Elections Alberta (the province's independent electoral body) announced that it had approved a citizens' initiative in the form of a constitutional proposal and published a Notice of Initiative Petition. This concerns a possible referendum to gauge voters' attitudes toward Alberta's secession from Canada.
The wording of the question (yes/no answer) in the Elections Alberta documents is as follows: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”
The release states that the application meets the requirements of Section 2 of the Citizen Initiative Act, and a copy of the documents has also been forwarded to the provincial attorney general (as required by law).
Who submitted the initiative
The Elections Alberta release states that the proponent is Mitch Sylvestre, and the subject of the initiative is described as “A Referendum Relating to Alberta Independence.”
How it all began: the first step in December
On December 15, 2025, Elections Alberta announced that it had received a notice of intent to submit an application for such an initiative. The release states that the notice of intent was submitted on December 11 and written confirmation was provided to the applicant on December 12. Elections Alberta also published the dates when the applicant could submit a full application: from December 13, 2025, to January 11, 2026.
What happens next: “publication period,” financial officer, and petition issuance
Approval of the application does not automatically mean a referendum. Next, a procedure is launched that includes several mandatory steps.
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Notice of Initiative Petition publication period: Elections Alberta explains that the statutory publication period must first take place.
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Verification of the appointment of the chief financial officer (CFO): during this period, the chief electoral officer must verify that the requirements for appointing a financial officer for the campaign have been met.
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Official “issuance” of the petition: After the publication period ends, Elections Alberta must:
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issue the petition,
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publish the dates for collecting signatures and the number of signatures required,
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provide official signature sheets of the established form.
Important detail: signature collection cannot begin until the petition has been officially issued, and signatures on “incorrect” forms will not be counted.
How many signatures must be collected and within what time frame
The Elections Alberta website states that a successful citizens' initiative requires signatures from at least 10% of the total number of votes cast in the previous provincial election. For the 2023 election, that is 177,732 signatures.
The Elections Alberta procedure also states that all signature sheets must be submitted no later than the 120th day of the signature collection campaign.
Context: Similar initiatives have previously been subject to legal review
Elections Alberta previously reported that in 2025, another (previous) version of the initiative on the issue of a “sovereign country” was referred to the Court of King's Bench for review of its compliance with legal requirements.
Source: Elections Alberta.