Edmonton, December 24, 2025: A proposed referendum on Alberta leaving Canada has moved a step closer to appearing on a ballot after receiving approval from the provincial election agency on Monday.
The approved question asks voters: “Do you agree that the province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”
The campaign is being spearheaded by the Alberta Prosperity Project, which must now appoint a chief financial officer by early next month before it can begin formally collecting signatures. To trigger a referendum, the group needs just under 178,000 valid signatures.
Alberta Prosperity Project chief executive officer Mitch Sylvestre said the campaign has effectively been underway for some time and claimed the group has already received around 240,000 pledges of support.
“I really believe this is a non-partisan deal,” Sylvestre said earlier this month. “I think every Albertan is going to benefit tremendously from this. I think it’s very clear.”
The referendum question was redrafted to align with the wording requirements of the federal Clarity Act, which outlines the conditions under which a province can pursue separation from Canada.
The group had first launched its push for a separation referendum in July last year, but the earlier version of the question was referred to the Court of King’s Bench by Alberta’s chief electoral officer to assess its constitutionality. Justice Colin Feasby ruled that Alberta’s previous initiative laws did not permit a citizen-led referendum on separation.
That ruling was effectively overtaken by legislative changes introduced by the provincial government a day earlier through Bill 14. The amendments removed constitutional scrutiny requirements for proposed referendum questions and eliminated the authority of the chief electoral officer or attorney general to refer such questions to the courts, although cabinet retains referral powers under separate legislation.
The renewed push for an independence vote comes amid competing efforts to keep Alberta within Canada. A rival initiative, the Alberta Forever Canada petition, collected 456,000 signatures in support of a question affirming that Alberta should remain part of the country.
