Table of contents

Status:

  • Bill 62 received royal assent on June 21, 2021.
  • Bill 48 received royal assent on December 9, 2020.
  • Bill 22 received royal assent on July 23, 2020.
  • Bill 25 came into force December 5, 2019.

Ministry responsible: Treasury Board and Finance

Overview

We are committed to cutting red tape by one-third to reduce costs and regulatory burden for businesses, while making it easier for Albertans to access government programs and services.

Bill 62, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2021 received royal assent on June 21, 2021 and updates 8 sets of legislation within the following themes: economic growth and job creation, smart regulation, improving service delivery, digital transformation, and harmonization (the ability for jurisdictions to work better together).

Bill 48, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2020 (No. 2) received royal assent on December 9, 2020. Amendments were made to 12 pieces of legislation to cut red tape and make it easier for businesses to operate, including speeding up approval times and clarifying rules. Amendments also focused on digital transformation, creating jurisdictional harmonization and improving service delivery.

Bill 22, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2020 received royal assent on July 23, 2020. Amendments were made to 14 pieces of legislation to promote job creation and support economic growth, expedite government approvals, eliminate outdated requirements, and reduce the administrative burden on municipalities.

Bill 25, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2019 came into force December 5, 2019. It included changes to 11 pieces of legislation to reduce red tape, streamline overburdened processes and eliminate outdated rules.

Key changes: Bill 62

Bill 62 updated the following legislation:

  • Securities Act and Business Corporations Act
    • Improve existing protections for investors.
    • Enable companies to raise capital more efficiently in Alberta.
    • Allow for continued modernization of Alberta’s securities laws, and ensure they line up with other provinces.
  • Alberta Utilities Commission Act
    • Enable government to set timelines, if necessary, that would improve the Alberta Utilities Commission approval processes, such as approvals of transmission and distribution tariffs and approvals of new power plants.
    • Support economic growth by providing more predictability and certainty to utilities operators and job creators looking to invest in natural gas, wind or solar power generation.
  • Family Property Act
    • Replace references to repealed wills and succession legislation with references to the Wills and Succession Act, to be applied retroactively to February 1, 2012.
    • Ensure Albertans do not have to spend unnecessary time and money on legal costs and bringing claims to court to determine who has the right to the property of a deceased spouse or partner.
  • Fatal Accidents Act
    • Allow easy online access to the report that reviews the amounts of bereavement damages caused by fatal accidents by posting it on a government website.
  • Builders’ Lien Act
    • Clarify prompt payment rules for public-private partnerships (P3s).
    • Change adjudication decisions from final and binding to interim and binding.
    • Allow prompt payment rules to be extended to professional consultants, such as engineers and architects.
    • Permit electronic sharing of the Certificate of Substantial Performance in addition to posting notices on the job site.
  • Real Estate Act
    • Clarify the criteria, terms and election processes for the Real Estate Council of Alberta and Industry Councils.
  • Travel Alberta Act
    • Expand Travel Alberta's mandate, giving the agency a more active role, working directly with communities, business and entrepreneurs to develop new tourism destinations, products and experiences.
  • Employment Standards Code
    • Add flexibility in how often an employee’s daily hours of work must be recorded to reduce time for employers and employees.

Key changes: Bill 48

Bill 48, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2020 (No. 2) updated or repeals the following legislation:

  • Municipal Government Act
    • Eliminates the ability of municipalities larger than 15,000 citizens to determine their own subdivision and development timelines.
    • Enables the Land and Property Rights Tribunal, which will assume the role of the Municipal Government Board to hear permit appeals associated with decisions of provincial regulators.
    • Modifies the rules around municipal reserves to bring certainty to the amount of land developers are required to set aside for municipalities.
    • Ensures unrelated seniors can live together.
  • Land and Property Rights Tribunal Act
    • Establishes the New Land and Property Rights Tribunal Act to legislatively combine 4 boards (Municipal Government Board, New Home Buyer Protection Board, Land Compensation Board, Surface Rights Board) into a single public agency.
    • Repeals related provisions in the 4 corresponding acts.
  • New Home Buyer Protection Act
    • Removes the requirement for builders to have a Building Assessment Report completed for condominium projects. A Building Assessment Report provides an overview of the common property, inspections, building occupants, and identifies deficiencies or defects in the building.
  • Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act
    • Streamlines adoption disclosure provisions related to the Post-Adoptions Registry as part of a larger strategy to reduce red tape in adoptions processes.
    • Supports the release of more personal information to adoptees about additional individuals, such as siblings and extended family members.
    • Enables adoptees to receive clearer information with fewer redactions.
    • Eliminates the need for 2 separate sections in the act for pre- and post-2005 adoption disclosure.
  • Land Titles Act
    • Creates a pre-registration queue to improve efficiency at the Land Titles Office. A client in the queue could address any deficiencies in their application without moving to the back of the queue.
  • Professional and Occupational Associations Registration Act
    • Makes legislative changes to enable the review of all professional regulatory organizations to reduce unnecessary government oversight.
    • Redefines the minimum criteria for the registration of professional regulatory organizations.
    • Introduces “protection of public safety” as another registration criterion in addition to “protection of public interest.”
  • Historical Resources Act
    • Rescinds the Registered Historic Resource designation, which has not been used for over a decade. This designation does not meaningfully protect properties and is associated with funding programs no longer in effect.
  • Alberta Centennial Medal Act
    • Rescinds eligibility and nomination provisions for centennial medals no longer required without disestablishing the roughly 8,000 medals already awarded.
  • Animal Health Act
    • Removes the requirement to have a Qualification Certificate holder at Authorized Medicine Sales Outlets, as it is no longer applicable.
  • Post-Secondary Learning Act
    • Repeals an outdated requirement that a university must be notified of an unclaimed, deceased body so that it can be used for study or research.
    • Amends the Fatality Inquiries Act to reflect this change and ensure legislative alignment.
  • Maintenance Enforcement Act
    • Repeals a section of the act implying that the Maintenance Enforcement program is “opt-out” when it is actually “opt-in.”
    • Repeals a redundant section of the act relating to the process for child support recipients applying for a garnishment order. This process is already included in the Civil Enforcement Act.
  • Wills and Succession Act
    • Allows Albertans to make non-insurance beneficiary designations electronically, similar to beneficiary designations for insurance products.

Key changes: Bill 22

Bill 22  updates the following legislation:

  • Oil Sands Conservation Act
    • Remove legislative requirement for certain oil sands scheme approvals to receive Cabinet approval.
  • Mines and Minerals Act
    • Remove the requirement that the minister must receive authorization from the Lieutenant Governor in Council prior to entering into a contract or agreement in connection with certain matters outlined in the act.
  • Marketing of Agricultural Products Act
    • Transfer authority for making plan regulations and plebiscites from the Lieutenant Governor in Council to Agriculture and Forestry.
    • Establish authority for agriculture marketing boards and commissions to develop bylaws, and for marketing councils to issue directives.
  • Companies Act
    • Eliminate non-profit board of directors residency requirements, aligning with other provinces.
    • Align non-profit reporting requirements with for-profit requirements.
    • Eliminate requirement for non-profits to publish some information in the Alberta Gazette and/or newspapers.
  • Partnership Act
    • Simplify the registration process for limited partnerships by eliminating requirements that are overly-prescriptive, outdated or no longer in keeping with current registry processes.
  • Vital Statistics Act
    • Repeal requirement for yearly vital statistics annual reports to be tabled in the legislature. Service Alberta will release this information online.
  • Business Corporations Act
    • Eliminate corporate board of directors residency requirements, aligning with other provinces.
  • Recreation Development Act
    • Repeal Act as it is redundant and outdated.
  • Surface Rights Act
    • Increase the damage claim limit the Surface Rights Board can address to reduce burden on courts, speed up the government approval process for applications for amended Right of Entry Orders, and expedite the processing of compensation applications to the Surface Rights Board.
  • Public Lands Act
    • Allow Canadian residents, not just Albertans, to be eligible for public land and provincial park grazing dispositions, and obtain grazing permits in forest reserves.
  • Energy Efficiency Alberta Act
    • Repeal the Act and dissolve Energy Efficiency Alberta as an agency to complete governments transition to the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system.
  • Wills and Succession Act
    • Amendments to allow a representative of a mentally incapacitated plan/policy owner to preserve the same beneficiary when their policy/plan changes.
  • Municipal Government Act
    • Reduce provincial government oversight of Regional Service Commissions (RSCs), making it easier for municipalities to establish and oversee RSCs.
    • Eliminate the requirement for the Municipal Government Board to create digital recordings or transcripts of non-assessment hearings, aligning with the requirements for assessment hearings and reducing administrative burden.
    • Align councillor expense allowances with recently amended federal income tax rules.
  • Safety Codes Act
    • Streamline the existing enforcement process by eliminating redundant or administratively burdensome requirements, and associated expense, for municipalities and the courts.
    • Provide clarity around which contraventions warrant administrative penalties.

Key changes: Bill 25

Bill 25: the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2019 updated or repealed the following legislation:

  • Forest Act
    • Changed the delegation of approving entry into Forest Management Agreements from an Order in Council to a Ministerial Order.
  • Persons with Developmental Disabilities Foundation Act
    • Repealed as the foundation has not existed since 2002 and its functions are no longer part of the Persons with Development Disabilities program.
  • Glenbow-Alberta Institute Act
    • Removed a provision that prescribes the management and display of items in the Glenbow Institute’s collection.
  • Small Power Research and Development Act
    • Repealed as all contracts under this act have concluded and the Small Scale Generation Regulation already supports market-based electricity generation from renewable and alternative energy sources.
  • Hydro and Electric Energy Act
    • Modernized to remove unnecessary requirements for small scale and low-impact hydroelectric development.
  • Health Professionals Act
    • Dissolve the Health Professions Advisory Board, which has not been active since 2012, as recommended by the Public Agency Secretariat as part of the review of agencies, boards and commissions.
  • Alberta Health Care Insurance Act
    • Repealed outdated references to “chiropractic services” under the “basic health services,” as these have not been covered since 2009.
  • Human Tissue and Organ Donation Act
    • Changed legal requirements so it’s easier to provide valid consent through the online registry.
  • MSI Foundation Act
    • Updated the board’s appointment to streamline recruitment, repealed an approval requirement to preserve the foundation’s autonomy, modernized for efficiencies and clarified the legislation.
  • Municipal Government Act
    • Streamlined provisions that hampered administrative efficiencies for municipalities.
  • Safety Codes Act
    • Enabled the adoption of upcoming building and fire code updates, which allow for taller wood constructions, by repealing a legislative provision that restricts wood construction to 6 stories in height.

Next steps

Bill 62, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2021

Received royal assent on June 17, 2021 and will come into force upon proclamation.

Bill 48, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2020 (No. 2)

Received royal assent on December 9, 2020 and will come into force on June 2, 2021.

Bill 22, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2020

Received royal assent on July 23, 2020 and will come into force on various dates.

Bill 25, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2019

Amendments came into force upon receiving royal assent on December 5, 2019.

News

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