Alberta government suspends limitation periods, provincial court adjourns civil matters

By Ian Burns

Law360 Canada (April 3, 2020, 10:52 AM EDT) -- The government of Alberta has suspended some limitation periods in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

The suspension is outlined into a ministerial order from Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Doug Schweitzer. In it, limitation periods are suspended for a number of enactments, which are defined in the order, from March 17 to June 1. Any period of time in which any step must be taken in any proceeding or intended proceeding is suspended, subject to the discretion of the court, tribunal or other decision maker over the same time period.

The Alberta provincial court has indefinitely adjourned all civil matters, including trials, chambers list applications and pretrial conferences (PTCs), which are scheduled to be heard prior to May 22. This applies to all PTCs and chambers list matters, including matters now set to be heard by phone. Matters which are scheduled to be heard after May 22 remain as scheduled, for the time being. In addition, the provincial court has updated several of its scheduling and practice notices. The information can be found here.

The Alberta Court of Appeal has also adopted the Court of Queen’s Bench practice on remote commissioning of affidavits. More information can be found here.