EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA — Alberta’s election agency has fired the starter’s pistol on the race to collect enough names for a referendum on the province quitting Canada.

Elections Alberta announced Friday that Mitch Sylvestre and the Alberta Prosperity Project have from Saturday until May 2 to collect just under 178,000 signatures to qualify.

“Citizen initiative petition signature sheets have been issued,” Elections Alberta said in a statement.

“The proponent may now proceed with collecting signatures.”

Elections Alberta had already announced before Christmas that it had approved the referendum question.

But it said the group could not collect signatures until it had finalized details, including hiring a chief financial officer.

The question seeks a yes or no answer to: “Do you agree that the province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”

Sylvestre could not be immediately reached for comment.

He has previously said a referendum is needed because of federal government restrictions on oil development alongside dim hopes for electoral change in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2026.

The Canadian Press