COVID-19 Announcements

Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta Master Order 6, dated December 31, 2021, will expire at the end of Friday, January 21, 2022. Though the Court is faced with significant staff shortages as a result of COVID-19, it has been determined that matters scheduled for the week of January 24, 2022 will proceed as follows.

Per the Court's Announcement of December 31, 2021 regarding additional measures to limit traffic at court facilities, please see the attached Master Order 6, which governs court operations for the period of January 4 to 21, 2022.

Given the current restrictions on congregations and courtrooms, the Court will continue to conduct Bar Admissions remotely. Bar Admissions will be conducted via Webex, which will allow a student's family and friends to attend via Webex link.

Effective January 4, 2022 and for the weeks of January 4, 2022, January 10, 2022, and January 17, 2022, and subject to any further adjustments that may be required, additional measures to limit traffic at court facilities have been put in place. For further details, please refer to the full announcement.

The Court of Appeal of Alberta, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and the Provincial Court of Alberta (the Courts) have a responsibility to provide a safe location for all individuals who voluntarily come to or who are compelled to attend court. The Courts now provide notice that effective November 1, 2021, all Court staff, including clerks and court technology personnel, and Sheriffs must be fully vaccinated to access courtrooms in Alberta courthouses. Full details are included in the attached notice.

Court of Queen's Bench Administration has extended the cap on email filing fees until March 31, 2022. In addition to regular filing fees, documents that are filed via email will be charged at the rate of $1 per page, capped to a maximum of $20.

The Court of Appeal of Alberta, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and the Provincial Court of Alberta (the Courts) have a responsibility to provide a safe workspace that protects the health and safety of individuals who work in, visit, or attend the Courts’ workspaces. Accordingly, the Courts have adopted mandatory Vaccination Policies which will be in effect as of Tuesday, September 21, 2021. These Policies apply to all secure areas of courthouses used by judicial officers and certain staff to which public access is restricted. Full details are included in the attached notice.

The Court of Queen’s Bench will continue to take a cautious approach to the resumption of operations as they were being conducted prior to March, 2020. With the commencement of the 2021 Fall Term on September 7, 2021, the Court will continue to take steps to minimize traffic at courthouses as much as possible. For further details, please refer to the full announcement.

It has been determined that the Court of Queen’s Bench will return to operations as they were being conducted prior to Master Order 5, which expires on May 28, 2021. For further details, please refer to the full announcement.

Further to the Court's Announcement of May 5, 2021 and its Master Order of May 7, 2021, Counsel and parties should be aware that the Court is directing additional judicial resources to desk applications and remote hearings. Counsel and parties are encouraged to utilize the increased access to remote and desk processes in civil, family, and surrogate matters.

Further to the Court's Announcement of May 5, 2021, the Court is taking additional steps to reduce in-person attendance at courthouses for the period of May 10 to May 28, 2021, per Master Order #5. / À la suite de l'annonce de la Cour faite le 5 mai 2021, la Cour prend des mesures supplémentaires afin de réduire la présence en personne dans les palais de justice pour la période du 10 mai au 28 mai 2021, et ce, conformément à l'ordonnance directrice No 5.

On May 4, 2021, the Alberta Government announced Province-wide restrictions to protect the health system and slow the spread of COVID-19. In light of the increasing case counts, rise in variants, the ongoing risk to Justice participants, and the increased difficulties in having counsel, parties and witnesses attend in Court, restrictions are now in place for the weeks of May 10, 2021, May 17, 2021, and May 24, 2021.

With the increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in the Province of Alberta, the Court is extending and expanding its efforts to minimize traffic at all courthouses.

On April 6, 2021, the Province of Alberta and the Chief Medical Officer of Health put in place additional measures to protect the health system and to reduce the rising spread of COVID-19. The Court will hear all matters currently booked, but will continue its efforts to minimize traffic at all courthouses.

In order to facilitate the more timely processing of draft Orders submitted to the Court via email, counsel and parties are asked to send draft Orders in .doc or docx (ie., Microsoft Word) format in Justice Chambers and Family Chambers, and PDF format in Masters' Chambers. For further details, please refer to the full announcement.

Based on the current state of the pandemic, it has been determined that it is possible to proceed with all matters currently scheduled in the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta for the week of February 1, 2021 and subsequent weeks. For further details, please refer to the full announcement.

It has been determined that it is possible to proceed with all matters currently scheduled in the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta for the weeks of January 18 and January 25, 2021. Counsel and parties are advised to be aware of the following, in respect of hearings scheduled for those weeks.

In response to the State of Public Health Emergency declared by the Government on November 24, 2020, the increase in active COVID-19 cases in the Province of Alberta, and the current and anticipated numbers of legal system participants, including Court staff, who may be unable to participate for COVID-19 related reasons, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta is announcing the following modifications to its schedule for the week of January 4 and 11, 2021. Further announcements in respect of the subsequent weeks may follow.

It is now possible for counsel to file all materials in Civil and Family proceedings electronically, via email. However, in some locations, up to 50% of the materials received by the Court have been filed with the clerk, at the counter, on paper. For the time being, while the public health crisis persists, it is in the interests of public health – and in the interests of the health of Court staff as well as counsel, court runners, and any other individuals who may be required to file materials – that personal attendance at courthouses and filing queues be avoided. To that end, the Court is mandating that any material filed by counsel, in any civil or family proceeding, must be filed electronically, via email, per the directions set out in the December 11, 2020 Announcement from RCAS.

UPDATED Announcement : A designated naming convention must be followed for all emails sent to the Court of Queen’s Bench which contain documents for filing. If the naming convention as outlined is not followed, your documents will be sent back to you unfiled, advising you did not use the proper naming convention for the covering email. For full filing details, including specific naming conventions and examples, please refer to the full announcement.

In response to the State of Public Health Emergency declared by the Government on November 24, 2020, the increase in active COVID-19 cases in the Province of Alberta, and the current and anticipated numbers of legal system participants, including Court staff, who may be unable to participate for COVID-19 related reasons, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta is announcing the following modifications to its schedule for the week of December 14, 2020. Further announcements in respect of the subsequent weeks may follow.

In response to the State of Public Health Emergency declared by the Government on November 24, 2020, the increase in active COVID-19 cases in the Province of Alberta, and the current and anticipated numbers of legal system participants, including Court staff, who may be unable to participate for COVID-19 related reasons, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta is announcing the following modifications to its schedule for the week of December 7, 2020. Further announcements in respect of the subsequent weeks may follow.

The Alberta Courts are attempting to balance the open court principle with public health priorities. Given the ongoing public health crisis, the Courts are continuing to take proactive preventative measures to protect justice system participants and reduce the spread of COVID-19.

In response to the State of Public Health Emergency declared by the Government on November 24, 2020, the increase in active COVID-19 cases in the Province of Alberta, and the current and anticipated numbers of legal system participants, including Court staff, who may be unable to participate for COVID-19 related reasons, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta is announcing the following modifications to its schedule for the week of November 30. Further announcements in respect of the subsequent weeks may follow.

The Court of Queen's Bench will resume scheduling Civil, Family and Commercial Trials and full day specials between January 4, 2021 and July 2, 2021. To request a Family, Civil or Commercial trial or full day special, you must complete the Family, Civil and Commercial Triage Form in full.