The signature period for the “Alberta Funds Public Schools” citizen initiative petition has ended and Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer, Gordon McClure, has received the petition from the proponent.

After conducting the first stage of the petition verification process, the preliminary count, Elections Alberta confirmed there were insufficient signatures to meet the required threshold, and the verification count process ended. (See background information below for more information about the citizen initiative petition verification process).

Results: Citizen Initiative petition unsuccessful

The Current Citizen Initiative Petitions page on the Elections Alberta website has been updated to reflect the results.

Next steps

Within two days of the publication of the results of the initiative petition (by February 19, 2026), the proponent must:

• Return the citizen initiative petition and all canvasser identification documents to Elections Alberta;

• Destroy all additional copies of signatures sheets made by the proponent or canvassers; and

• Submit to Elections Alberta a signed affidavit confirming all signature sheets have been returned and all copies destroyed.

The proponent must file the initiative petition expense limit report with 30 days of petition submission, by March 13, 2026.

Initiative Petition Background Information

The Alberta Funds Public Schools citizen initiative petition is for a policy proposal with the following proposed question:

Should the Government of Alberta end its current practice of allocating public funds to accredited independent (private) schools?

The citizen initiative application from proponent Alicia Taylor was approved and the Notice of Initiative Petition was issued on October 7, 2025. For more information, please see: https://www.elections.ab.ca/resources/media/news-releases/new-citizen-initiative-application-approved-notice-of-initiative-petition-issued/.

The petition was issued on October 14, 2025. For more information, please see: https://www.elections.ab.ca/resources/media/news-releases/new-citizen-initiative-petition-issued/

More information on the citizen initiative process, including what happens next if a petition is successful, the status of citizen initiative petitions, proponent financing rules, third party advertising rules, and answers to frequently asked questions may be found on Elections Alberta’s website.

 Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referenda.