News & Announcements

Effective August 1, 2023, use of the Family and Divorce Filing Digital Service will be mandatory for counsel filing a Notice to Attend Family Docket Court in the judicial centres of Edmonton and Calgary. Also effective August 1, 2023, use of the Family and Divorce Filing Digital Service will be mandatory for counsel filing any Desk Divorce Packages in all judicial centres. In both instances, a grace period of two weeks shall be observed, until August 15, 2023, after which the new requirements will be strictly enforced.

We are pleased to announce the expansion of the King's Bench Filing Digital Service to include Civil Justice Chambers in the pilot location of Edmonton. Effective July 17th, a pilot program will commence as part of an expansion of the existing Civil King's Bench Filing Digital Service. This initial release will introduce filings for Civil Justice Chambers in the Edmonton location for hearings scheduled on or after August 1st.

Judicial Dispute Resolution Booking Procedures: Calgary & Edmonton Fall Term (September - December 2023)

All matters scheduled at the Court of King’s Bench for the remainder of the week of May 8, 2023 will proceed as scheduled, subject to further developments. Counsel and parties are encouraged to monitor the Court’s website for the duration of the provincial state of emergency in the event of any changes.

Due to the provincial state of emergency, the Court of King’s Bench is making the changes to the hearing schedule for Monday, May 8, 2023.

Effective immediately, individuals attending remote hearings will no longer be required to complete and submit to the Court an Undertaking and Agreement for Non-lawyers. Instead, all persons attending a remote hearing via video will be required to certify that they have read and agree with the Court’s prohibition on recording, livestreaming or broadcasting by way of an “I agree” checkbox, prior to being admitted to a hearing.

Effective today, a pilot program will begin as part of the Court Case Management (CCM) system, which will introduce digital document delivery to the judiciary for previously booked half day civil specials in Calgary. This pilot program will enable lawyers to upload electronic materials directly to the Justice assigned to the matter, with the goal of streamlining the process and improving overall efficiency.

We are pleased to announce that, with the expansion of the King's Bench Family and Divorce Filing Digital Service to the judicial centres of Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Wetaskiwin, Peace River, St. Paul, Medicine Hat, and Drumheller to members of the Law Society of Alberta, the service is now available in every judicial centre in Alberta.

Please be advised that Microsoft is experiencing a North America wide global issue with its online applications. As a result, the Edmonton King’s Bench Operation location has been experiencing issues with accessing filings submitted by email since April 19, 2023. Counsel is asked to file any and all eligible documents on the various Filing Digital Services to reduce filing delays. In Edmonton only, urgent submissions, that can not be filed digitally and that include limitation periods or filing deadlines, can be filed at the counter. Thank you in advance for your patience while the technical teams try and resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

Effective immediately, in conjunction with the increase in the income eligibility cap for Court and Justice Services Family Mediation Service from $40,000 to $60,000, the Court of King’s Bench is increasing the income eligibility cap for referrals to Case Resolution Counsel from Family Docket Court from $70,000 to $90,000. For further details, please refer to full announcement.