Canada Alberta Separation
Jeff Rath, Calgary-based constitutional and Indigenous rights lawyer and co-founder of the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) speaks with Le Canal Nouvelles (LCN) at the Alberta Prosperity Project referendum watch party in Edmonton, Alberta Monday, Oct. 19, 2026.
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Canada is waiting on results from a referendum in oil-rich Alberta that could put the province on a path toward independence, testing national unity as President Donald Trump’s trade war and annexation threats fuel a surge of Canadian patriotism. Results were delayed after late openings forced more than 100 polling stations to extend voting hours Monday. More than 1.35 million Albertans, or 43% of eligible voters, cast advance or special ballots. The vote was not a direct referendum on independence. Albertans were deciding whether to remain in Canada or begin a legal process that could lead to a second vote on separation. Alberta is Canada’s oil heartland and cowboy country, a conservative stronghold whose political culture has long had more in common with the American West.