This is an update to our February 2023 Blakes Bulletin: Provincial Court of Alberta: New Year, New Maximum Claims Limit? regarding the passing of Bill 5 by the Alberta Legislature on December 15, 2022.
The Alberta government has increased the civil claims limit of the Alberta Court of Justice (Court), formerly the Provincial Court of Alberta, to C$100,000, which doubles the previous C$50,000 limit. This is the first increase since 2014. The increase follows the recent amendment to section 9(1) of the Provincial Court Act, which gave the government authority to publish a new regulation allowing claims with a value of up to C$200,000 to be filed in the Court.
The government selected the new C$100,000 limit after consulting Alberta's three courts, the Law Society of Alberta and other organizations in the Alberta legal community. This change will likely be advantageous to plaintiffs because of the Court's quicker timelines and more straightforward procedure. The impact on the Court's operations could be significant, given the likely increase in plaintiffs' claims.
The limit increase will take effect on August 1, 2023.
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