Alberta voters reject the push for separation from Canada.
Around 77% support remaining part of Canada, early results show.
Mark Carney welcomes the result as a victory for unity.
Mark Carney, Canada's Prime Minister, has said that Albertans have made "a clear choice" to reject a referendum on separation from Canada. Alberta voters have rejected the idea of separating from Canada in the province’s first referendum on independence.
The result gives Prime Minister Mark Carney a boost as he works to keep the country united amid an ongoing trade war with the United States.
Early results released on Tuesday showed that around 77% of voters wanted Alberta to remain part of Canada, while 23% supported starting a process that could eventually lead to separation. More than one million votes had been counted at the time, according to Al Jazeera.
In his statement, Carney said, ”On October 19, Albertans made a clear choice. They chose unity, to build together, and to take care of each other. Above all, Albertans chose Canada.”
Although the ballot did not ask Albertans to vote directly on independence, a victory for the separation option would have moved the oil-rich province closer to a future referendum on leaving Canada.
Voting On Separation
Voters in Alberta, a province in western Canada, were asked to decide whether to stay within the country or move towards a legally binding vote on independence.
The ballot did not ask residents to choose directly between staying and leaving Canada. Instead, it asked whether Alberta should remain a Canadian province or whether its government should begin the constitutional process needed to hold a binding referendum on separation.
The ballot offered two choices: Option A to remain part of Canada, and Option B to begin the process of holding a referendum on independence.
Reason Behind the Referendum
Alberta holds the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, and frustration over how the oil industry is managed has fuelled much of the push for independence.
The campaign for Alberta’s independence has attracted support from people close to US President Donald Trump. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the Canadian province as a “natural partner” for Washington, while billionaire Elon Musk, a prominent Trump supporter, wrote on X that Alberta “should separate”.
Quebec, another Canadian province, has held two independence referendums, in 1980 and 1995, but neither succeeded. The 1995 vote was particularly close, with opponents of independence winning by a narrow margin, securing 50.58% of the vote.
