For Immediate Release

ACTLA Calls for Indefinite Pause and Reconsider on No-Fault Insurance Transition; Urges Government to Reject Artificial Deadlines, and Prioritize True Access to Justice

EDMONTON, AB – The Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association (ACTLA) is formally calling on the Government of Alberta to implement an indefinite pause on the scheduled January 1, 2027 transition to the Care-First no-fault auto insurance system. ACTLA urges policymakers to step back from an artificial timeline in order to comprehensively evaluate and reconsider the complex, cascading unintended consequences that a full systemic overhaul will have on Alberta families and public services.

A fundamental restructuring of a key component of Alberta's civil justice framework should not be dictated by a calendar. Moving forward without answering critical operational questions risks introducing deep systemic friction before the long-term legal, medical, and financial impacts are fully understood.

"An overhaul of this magnitude demands an approach focused entirely on precision and protecting Albertans," said Laura Comfort, Chair of ACTLA. "We are urging the government to hit the pause button indefinitely. Public policy affecting the rights of Albertans must be built on independent, rigorously tested data—not driven by a rushed timeline. While a rapid implementation may serve the short-term administrative preferences and bottom lines of certain industry stakeholders, the provincial government's fundamental duty is to protect everyday citizens and preserve their access to a fair, transparent justice system."

Preserving Access to Justice and Mapping Repercussions

Rather than eliminating disputes, a private no-fault model merely shifts where and how they happen. ACTLA warns that rushing into this framework will create profound access-to-justice barriers. When private insurance companies—rather than the courts—become the primary adjudicators of a victim's recovery, injured Albertans lose the right to an independent, neutral evaluation of their case. If those internal insurance disputes become slow, complex, or cost-prohibitive to challenge, vulnerable people are left without a voice.

Beyond immediate legal rights, an artificial deadline risks triggering wide-ranging, negative repercussions across Alberta’s broader social infrastructure:

• - Public Healthcare Strain: When private insurers restrict or prematurely terminate rehabilitation benefits to meet corporate targets, the long-term care and financial burdens of injured victims are routinely offloaded onto Alberta's already strained public healthcare system.
• - Administrative and Tribunal Bottlenecks: Forcing a premature rollout before dispute resolution mechanisms are independently tested will trigger massive backlogs, leaving injured drivers in prolonged legal gray areas while they wait for critical benefit decisions.
• - Systemic Underpricing Volatility: If the system is rushed to market based on flawed pricing assumptions, pressure will inevitably mount on insurers to control costs through even stricter benefit interpretations and procedural barriers, further eroding patient care.

Learning from Cross-Canada Precedents

Alberta does not need to guess at the challenges of a private no-fault insurance model; the real-world evidence already exists across Canada. Other jurisdictions that rapidly transitioned to no-fault frameworks are now actively conducting retrospective reviews to repair severe, systemic flaws that went unnoticed during their initial, hurried rollouts.

"We want auto insurance to be genuinely affordable, sustainable, and fair," added Comfort. "But true sustainability cannot be achieved by rushing a framework that strips Albertans of their consumer rights and compromises their long-term health outcomes. Let us remove the pressure of an artificial 2027 deadline. Let’s take the necessary time to accurately map out every intended and unintended consequence today, rather than spending decades trying to fix a broken system tomorrow."

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About ACTLA: Founded in 1986, the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association (ACTLA) is a non-profit society dedicated to advocating for a strong civil justice system that protects the rights, financial security, and physical well-being of all Albertans.

Media Contact: Ally Cramm

Communications and Events Manager, ACTLA

587-599-0687 | communications@actla.com