File a Reconsideration to the Appeals Commission
File a Complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman
File for Judicial Review and Statutory Appeal of Appeals Commission Decisions
You can pursue more than one of these options at the same time, keeping in mind:
You should speak with your advisor if you have any questions about pursuing any of these options.
A reconsideration of an Appeals Commission decision is only granted in one of two situations:
A reconsideration is not an appeal and is not an opportunity to re-argue a case or express disagreement with a decision. A party to an appeal asking for reconsideration must provide very good reasons that point to a serious defect in the original appeal decision.
An application to reconsider a decision must be made within six months of the decision date, or within six months of new evidence becoming available. Filing a reconsideration application does not extend the six-month limitation period to judicially review or appeal the decision in court.
Talk to your advisor if you need assistance filing a reconsideration application.
The Alberta Ombudsman responds to complaints of unfair treatment by public bodies including the Appeals Commission.
The Ombudsman will usually wait to proceed with an investigation until after the time limit for alternate remedies has expired and any ongoing matters have been resolved. The Ombudsman may refuse to investigate a matter if you had knowledge of the complaint for more than 12 months.
To file a complaint with the Ombudsman, you can visit their website at www.ombudsman.ab.ca or call (780) 427-2756 in Edmonton or (403) 297-5121 in Calgary. The toll-free number is 1-888-455-2756.
The Advisor Office does not assist clients with Ombudsman complaints.
The Advisor Office cannot give you legal advice or represent you for your court action.
Judicial reviews and statutory appeals are complex. We encourage you to contact a lawyer before proceeding with court action.
We provide the following information for your information only.
The Law Society of Alberta has a directory that helps you find a lawyer based on certain criteria. The directory can be found here: https://www.lawsociety.ab.ca/public/lawyer-referral/
If you cannot hire a lawyer, call the Court and Justice Services Contact Centre for information or help to file documents at 1-855-738-4747 or https://www.alberta.ca/legal-assistance.aspx.
There are other options for free help here: https://pbla.ca/get-legal-help/legal-resources/.
If you are unhappy with your Appeals Commission decision, you may challenge that decision in court. This challenge can be a judicial review, statutory appeal, or both. You have no more than six (6) months to do this starting from the date of your Appeals Commission decision.
A judicial review and statutory appeal are legal actions at the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. The court does not rehear your appeal or decide on your WCB claim. Instead, the court reviews how and why the Appeals Commission decided. The court considers the decision on standards of procedural fairness, reasonableness, and correctness. If the court finds the decision was unfair, unreasonable, or incorrect, it may order the Appeals Commission to rehear your appeal.
Step 1: File an Originating Application for Judicial Review, Statutory Appeal, or both with the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta.
Step 2: Serve your Originating Application on the Appeals Commission, the Workers’ Compensation Board, your date of accident employer, the Minister of Justice for Alberta and any other party involved in your WCB claim.
Step 3: Schedule a Special Chambers court date that works for all parties. You can contact the Court Coordinator in your area to get dates for a Special Chambers hearing.
Step 4: File and serve your written submissions on or before the required date (usually three weeks before the Special Chambers hearing date).
Step 5: Show up to court on the Special Chambers hearing date and make your submissions to the Judge.
Decision: The Judge will make an oral decision on the Special Chambers hearing date or give a written decision later.
Court actions challenging an Appeals Commission decision must be filed with the Court of King’s Bench according to the court’s rules, called the Alberta Rules of Court:
You must also give copies of your filed court documents to other parties to inform them of your court action. This is called “serving” your Originating Application(s). You must file and serve your Originating Application(s) within six (6) months of your Appeals Commission decision date. In most cases, you must serve the Originating Application(s) on:
The rules for serving your Originating Application(s) are in the Alberta Rules of Court, Rule 3.15 and the Workers’ Compensation Act, section 13.4.
Courts strictly apply the six (6) month time limit to file and serve your Originating Application(s). If you do not file and serve your Original Application(s) on all parties within the time limit, your court action may not proceed.