Elections Alberta has offered clarity that may give some added flexibility to those entities campaigning for or against Alberta’s upcoming separation referendum question.  

The province’s Chief Electoral Office issued a new Referendum Advertising Interpretation Bulletin on July 8, to help provide guidance on what is and isn’t considered advertising under the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosures Act, and potential requirements to register as a third-party advertiser for the 10 referendum questions that will be put to Albertans this fall.

It comes as Mayor Jeromy Farkas and Calgary city council grappled with the issue at a city council meeting at the end of June.

At that time, Mayor Farkas had asked how far the City of Calgary could go in deploying resources to advocate for Alberta to remain in Canada.

The representative from the city’s law department said at the time that third-party advertising is defined as a message that promotes or opposes a question in a referendum. Analysis of economic conditions doesn’t promote or oppose an outcome, but it could do so implicitly, and there was uncertainty if it would contravene those rules.

Elections Alberta provided some insight this week, hoping to clear up any misconceptions.

“In response to much confusion and misinformation about what qualifies as referendum advertising under the EFCDA, as well as many questions and complaints to my Office, this Interpretation Bulletin helps political participants and electors understand and comply with the legislation,” said Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure.

“This also demonstrates my Office’s commitment to the fair and impartial administration of electoral legislation and holding all political participants equally accountable.”

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas was asked about a campaign against separation from Canada during a Calgary Stampede media scrum on July 8.  

“I will do everything that I can within my powers legally to be able to do that. My hope is that the provincial government will lift its restrictions on municipalities engaging on this.”

“At a minimum, I want the ability to commission research on the economic impacts to Calgary, because make no mistake, there is a reason that the Bank of Montreal is no longer headquartered in the city of Montreal, and that’s because of protracted, prolonged debates over separation.”

What constitutes referendum advertising?

Referendum advertising refers to the transmission to the public, by any means during the referendum, a message that promotes or opposes a question in the referendum.

“This means that ‘referendum advertising’ must relate to a specific referendum question and the advertising must attempt to persuade an elector to vote in a particular way on that referendum question,” McClure said.

The Chief Electoral Officer’s guidance said that any advertising in question must convince an elector to vote in a certain way in response to an identifiable referendum question.

In specific, the referendum question on separation being asked is the following, along with the options for answers.

According to Elections Alberta, it would have to push a voter to choose one of the above options.

“The display of a flag alone does not promote or oppose a question in a referendum,” reads the Chief Electoral Officer’s statement.

“Similarly, statements such as ‘Celebrate Alberta’, ‘send a message to Ottawa’, or ‘Celebrate Canada’ do not specifically support or oppose a question in a referendum and, taken alone, would not constitute referendum advertising.”

Mayor Farkas said Wednesday that he’d be putting his voice where the vast majority of Calgarians have said they stand on the issue. He cited a Leger poll showing 70 per cent of citizens are against separation.

“I strongly will continue to advocate as mayor for us to lean into Confederation, to fix our country, to be able to ensure that Alberta’s concerns are addressed, but the way that we do that is we lean in; we don’t take our ball and go home,” he said.

“I will do everything that I can within my powers legally to be able to do that.”

The Alberta referendum will be held Oct. 19, 2026.