An instructional poster lets voters know how to cast their ballots at the southeast Calgary building where southern Sudanese people from across Western Canada will help decide their homeland's future. (CBC)

Sudanese citizens living all over Western Canada braved Calgary's bitter cold and windy weather Sunday to mark their ballots.

A referendum, which is part of a 2005 peace agreement, will decide if the mostly Christian Southern Sudan will split from the largely Muslim north.

"I am so happy for today," said Veronica Lissa, as she cast her vote at a professional building in southeast Calgary.

Lissa's sentiment was shared by almost everyone who showed up to the polls, which opened at 10 a.m. MT, but had a lineup that started three hours earlier.

Abraham Kuong drove 16 hours from Winnipeg with his family and friends to cast their votes.

"I just feel like somebody who was born again, because it's a very, very … good day for us," he said.

Calgary is one of only two cities in the country where southern Sudanese expatriates can vote, the other being Toronto.

'So happy that I really did my part.'—Joseph Kenyi

Everything works pretty much like a typical Canadian election, other than the fact voters dip their fingers in dye to show they've voted, and pose for photos as they drop their ballots into the box.

Joseph Kenyi said it was one of the best days of his life.

"So happy that I really did my part, just kind of recognizing the sacrifices our people have been doing and we have been doing since [the first Sudanese civil war started in] 1955," Kenyi said. "I feel that we have done it."

Most participants said they voted for Southern Sudan to separate and form its own country.

If that happens, many of those who came to Canada as refugees will return home, some for a visit and some for good.

Lissa said she wasn't sure which category she falls into, but added that's not what's important.

"Being a refugee, you always wanted to go back home. And knowing that this will let me, to know that I have a country, that I am free to be a citizen, that is very exciting."

Voting continues all week. Results will be announced next month.

The result of the referendum is widely expected to come out in favour of independence, splitting Africa's largest nation in two.