Alberta Small Claims: Sue for Up to $100,000

Alberta gives small claims plaintiffs more room than any other province. The Alberta Court of Justice, the court that hears civil claims in Alberta, can decide disputes worth up to $100,000. That is double the old ceiling and higher than the limit in Ontario, British Columbia, or Quebec.

Whether you are chasing an unpaid invoice, a damage deposit, or the cost of fixing a fender bender, the same court and the same basic process apply, whether the claim is for $500 or $99,000. This guide covers who hears Alberta small claims cases, what it costs to file, how service and disputes work, and how a judgment actually gets collected. For the general Canada-wide version of this process, see how to file a small claim in Canada.

Alberta's civil claims court: the basics

Small claims cases in Alberta are heard by the Alberta Court of Justice, formerly known as the Provincial Court of Alberta. The court took its current name on April 1, 2023, as part of a broader renaming that also turned the Court of Queen's Bench into the Court of King's Bench following the accession of King Charles III. Since that change, judges of the Alberta Court of Justice are addressed as Justices rather than Judges.

The renaming came alongside a substantive change. Effective August 1, 2023, the province raised the Alberta Court of Justice's civil monetary limit from $50,000 to $100,000. That makes Alberta's small claims ceiling the highest in the country, well above Ontario's $50,000 and Quebec's $15,000.

Claims above $100,000, or disputes the Alberta Court of Justice cannot hear, must go to the Court of King's Bench instead. The King's Bench is a more formal court with its own procedure rules, higher fees, and a process where hiring a lawyer is far more common.

What kinds of disputes qualify

The Alberta Court of Justice civil division resolves most everyday private disputes, provided the amount claimed is $100,000 or less. Common examples include unpaid debts and loans, breach of contract, unreturned damage deposits, property damage, motor vehicle accident claims, and some employment and wrongful dismissal disputes. The court also hears certain applications under the Residential Tenancies Act and the Mobile Home Sites Tenancies Act, though many landlord and tenant disputes in Alberta are instead resolved through the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service.

When you file, you complete a standard Civil Claim form and attach the schedule that matches your claim type. The form covers claim types such as motor vehicle accidents, personal injury, breach of contract, wrongful dismissal, and debt. Nothing beyond the required attachment should be added to the Civil Claim itself.

Before you file: demand letters and limitation periods

The Alberta Court of Justice recommends sending a written demand letter before filing a claim. A good demand letter explains why money is owed, sets a firm deadline to pay or settle, and warns that a Civil Claim will follow if the deadline passes. Keep a copy. It can matter later, both as evidence of your effort to resolve the dispute and, in some cases, for costs.

Timing matters just as much as the letter. Under Alberta's Limitations Act, most debt and property damage claims, including unpaid loans, breach of contract, and damage deposits, must generally be filed within two years of when the claim arose or when you knew, or ought to have known, about it. A separate ultimate limitation period bars most claims after ten years regardless of when the problem was discovered. Insurance-related claims often carry their own, shorter deadlines, sometimes as little as one year from an accident. If you are unsure which limitation period applies to your situation, confirm it before you wait any longer to file, since a claim filed even one day late can be dismissed regardless of how strong it is.

How to file a civil claim

A Civil Claim can be filed at any Alberta Court of Justice courthouse in the province. You will need the completed Civil Claim form (the first sections plus the one attachment schedule that matches your claim), the filing fee, and enough copies for the court's file, your own records, and each defendant named in the claim.

Once the claim is filed, the clerk gives you a blank Dispute Note to serve on each defendant along with the claim itself. You then have one year from the date of filing to complete service.

Filing fees

The Alberta Court of Justice charges two flat filing fee tiers for civil claims. A claim of $7,500 or less costs $100 to file. A claim between $7,501 and $100,000 costs $200. If paying the fee would cause financial hardship, you can apply to have it waived by providing supporting financial documentation.

Serving the defendant

Serving the Civil Claim properly is what gives the court authority over the defendant, so it is worth getting right the first time. Our companion guide on serving and collecting a judgment walks through acceptable methods of service and what to do if a defendant is avoiding you, and those same principles apply once you have a judgment to enforce.

Once the defendant has been served, they have 20 days to respond if served within Alberta, or 30 days if served outside the province. During that window, the defendant can pay, settle, or file a Dispute Note explaining why they disagree with the claim (a Dispute Note can also include a counterclaim against you). If the deadline passes with no response, you can apply for default judgment, meaning the court can award you the claim without a hearing.

The dispute note and what happens next

If the defendant files a Dispute Note, the file returns to the court, which assigns it to a resolution track. Depending on the case, that could mean mediation, a pre-trial conference, a simplified trial, a full trial, or binding judicial dispute resolution. The Civil Mediation Office notifies both sides of the date, time, and location if mediation is chosen, and mediation is often scheduled within about four months of the Dispute Note being filed.

Attendance at mediation and any scheduled court step is mandatory for both sides unless the court grants an exception in advance. Bringing a lawyer or an agent is allowed but not required. If mediation does not produce a settlement, the file goes back to the court to be assigned to another resolution track, working toward a trial if nothing else resolves it first.

Can you appeal a decision?

Either side can appeal an Alberta Court of Justice civil judgment, but the deadlines are tight. A Notice of Appeal must be filed within 30 days after judgment is given, and the appeal itself must be filed at the Court of King's Bench within 37 days of the judgment date. You will also need to order and pay for a transcript of the original hearing and file it at the Court of King's Bench within three months, along with a $300 filing fee.

An appeal is not a new trial. The King's Bench Justice reviews only the record that was before the Alberta Court of Justice and looks for a factual or legal error that affected the outcome, rather than re-hearing the evidence from scratch. Filing an appeal also does not pause enforcement of the judgment on its own, so a losing defendant cannot simply appeal to delay paying. Default judgments and decisions reached through binding judicial dispute resolution generally cannot be appealed, though a default judgment can sometimes be set aside instead.

Collecting on your judgment

Winning is only half the job. An Alberta Court of Justice judgment does not get paid automatically, and the defendant does not have to volunteer payment just because a judge or Justice ruled against them. Collection runs through Alberta's Civil Enforcement Act, and it starts with filing a Writ of Enforcement with the court and registering it at the Personal Property Registry.

Once the writ is registered, a judgment creditor has two main enforcement tools. Garnishment lets you intercept money owed to the debtor, such as wages or bank funds, by serving a Garnishee Summons on the third party who owes that money. Seizure lets a licensed Civil Enforcement Agency take and sell some of the debtor's property to satisfy the debt, though only a Civil Enforcement Agency, not the creditor personally, is authorized to seize goods.

When your claim is worth more than $100,000

If your total loss is above $100,000, you have two choices. You can abandon the amount over $100,000 and keep the claim in the Alberta Court of Justice, which is often the faster and cheaper route. Or you can file the full amount in the Court of King's Bench, which has no upper monetary limit but follows more formal civil procedure and typically involves higher costs.

For a broader look at how small claims work in other provinces, or to compare limits and procedures, see Canada small claims and Canadian law by province.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about the Alberta Court of Justice civil claims process. It is not legal advice and does not account for the specific facts of your situation. Court fees, monetary limits, and procedures can change. Confirm current requirements with the Alberta Court of Justice or a licensed Alberta lawyer before filing or responding to a claim.