Elections Alberta has issued a petition on Alberta independence to the Alberta Prosperity Project, the office announced on Friday. Albertans will have the opportunity to sign a petition calling on the province to hold a referendum asking, "Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?" The petition, applied for by Mitch Sylvestre, the CEO of the APP, will need to secure 177,732 verified signatures to trigger a referendum. "This is a huge day for every Albertan who believes in Faith, Family, Freedom and in Alberta’s right to chart its own course," wrote Sylvestre in a message after his petition question was approved in December. "We have cleared the first major legal hurdle. Now the real work begins – and we need every patriotic Albertan to stand with us.".The APP will have from Jan. 3 through May 2 to collect signatures.Support on social media and claims by the APP suggest that they will be able to secure the required number of signatures, which is only 10% of the number of votes cast in Alberta's 2023 election, but that is only part of the battle.If their petition reaches a referendum, they will then face the task of convincing a majority of Albertans to vote in favour of Alberta independence.If they can do that, the question remains whether the provincial government will act on the vote results..The APP previously applied for an independence referendum petition in early 2025; however, the application was ultimately dismissed after a judge ruled that Alberta's decision to leave Canada could be unconstitutional.Bill 14, which passed through the Alberta Legislature in November, reopened the door for them to submit a referendum question and cleared the way for a referendum to be held, regardless of the question/result's constitutionality.Many individuals on both sides of the issue have described this bill as a move to pave the way for an independence referendum. Justice Minister Mickey Amery said the bill is intended to facilitate the democratic process that citizen initiatives are meant to serve. The caveat, however, is that Bill 14 also makes clear that the provincial government is not obligated to implement the referendum results if it deems them unconstitutional.Premier Danielle Smith and her government have not stated whether or not they would respect the results of a referendum if Albertans voted in favour of independence.
