EDMONTON - Alberta is to allow turban-wearing Sikhs to ride motorcycles without helmets.

The exemption to the province's Traffic Safety Act that will apply to adult motorcycle drivers and passengers is to go into effect on April 12.

Transportation Minister Brian Mason says the change follows a request from the Sikh community.

The decision means Alberta will be the third province to make the exemption after British Columbia and Manitoba.

Private member bills which would exempt Sikh motorcyclists were introduced in Ontario by former NDP MPP Jagmeet Singh in 2013 and 2016, but the rules in the province haven't changed.

Mason notes that Alberta has the third highest Sikh population in Canada.