On June 8, Elections Alberta announced it needs at least 60,000 workers for the October 19 referendum — the largest electoral workforce recruitment in provincial history, and more than the 57,000 workers Quebec mobilized for its 1995 separation vote. The 2023 provincial general election required 13,000.
The 45 million ballots Elections Alberta will produce for the vote dwarf both the 1.8 million cast in the last provincial election and the 19.8 million cast nationally in Canada’s 2025 federal general election. Each of the ten questions is printed on separate color-coded paper with its own ballot box. Provincial law requires workers to hand-count all ballots within 48 hours. Elections Alberta will pay workers between $255 and $350 per day.
“This referendum will be a colossal undertaking,” said Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure.
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Smith’s government designed nine of the ten questions, covering immigration policy and constitutional reform. Question 10, the highest-profile ballot, asks whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada or whether the government should begin the constitutional process required to hold a binding separation referendum.
A citizen-initiated petition collected the required signatures under provincial law to trigger it. Premier Danielle Smith has said she personally supports staying in Canada and will vote accordingly. The result of Question 10 is not binding — a yes vote would only authorize the government to begin the legal process toward a future binding vote.
Nobody knows yet how much all this will cost. Elections Alberta has not released a cost estimate; a spokesperson told the Canadian Press that too many variables remain unresolved — including the cost of securing voting locations across the province — to produce a figure before fall.
The 2023 provincial election cost $37 million. NDP leader Naheed Nenshi claimed on X that the referendum will run “up to $100 million” — money he said Smith is spending to keep her deal with separatists, and that could otherwise go to healthcare and education.
The latest Ipsos polling shows 19% of Albertans support holding a future binding referendum on separation, while 72% favour remaining in Canada. For those weighing the broader fiscal stakes of separation itself, a former Alberta Finance official estimated the cost of independence at $299 billion upfront and $67 billion annually — Smith herself has put it closer to $400 billion.
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