News & Announcements

The Court of King’s Bench welcomes the opportunity to hear from newer counsel, who often play a significant role in the drafting of written submissions and have in-depth knowledge of the case before the Court.

The Notice to Attend Family Docket Court has been updated. Effective September 30, 2022, the updated Notice to Attend Family Docket Court form must be used, and the previous form will be rejected by the Clerks’ Office if submitted for filing.

There are a significant number of Forms and Templates posted to the Court’s website and elsewhere that contain references to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and/or Her Majesty the Queen. Counsel and litigants are encouraged to adopt the new nomenclature in filings. However, the Court will continue to accept Forms and other filed documents that refer to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and/or Her Majesty the Queen, until further notice.

On behalf of Alberta’s Courts, on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we extend our heartful sympathies to Her Late Majesty’s eldest son, King Charles III, and to all members of the Royal Family.

Litigants are encouraged to process all Orders electronically either by email or on the Filing Digital Service. Proposed Orders can be submitted in advance for uploading to Sharepoint and electronic signing. For email filing procedures please see [https://albertacourts.ca/qb/resources/announcements/new-email-filing-procedure]. In order to avoid delays, please remember to use the proper naming conventions for email filing.

Commencing September 13, 2022, members of the Law Society of Alberta will be required to utilize the Surrogate Digital Service (SDS) for applications the SDS is capable of processing (currently applications for probate only).

Effective September 6, 2022, use of the online Gladue Report Request Form will be expanded to all Queen’s Bench and Provincial Court locations in the Province. À compter du 6 septembre 2022, le projet (de permettre les demandes en ligne de rapport Gladue) sera étendu à tous les districts judiciaires de la province de la Cour du Banc de la Reine et de la Cour provinciale.

Amendments to the Court of Queen’s Bench Act coming into force September 1, 2022 will change the title of “Master” and “Master in Chambers” at the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta to “Applications Judge”. At hearings, or in correspondence, Applications Judges should be addressed as “Judge” or “Your Honour”.

In light of the return to in-person Justice and Applications Judge hearings commencing September 6, 2022, the Court will no longer hear complex family and civil applications by way of desk application.

Effective September 6, 2022, certain types of applications will no longer be heard in Urgent Matters Chambers (UMC) but will be heard in Regular Chambers (Civil Chambers for Civil matters and Family Chambers for Family Matters) at the start of the list.