By Matthew Horwood

The group behind a petition for Alberta independence says it has received the 177,732 signatures needed to hold a referendum on the province becoming an independent country.

Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) legal counsel Jeffrey Rath confirmed to the The Epoch Times that the group has met the threshold. The petition will still need to be approved by Elections Alberta, which will review the signatures.

The referendum question, filed with Elections Alberta in December 2025, asks, “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”

The APP has been holding events in cities across Alberta to collect signatures after Elections Alberta approved its petition in January. Elections Alberta said that petition supporters have until May 2 to collect the 177,732 signatures, which is equal to 10 percent of the total votes cast in the 2023 provincial election.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had said a referendum on independence would be held later in 2026 if the petition succeeds and meets the legal requirements. Smith previously said her government would put several different questions that also meet legislated requirements on a referendum ballot.

Smith’s government has lowered the bar for how many signatures are needed for a referendum—going from 20 percent of province-wide registered voters in two-thirds of Alberta’s constituencies, to 10 percent of the total votes cast in the previous general election. While Smith says she doesn’t support Alberta separating from Canada, she has also said her government would allow a referendum on Alberta separation if it met all the requirements.

The premier also said she would continue to use the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act and other measures to “fight through much of Ottawa’s damaging interference.”

Popular support for separation in Alberta has appeared to be below what would be needed to trigger negotiations with the federal government on separation. According to a Jan. 23 Ipsos survey, 28 percent of Albertans supported separating from Canada. A March 12 Leger poll found 17 percent supported Alberta separating, while 70 percent said the province should remain in Canada.