Judicial compensation commissions
An independent commission reviews the compensation of Alberta judges and masters in chambers and recommends changes to it every 4 years.
Overview
The Supreme Court of Canada has imposed a constitutional obligation on provincial governments to use an independent commission process to set the compensation for judicial officers, including Provincial Court judges and Court of Queen’s Bench masters in chambers.
Several pieces of provincial legislation are relevant to the judicial compensation commission process:
- Judicature Act
- outlines the commissions’ functions
- Provincial Court Judges and Masters in Chambers Compensation Regulation
- sets out judges’ salary and benefits
- Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers Registered and Unregistered Pension Plans
- sets out judges’ pension benefits
- compensation commission regulation
- used to establish a specific commission
- for example, the Provincial Judges and Masters in Chambers 2013 Compensation Commission Regulation was used to create the 2013 commission
2013 commission
The 2013 Judicial Compensation Commission reviewed and recommended changes in compensation for:
- Provincial Court judges
- Court of Queen’s Bench masters in chambers
For both groups, the 2013 commission examined the following for the period between April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2017:
- salary rates
- design and level of pension benefits
- types and kinds of benefits and allowances
- any other issues relevant to financial security that the commission agreed to resolve
On July 8, 2015, the Lieutenant Governor in Council approved all the 2013 commission’s recommendations.
2017 commission
The 2017 Judicial Compensation Commission will review and recommend changes for judges and masters for the period between April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2021.
Reports
View the reports of past judicial compensation commissions
Contact
To learn more, contact:
Ruth Fast
Legal Counsel
ruth.fast@gov.ab.ca
780-644-7696
310-0000 toll-free in Alberta