Votes were still being tallied as of Tuesday afternoon, but the yes vote was leading on eight of the nine referendum questions, including all five on immigration-related proposals.

Those questions asked whether Alberta should have more say on who comes to the province to work and whether it's time to put more limitations -- and perhaps introduce fees -- on temporary workers who seek access to health care and education.

The remaining four questions saw Premier Danielle Smith ask for Albertan's blessing to lobby her provincial counterparts for support on amending the Constitution to take more power from Ottawa and abolish the Senate.

The yes side was leading on all of the immigration questions with roughly 54 to 58 per cent of the votes as of Tuesday afternoon. One exception is Smith's proposal to require proof of citizenship to vote provincially, which was leading with about two-thirds of the vote.

Smith, who has said she needs a yes to the nine questions so she can bargain with Prime Minister Mark Carney, was set to give a TV address to Albertans later Tuesday on the results and what's next for the province.

Critics have called the questions anti-immigrant dog-whistling, and some, including Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, say the results are shaping up to be an underwhelming mandate for the premier.

"The government spent $4 million telling people to say yes, which is 10 times more than (those who campaigned against the questions)," Nenshi told reporters Tuesday.

"If she wanted a mandate, she should have been able to get 85 per cent on questions like this, and she was unable to carry the day."

Nenshi said Smith needs to stop scapegoating immigrants and "be a premier for all Albertans."

Colin Aitchison, a former United Conservative Party press secretary turned government relations consultant, pushed back, saying the result was more than a clear mandate for the premier.

"Governments get elected on less than 50 per cent in this country, and then they move forward with implementing a mandate," said Aitchison, a managing director with Enterprise Canada.

"Regardless of the size of the mandate, it is a clear mandate, and with voter turnout, I think it's something that (Smith) can definitely point to when she's trying to negotiate (with Ottawa)," he said.

Smith has said immigration is beneficial to Alberta, but that it must be balanced with the high cost of social services. Her government has yet to give specifics on how the proposals would work or how they would be implemented.

Avnish Nanda, a lawyer who had campaigned against the immigration proposals, said Tuesday he was shocked by the results so far, as he was expecting the questions to pass with much larger margins.

"We thought we would be blown out," Nanda said in an interview.

Nanda said he didn't think the results represent the will of Albertans. He pointed to polls that suggest some voters were confused by the wording of the questions and would vote differently depending on how the question was framed.

"These are hard questions (and) a (government) propaganda campaign that has misled Albertans to vote for things that are contrary to, I think, what they actually want and what's in their best interest."

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said Tuesday he was proud to see a majority of voters in his city reject the immigration proposals, adding that it reaffirmed Calgary as a welcoming place for newcomers.

Farkas also said Ottawa was already acting to address immigration concerns and he felt the referendum results seem to be an endorsement of the status quo.

"That, to me, kind of leads me to ask, 'What was the point of this whole exercise to begin with?'" Farkas said.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack also called for Smith to ditch the immigration questions.

"I don't want our neighbours to feel like they're not welcome in our city," Knack said late Monday as results started to roll in.

The constitutional questions are shaping up to be a tighter race, with results as of Tuesday afternoon showing the yes option leading on three of the four questions by razor-thin margins.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2026.

-- With files from Lisa Johnson in Edmonton and Dayne Patterson in Calgary