Chief Electoral Officer Issues Referendum Advertising Interpretation Bulletin
July 08, 2026
EDMONTON – Today, Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer published a new Referendum Advertising Interpretation Bulletin. Interpretation Bulletin No. 9 Referendum Advertising is intended to provide guidance on what is and what is not referendum advertising under the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act (EFCDA), and when the requirement to register as a Referendum Third Party Advertiser applied. It must be read in conjunction with the Guide for Referendum Third Party Advertisers.
“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,” explains 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.”
Under the EFCDA, the definition of “referendum advertising” is “the transmission to the public by any means during the referendum advertising period of an advertising message that promotes or opposes a question in a 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. In other words, the advertising in question must be an attempt to convince an elector to vote in a certain way in response to an identifiable referendum question.
Not every advertisement that touches on the issues that are the subject of a referendum will meet the definition of “referendum advertising”. General messages that may be associated with the issues that are the subject of a referendum, but are vague or ambiguous as to the referendum questions themselves, may not fall within the definition.
Referendum advertising in relation to Question 10 (the “separation question”) is advertising that promotes or opposes one of the options presented to electors. The message would generally need to promote, oppose, support, or encourage selection of one option over the other in order to fall within the definition of referendum advertising.
For example: displaying a Canadian flag or an Alberta flag (or both) would not fall within the definition of referendum advertising. The display of a flag alone does not promote or oppose a question in a referendum. 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.
The Interpretation Bulletin contains additional information about messages that do or may fall into the definition of referendum advertising, particularly with respect to Question 10, events that may constitute referendum advertising, and exceptions to the definition of referendum advertising.
Additional Information
- General Referendum information, including questions on the ballot.
- Referendum Third Party Advertisers (RTPAs), including registered RTPAs, deregistered RTPAs, rules, and financial reporting.
- Guide for Referendum Third Party Advertisers
- Interpretation Bulletin No. 7 Referendum Advertising Non-Third Party Advertisers
- Interpretation Bulletin No. 8 Charities and Prohibited Entities
Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referendums.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Maia-Lys Hanrahan
Media Relations
Email: [email protected]
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