Alberta secession vote could proceed in October once petition signatures verified

CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Organizers behind a petition calling for a referendum to make Alberta its own nation say they now have enough signatures to legally force a vote later next year. 

On Wednesday, Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) legal counsel Jeffrey Rath said that 177,000 people have signed a petition that is enough to trigger a referendum under Alberta’s new Citizen Initiative Act.

The petition will still need to be approved by Elections Alberta. Alberta’s new Citizen Initiative Act states that at least 10 percent of eligible voters need to sign the petition in order for it to go ahead.

The petition needs to be sent to Elections Alberta by May 2.

The question on the proposed referendum asks: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada to become an independent state?”

Should enough of the signatures be verified and validated, the above question will be considered but not guaranteed to be put to a province-wide referendum on October 19.

The APP bills itself as a sovereignty advocacy group.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, about three-in-10 Albertans have said they are open to separating from Canada, with the majority of support coming from young citizens.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her conservative government will allow but not support a citizen-led referendum on independence.

Last year, thousands of Albertans marched on the province’s capital of Edmonton in the “I Am Alberta Rally,” calling for the province to immediately secede from Canada in light of increasing frustration with the Liberal federal government.

The calls for Alberta’s independence have grown since Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney defeated Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre, who also lost his seat in Parliament in the 2025 federal election. In Alberta, almost all of the seats except two went to conservatives.

Carney, like former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said he is opposed to new pipeline projects that would allow Alberta oil and gas to be unleashed. Also, his green agenda, like Trudeau’s, is at odds with Alberta’s main economic driver, its oil and gas industry.