Cost for citizen initiative petitions increased to $25,000

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on December 19, 2025.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

An order in council has increased the cost to apply for a citizen lead petition from $500 to $25,000.

The order came in Wednesday evening and states that the fee may be refundable in the event the applicant meets the required threshold of signatures and completes reporting requirements.

A statement from press secretary Heather Jenkins of the Office of the Minister of Justice says the fee was chosen to discourage frivolous applications.

“Increasing the citizen initiative petition application fee set out in the Citizen Initiative Regulation will ensure that only applicants with a serious interest in proposing a legislative initiative, policy initiative, or constitutional referendum question apply,” said Jenkins.

It was added that the petitions are costly and the decision was made to protect Alberta taxpayers.

The News spoke with premier Danielle Smith on Thursday, who says, “Chief Electoral Officer keeps coming back to the committee asking for tens of millions of dollars of additional funds to support petition campaigns.

“We want to make sure the ones that go forward are serious…It is really just making folks aware there is a cost associated with it and that if they’re going to get to go forward with it, that it should be a serious effort,” said Smith.

Alberta’s NDP caucus also released a statement, with NDP shadow minister for justice Irfan Sabir stating the UCP keeps, “changing the rules as they go.”

“This change is clearly meant to stifle democratic action by citizens who are simply exercising their rights under legislation created by the UCP themselves. This is a concerning trend from this government where they change the rules and processes when they no longer work in their favour,” said Sabir. “Albertans deserve better. They deserve a government that shows respect for the democratic process and doesn’t change the rules mid-game to protect its power.”

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