Protecting Consumers and Property Rights

Amendments would:

• establish a right of action through the courts for Albertans who purchased or leased a vehicle that is unrepairable. This would apply:
  • during the first three years from the initial purchase or lease, or 60,000 kilometers whichever comes first and one of the following criteria:
    • three unsuccessful attempts to repair the same warranty-covered defect,
    • at least 12 unsuccessful attempts involving multiple eligible defects,
    • or when the owner was unable to use the vehicle for more than 30 days while a warranty repair was being attempted, excluding any period during which the manufacturer provided a replacement at no cost to the consumer.
• protect the right to repair:
  • establishes a framework to give consumers access to the parts, tools and information needed to repair products they own
  • products and further requirements or exemptions covered by the framework would be specified through regulation.
• provide better credit protection 
  • by allowing Albertans the ability to freeze or restrict access to their credit reports  to prevent unauthorized credit applications and reduce the risk of identity theft.
• further regulate ticket resales by: 
  • requiring secondary ticket sellers and resale platforms to provide consumers with the total price of a ticket, including the ticket price, and any fees, taxes, charges or other costs, and
  • providing the authority to establish additional rules in regulation, including pricing, fees and service charges, disclosure requirements and resale markups.
• require stakeholder engagement on right to repair, lemon laws, and ticket resales be undertaken to inform regulations that will be established to operationalize the legislation.

• The following acts will be amended to re-establish the Surface Rights Board:
  • Surface Rights Act
  • Conflicts of Interest Act
  • Consumer Protection Act
  • Drainage Districts Act
  • Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act
  • Expropriation Act
  • Land and Property Rights Tribunal Act
  • Oil and Gas Conservation Act
  • Pipeline Act
  • Public Lands Act
  • Railway (Alberta) Act
• Amendments would re-establish the Surface Rights Board as a dedicated, specialized forum for resolving surface rights disputes.
• The board would address matters involving the use of private land for resource development, including right of entry, annual compensation, compensation reviews, damages and related obligations.
• The board would also address the recovery of unpaid annual compensation under surface leases and right-of-entry orders, including cases involving inactive infrastructure or operators that have not met their payment obligations.
• The Surface Rights Board would operate separately from the Land and Property Rights Tribunal while continuing to share administrative services.

• Proposed amendments would provide regulation-making authority to establish a pilot allowing lottery tickets to be sold in select licensed liquor stores.
• 30 liquor stores will be part of the 12-month pilot process, which will be administered by Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis.
• The pilot would assess customer demand, effects on existing lottery retailers and the feasibility of broader implementation.
• Existing lottery retailers, including gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores, would continue to sell lottery tickets.
• The results will inform recommendations to the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction before any decision on permanent or broader implementation.
• Implementation is targeted for early 2027.