Elections Alberta has approved a citizen initiative petition that would ask Albertans whether the province should separate from Canada.

The Alberta Prosperity Project can now begin collecting signatures for its referendum proposal. The separatist group must appoint a financial officer by early January before canvassing can start.

The referendum question asks: "Do you agree that the province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?"

The organization has a four-month window to obtain approximately 178,000 voter signatures, according to CBC News.

This represents the group's second effort. An Alberta judge declared a previous version of the question unconstitutional earlier in 2025. The provincial government has since passed Bill 14, allowing citizen initiatives to proceed without prior constitutional assessment.

The legislation transferred authority to refer referendum questions for judicial review from the chief electoral officer to the justice minister. The minister can also propose modifications to constitutional referendum questions before they reach the ballot.

Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Mitch Sylvestre told CBC News the judicial review was unwarranted. "A citizen's question shouldn't have to go to court to be approved when the actual intent of asking the question was so that the government or people could actually ask a question, any question, and take it to the people," he said.

A competing petition, Alberta Forever Canada, met its signature requirements earlier in December. That initiative posed the opposite question about remaining part of Canada.

Former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, who spearheaded that campaign, told CBC News his supporters stand ready to "take the separatists on and put together a strong case for why Alberta should stay in Canada" should the separation petition reach its goal.

The Ministry of Justice said the provincial government supports every Albertan's right to take part in the citizen initiative process.