes over two decades. D says rents, not taxpayers, would cover the cost.
- Low-cost shipping-container homes as transitional housing.
Infrastructure
- A $10 billion plan to fix and expand roads, sewers and city buildings. A says it closes the gap.
- Paid for with tax revenue, development charges, budget savings, and unused borrowing capacity.
- $500 million for climate resilience, including storm sewers in flood-prone areas.
- Supports a ring road.
- A 1% infrastructure charge on tax bills, raising about $25.5 million a year.
- Focus spending on roads, bridges, transit, housing programs and community centres.
- A rural service review setting standards for roads and other services.
- Push for a southern ring road.
- Assess rural roads every three years instead of every five.
- End the three-item curbside garbage limit and build a waste-to-energy plant.
- Open the books first, then develop a comprehensive infrastructure plan.
- Promises an "honest conversation" about the deficit, with no dollar figure yet.
Public safety and drugs
- Hire 350 police officers, paramedics and firefighters.
- Double funding for non-police crisis response.
- Appoint a downtown safety coordinator.
- Revoke business licences of shops accused of handing out drugs.
- Expand non-police crisis response.
- Strengthen by-law enforcement.
- Fewer details published than the others so far.
- Build residential addiction recovery programs: job training, housing and a year of aftercare.
- Keep naloxone widely available, but says reversing overdoses isn't enough.
- Review police spending for value before approving any increase.
- Expand crisis response and add detox and recovery beds.
- Appoint a downtown safety coordinator.
Other notable positions
- Create economic and development zones in rural and suburban areas.
- Five-point rural plan, including a rural village growth plan that protects farmland.
- Require a rural impact assessment for city-wide decisions.
- Publish a quarterly scoreboard of investment and jobs, and add a fair-wage rule for city contracts.
- Community road safety councils and regional planning panels.
- Redo the $200 million downtown market building plan and create a festival plaza.
Rideau-Rockcliffe (Ward 13): the two councillor candidates, by issue
Election day is October 26, 2026. Names are left out on purpose, so each position stands on its own.
Eastern bridge
- Opposes it.
- Cites studies showing it would divert only 15% of truck traffic from King Edward Avenue, even by 2050.
- Supports it.
- Says it is needed to get trucks off downtown streets.
- Argues the ward should engage now to shape the design and the terms of protection, since council would likely override local opposition.
Housing
- Lists housing and transit affordability as his focus.
- Points to the 350 affordable units being built in Wateridge Village.
- Voted for the city's refreshed 10-year housing and homelessness plan.
- Lists housing and food security among his ward priorities.
- Named affordable housing as a priority in 2022.
- No detailed 2026 housing plan found in news coverage. Discourages concentration of ultra affordable housing in the ward and city.
Transit
- Lists transit affordability as a focus.
- Named better transit and cycling infrastructure in 2022.
- Wants OC Transpo made more reliable.
- Supports a self-driving bus pilot on St-Laurent.
- Named effective transit and more cycling infrastructure in 2022.
Infrastructure and parks
- Says the city cannot ignore its backlog of road and sewer repairs.
- Named rebuilding Beechwood and McArthur avenues as a priority in 2022.
- Called an infrastructure levy essential in the CTV questionnaire.
- Wants oversight of infrastructure spending.
- Wants action on combined storm and wastewater systems, and on sidewalks.
- Wants fairer access to parks, and a stronger look at the Bathgate Park and Jetform Park decisions.
Local traffic and development
- No public position found on opening the Hemlock Road connection in Wateridge or on the proposed traffic circles.
- Wants the Hemlock Road connection opened.
- Wants traffic circles at St-Laurent/Hemlock and Beechwood/Vanier Parkway.
- Raises a soccer stadium at 815 St-Laurent.
How City Hall works
- Has argued that cutting the number of wards would weaken democracy.
- Wants open city data and more use of AI in city operations.
- Commits to serving one term.
- Wants council cut from 24 wards to 12, for cost savings and better decisions.
- Points out that only about 40% of eligible voters vote.
Public safety
- When first elected, said he wanted police to keep improving relationships with racialized groups.
- Focused on the high-needs Overbrook neighbourhood.
- No detailed 2026 safety plan found.
- Lists policing and gang activity among his issues.
- Wants a public washroom policy.
- No detailed plan found in news coverage.
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