The court’s expectation is that litigation plans will set out a path to trial within 36 months, absent exceptional circumstances. The court has provided a sample litigation plan that can be viewed here. The sample plan suggests that, from the date that the first statement of defence is served (the “Trigger Date”), affidavits of record will be exchanged within three months and five months, all questioning will be completed within 25 months, and alternative dispute resolution will be completed within 33 months. The recent change is intended to curtail the “historical tolerance for delay caused by counsel or party schedules.”

Litigation delay is a common source of claims against lawyers. Delay applications brought by defendants under Rules 4.33 and 4.31 result in a substantial number of claims against lawyers in Alberta and a significant percentage of incurred damages and defence costs paid by ALIA each year. Rule 4.33 requires the court, on application, to dismiss an action if three or more years have passed without a significant advance in the action, subject to limited exceptions. Rule 4.31 provides a mechanism whereby the court may dismiss all or part of a claim where a plaintiff’s delay in prosecuting an action has given rise to actual or presumptive prejudice.

ALIA reminds lawyers to keep the new requirement for litigation plans in mind and, also, to take steps to advance existing actions towards trial to avoid dismissal of the actions for delay. While litigation plans are not mandatory for actions commenced prior to September 1, 2025, they can be helpful tools to keep actions on track and avoid long periods of delay or inactivity. For more information on the delay rules and tools to avoid delay applications, please see the ALIAdvisory of September 6, 2022.

The Notice to the Profession may be viewed here. Please also see the Law Society’s eBulletin of July 17, 2025.