News & Announcements

Effective January 2, 2026, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta is launching a project that will implement a series of new processes focused on a family-centred, resolution-oriented, and streamlined approach to family matters. A family entering the system will be assigned a Mandatory Intake Triage (MIT) Justice who will meet with the parties to assess and deal with any interim needs. That same Justice will become the family’s Case Conference Justice and will assist them with all of the required steps to guide them to a final determination through resolution or by trial. This project is called the Family Focused Protocol (FFP).

Effective December 2025, the visual design of Court of King’s Bench digital services will be updated to reflect the Courts’ visual identity. These changes will be applied first to the Surrogate Digital Service (SDS), beginning December 4, 2025. Other services will follow in the coming months.

The Court of King’s Bench will be on an urgent-matters only hearing schedule from December 22, 2025, to January 2, 2026, inclusive. Justices will be available to hear urgent matters, emergency protection order reviews and bail reviews in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Lethbridge on December 22-23, 2025 and January 2, 2026.

À compter du 3 novembre 2025, la Cour du Banc du Roi de l’Alberta mettra en œuvre un nouveau protocole visant à simplifier la mise au rôle des demandes préalables au procès fondées sur l’article 276, pour les avocats [et les accusés non représentés], et d’assurer leur examen en temps opportun, bien avant la tenue du procès.

Effective November 3, 2025, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta will implement a new protocol to make it easier for counsel [and unrepresented accused persons] to book s.276 pre-trial applications and to have them heard in a timely manner, well in advance of trial.

On November 28, 2025, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta will host a Family Law Orientation Workshop, for members of the Alberta Family Law Bar.

Effective October 15, 2025, applications that include out-of-Province applicant(s) with bond waivers will be accepted in SDS. For this expansion, beneficiaries consenting to waive bond must be over 18 and not represented by the Public Trustee.

Between December 2024 and April 2025, the Court of King’s Bench Civil Filing Digital Service introduced digital orders and expanded to include a full range of order types.  

Over the past two years, a number of changes have been made to the Court’s family law processes. More will be made over the coming year. Due to changes that have already been made, the listed Notices to Profession and Public are no longer required, and are repealed, effective immediately.

Effective September 1, 2025 – King’s Bench Operations (KBO) will commence a pilot project on desk-divorce packages submitted by counsel and agents. All desk-divorce package submissions, whether filed digitally or submitted via email by counsel or by agent, will be subject to a three-strike rule. The aim of this project to place greater responsibility on counsel to conduct a thorough review of their submissions prior to filing. It is anticipated that the number of incomplete or unsuitable submissions will decrease, thereby reducing the time spent by the King’s Bench Operations on repeated reviews and rejections. The goal is to improve efficiency and streamline the processing of divorce applications.