The Alberta government announced Friday it will launch a court challenge to Ottawa's proposal for a single Canadian securities regulator.

In a release, the province said the challenge is being made to "protect provincial jurisdiction from federal intrusion."

Ottawa said in May it would make a priority of setting up a national agency to regulate securities trading. (CBC)

The province will take its case to the Alberta Court of Appeal and said its case will "test the constitutional soundness" of the proposed single regulator.

Alberta will argue Ottawa's move would open the door to the federal regulation of other areas that have historically been regulated by the provinces.

The federal government has already announced its will ask the Supreme Court of Canada to rule whether it has the power to set up a single regulator, but Alberta said it was moving forward with its challenge because it may be many months before Ottawa launches its case before the Supreme Court.

"Securities regulation is a matter of provincial jurisdiction, and acknowledging federal authority in this area would have implications in other areas of financial regulation that have historically been provincial responsibility," said Iris Evans, Alberta's minister of finance and enterprise.

"The interests of Albertans and the Alberta capital market are best served by the existing regulatory structure. There is no need for this intrusion into provincial jurisdiction."

Alberta will also intervene in support of a similar challenge by the Quebec government to the Quebec Court of Appeal.

It said joining with Quebec will allow the two provinces to share resources and co-operate in other aspects of the two cases and sends a stronger message of opposition to the federal plans.