Elections Alberta soliciting help from other jurisdictions to carry out fall referendum

Mrinali Anchan · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 18, 2026 8:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 19

Elections Alberta says it will need a variety of support roles filled as it extends an invite to senior and experienced electoral staff from across the country to help carry out October's referendum. 

“It's a common practice for electoral management bodies (EMBs) to support each other during election events,” Elections Alberta spokesperson Maia Hanrahan told CBC News in a statement on Tuesday. 

“Senior, experienced EMB staff with highly specialized expertise are invited to support the core Elections Alberta team to add expert resources during this critical election event. Similar invitations and programs happen across the country for major electoral events.” 

Hanrahan said support will be needed, especially soon after voting ends. 

“As one example, to complete the 48-hour continuous count after a 12-hour day of voting, we will need additional highly-specialized and expert resources from EMBs to support our permanent Elections Alberta team, as they will be working in shifts.” 

The 2026 referendum will be held on Oct. 19 and will see Albertans be asked 10 questions, including whether the province should remain part of Canada or commence the legal process of holding a second binding referendum on leaving the country. 

The other questions cover a wide range of issues dealing with immigration and constitutional topics.

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CBC News heard from both Elections BC and Elections Saskatchewan who noted they have received a request for assistance from Elections Alberta. 

A spokesperson with Elections BC told CBC News that the office is assessing Election Alberta’s request against operational needs this fall.

British Columbia’s next municipal elections will be held on Oct. 17.

Elections Canada confirmed Wednesday that it received an inquiry from Elections Alberta about whether it could provide support for the referendum.

"We are assessing that request and have not made any commitments yet," Elections Canada said in a statement.

"We are considering some options that could help Elections Alberta’s recruiting efforts, including interested employees for whom this could represent a professional development opportunity, and retired employees. In all cases, these individuals would be working under the direction of Elections Alberta and Elections Canada would play no role in the conduct of the referendum."

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Elections Saskatchewan said it has offered to provide staff support as Alberta prepares to administer its referendum this fall.

“While we are pleased to assist fellow election administrators across the country, this is also a valuable professional development opportunity for our staff,” said Michael Boda, chief electoral officer at Elections Saskatchewan.

“Provincial general elections are normally held only once every four years. Participating in electoral events in other jurisdictions gives our team practical experience, strengthens their skills and provides lessons that will benefit Elections Saskatchewan in preparing for future elections.”

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Elections Alberta said its recruitment campaign is progressing well, and as of Tuesday afternoon it has received over 30,000 applications from Albertans across the province.

“After launching the campaign just over a month ago … [this] is a promising step towards our goal of recruiting 60,000 electoral workers,” Hanrahan said. 

Lorne Gibson is a former chief electoral officer in Alberta and says there are limitations in how other EMB workers outside Alberta can help. 

“There just aren't enough people,” he said. “I mean, some of the core staff in other jurisdictions is quite small: 10, 12, 14, 25 people, that sort of thing.

“And they certainly couldn't send them all. It's also very costly to be employing individuals from other jurisdictions. There's travel costs, accommodation costs, meal costs etc. Not to mention the salary of those employees, which is typically a lot higher than the salary would be for the individuals within the jurisdiction.” 

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Gibson added that another issue can be finding people who are eligible to work to work the referendum. In Alberta, election officers must live in the province, be eligible to work in Canada, be at least 16 years old (18 for some roles), pass a criminal record check and must sign an oath requiring them to uphold a non-partisan mandate during the referendum.

Gibson said what may further complicate matters is the byelection that Premier Danielle Smith called on Monday for the riding of Calgary-Shaw. 

“Byelections are a lot less work than general elections, obviously involving just one jurisdiction. They're not overly complicated. But any kind of distraction like that would not be welcome, I would think, when you're preparing for a major event like a referendum with 10 questions.”