In an effort to reduce the time it takes to move civil actions through the judicial system, the Court of King's Bench of Alberta has announced a target ceiling for actions to reach trial as well as mandatory litigation plans for non-family civil actions.
The Civil Trial Target
In an announcement entitled, "Reducing Civil Trial Delay", published by the Court on July 10, 2025, the Court outlined its commitment to reducing the time, and setting a maximum time, for civil actions to reach trial. The target ceiling the Court is adopting for non-family civil trials ("Civil Trial Target") is 36 months from the service of the Statement of Defence by the defendant.
The Court warns that the Civil Trial Target may require parties and their counsel to change their approach to litigation in a number of ways. For instance, the Court expects that civil actions will no longer move at a self-directed pace and that parties to litigation make pre-trial decisions that allow for the meeting of the Civil Trial Target. In addition, the Court notes that counsel and parties are expected to make appropriate arrangements in their schedules to ensure the Civil Trial Target can be achieved. This includes employing back-up counsel, if necessary. Furthermore, the Court has indicated that there will be less tolerance for unexcused delay caused by counsel or party schedules than there has been in the past.
The Court also encourages parties in all actions to consider applications to set early trial dates through the process outlined in the April 23, 2025, Notice to the Profession and Public (NPP#2024-02).
Mandatory Litigation Plans
In coordination with the July 10, 2025 announcement, the Court released a Notice to the Profession and Public (NPP2025-02) regarding the implementation of mandatory litigation plans in civil non-family cases. All parties to such cases, commenced by way of Statement of Claim on or after September 1, 2025, must agree on and file a case litigation plan within four months of the service of the first Statement of Defence. If the parties do not reach an agreement within four months, the parties are expected to bring an application before an Applications Judge to resolve any issues and finalize the litigation plan. This requirement for mandatory litigation plans does not apply to cases categorized as complex under R.4.5(1) of the Alberta Rules of Court, AR 124/2010.
The Court expects that these litigation plans will set out a path to achieving the Civil Trial Target and will result in timely and efficient resolution of civil actions. A template case litigation plan can be accessed through the Alberta Courts website.
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