Last updated: 2026-05-16 · Reviewed by: HurtCallMax Editorial Team · Reading time: 8 min · General information about Alberta limitation periods. Not legal advice for your specific case. Call 780-900-6022 for a free case review with an Alberta personal-injury lawyer.

Bottom line: Under section 3(1)(a) of the Alberta Limitations Act, RSA 2000, c L-12, an injured Albertan has two years from the date the injury was discovered (or should have been discovered with reasonable diligence) to start a personal-injury lawsuit. After two years the claim is statute-barred — meaning the court will dismiss it regardless of how strong the merits are, and no negotiation with the insurer can resurrect it. The clock is strict, but it has a few narrow exceptions: claims by minors, claims involving incapacity, claims against the Crown, and a small set of “discoverability” extensions. If your accident happened more than 18 months ago and you have not yet filed, you need a lawyer this week.

1. What “two years” actually means in Alberta

The Alberta Limitations Act uses what lawyers call a “discovery” rule. The clock starts on the date the claimant knew or ought to have known three things:

• That an injury occurred;
• That the injury was caused by the conduct of the defendant; and
• That the injury, assuming liability could be proved, warranted bringing a proceeding.

For most car-accident, slip-and-fall, and workplace-injury cases, the clock starts on the date of the accident itself — the claimant clearly knew they were hurt, knew the other party caused it, and a reasonable person would know that a lawsuit was warranted. The “discovery rule” matters in medical-negligence and toxic-exposure cases, where the injury may not manifest for years after the underlying conduct. In those cases the clock starts when the connection becomes reasonably knowable, not when the conduct occurred.

2. The 10-year ultimate limitation

Even if a claim is not “discovered” within the meaning of section 3(1)(a), the Limitations Act imposes a 10-year ultimate limitation under section 3(1)(b). Ten years from the date of the act or omission, the claim is dead regardless of discoverability. This matters most in latent-injury cases — chemical exposure, asbestos, sexual-abuse civil claims (though some sexual-abuse claims now have no limitation period under the 2017 amendments). For ordinary motor-vehicle accidents and slip-and-falls, the 10-year ultimate limitation almost never comes into play because the 2-year discovery limitation expires first.

3. Narrow exceptions that pause the clock

Minors

If the injured person was under 18 at the date of the accident, the clock does not start running until they turn 18. A child injured in a 2020 collision at age 14 has until 2026 (their 20th birthday) to start a lawsuit. Practically, claims for injured minors are almost always filed by a parent or “litigation guardian” within the normal 2-year window.

Persons under disability

If the injured person lacks mental capacity to manage their own affairs at the date of the accident — for example, due to a severe traumatic brain injury suffered in the collision — the limitation period is suspended for the period of the incapacity. The clock starts running once capacity is regained, or, if it is never regained, never starts.

Claims against the Crown

Claims against the Alberta Crown, federal Crown, or municipalities are governed by additional notice provisions. A claim against the Government of Alberta typically requires a 7-day written notice before commencing the action. A claim against a municipality (e.g., a slip-and-fall on a City of Edmonton sidewalk) requires written notice to the municipality within 21 days of the injury under the Municipal Government Act. The 2-year limitation still applies on top of the notice rule.

Fraudulent concealment

If the defendant fraudulently concealed the conduct or the injury — e.g., a doctor altering a medical record to hide a surgical error — the clock does not start running until the concealment is discovered. This is rare and hard to prove, but it is a real exception.

4. What “commence a claim” actually means

“Commencing the claim” means filing a Statement of Claim with the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta (or the Civil Division of the Court of Justice for claims under $100,000) before the limitation period expires. Service on the defendant can happen after, but the document has to be filed at the court before midnight on the deadline date. Filing online through the court’s CaseLines portal is now standard. Filing by paper at the Edmonton Law Courts is still permitted.

It is not enough to send a demand letter to the insurer, retain a lawyer, or file an accident-benefits (Section B) claim. None of those stops the limitation clock. Only a filed Statement of Claim does.

5. The “I just retained a lawyer” trap

A claimant who walks into a lawyer’s office on day 720 of the 730-day period creates a real problem. The lawyer needs time to: open a file, request medical records (which can take 4 to 8 weeks for the Alberta health-records office to fulfill), confirm liability, identify the correct defendant(s), and draft the Statement of Claim. Most reputable Alberta personal-injury firms will turn down a file that walks in inside the last 30 days of the limitation period — the malpractice risk to the firm of missing a deadline they were retained to meet is too high.

Practical implication: if your accident is older than 18 months and you have not retained counsel, the window of firms willing to take your file narrows every week. By month 23 the answer at most firms is no.

6. What happens if the deadline is missed

If a Statement of Claim is filed after the limitation period expires, the defendant will plead limitations as a complete defence in their Statement of Defence. The court will then dismiss the action on a summary application. The claimant has no recourse against the at-fault party. The only remaining remedies are:

• A possible claim against the original lawyer for solicitor’s negligence, if the lawyer was retained and missed the deadline. These claims are paid by the lawyer’s professional-liability insurer (the Alberta Lawyers Indemnity Association).
• Any first-party accident benefits already claimed under Section B of the standard auto policy — those have a separate, shorter notice period (30 days for accident benefits) but are not tort claims and follow a different limitation regime.

7. The action item

If your accident was within the last 24 months and you have not started a lawsuit, the right move is to talk to an Alberta personal-injury lawyer this week. The consultation is free. The matching service is free. If your case is meritorious, the lawyer works on contingency — no money out of your pocket. If your case has problems, an experienced lawyer will tell you that in the first conversation and you will know where you stand.

Free case review → · Call 780-900-6022 · Available 24/7.

See also: Edmonton Injury Claim Worth Calculator · Edmonton Car Accident Lawyer · How the HurtCallMax match works.

Sources cited: Alberta Limitations Act, RSA 2000, c L-12, sections 3 and 5; Municipal Government Act, RSA 2000, c M-26; Rules of Court of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta.

Written and edited by the HurtCallMax Editorial Team — researchers and writers covering Alberta personal-injury law, contingency-fee mechanics, and consumer legal information. We follow a published editorial standards policy (Tier-1 sources only — CanLII, Alberta statutes, Government of Alberta, Statistics Canada — no fabricated case names or dollar figures) and a corrections policy with a 72-hour decision SLA. HurtCallMax is a referral service; we are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice. For advice on your specific case, take the free consultation we arrange with a vetted Alberta personal-injury law firm — no charge, no obligation.