With a new session beginning in the Legislature, RMA’s Legislative Update returns. These bulletins summarize and explain the important and relevant details of potential and upcoming legislation in Alberta, including notable Orders in Council.
Members’ Issues and Related Bills or Activities
Bill 33 – Justice States Amendment Act, 2026 (No. 2)
Honourable Mickey Amery, Minister of Justice
Bill 33 is an omnibus bill proposing amendments to the Alberta Human Rights Act (AHRA), Court of King’s Bench Act, Education Act, King’s Counsel Act, Legal Profession Act, and the Protecting Victims of Non-consensual Distribution of Intimate Images Act (PVNCDIIA).
The Minister states that the legislation is intended to emphasize merit-based hiring practices in the public sector and makes several administrative and procedural changes to Alberta’s justice system. The bill also strengthens protections against the non-consensual distribution of intimate content, including the creation and distribution of intimate images and AI-generated content depicting real persons without their consent.
Proposed amendments to the AHRA would prohibit public bodies, including municipalities, from implementing hiring or promotion practices that provide preference based on personal characteristics delineated under the Act. While the legislation would not necessarily alter existing human rights protections under AHRA, it would limit the use of employment equity or representation-based considerations in hiring and promotion decisions within affected public organizations.
Bill 33 would also restrict mandatory workplace training requirements in the same public-sector workplaces. Under the proposed amendments, employers would be prohibited from requiring training that seeks to prescribe acceptable or unacceptable opinions or beliefs on political, historical, social, cultural, or “conscience”-based issues. Training related to matters such as race, gender, disability, religion, or other protected characteristics could still be provided on a voluntarily basis, but employers would be required to demonstrate when mandatory participation is necessary for employees’ duties or workplace requirements.
Bill 33 passed through its second reading on October 28, and has been sent to the Committee of the Whole for further debate and consideration.
Bill 34 – Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Statues Amendment Act, 2026
Honourable Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction
Bill 34 is an omnibus bill that proposes amendments to several Alberta statutes – including the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), Land and Property Rights Tribunal Act, Surface Rights Act, and the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, among others – dealing with consumer protection, credit reporting, property rights, professional regulation, and administrative processes.
Bill 34 proposes changes to Alberta’s land and property rights tribunal organization; certain matters currently within the jurisdiction of the Land and Property Rights Tribunal (LPRT) would be transferred to the Surface Rights Board (SRB). Matters relating to drainage operations and rights of entry for conservation and reclamation purposes would move from the authority of the LPRT to the SRB, while expropriation-related proceedings would be granted dual jurisdiction under the proposed amendments. The changes would expand the SRB’s role in resolving landowner and surface rights disputes.
Bill 34 passed through its first reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 28, and remains before the Assembly for further debate and consideration.
Orders in Council
Order in Council 353/2026
Honourable Dan Williams, Minister of Municipal Affairs
OIC 353/2026 directs the municipalities of Edmonton and Calgary to amend specified land-use and zoning bylaws within three months of the order’s activation.
Edmonton has been ordered to amend Zoning Bylaw 20001 to more closely align with the former Zoning Bylaw 12800 with respect to certain small-scale residential development regulations. Specifically, the Order requires the City to revert aspects of its rules governing residential density and building height to those that were in effect on December 31, 2023, and to restore parking requirements that were in effect on July 1, 2020. These changes would reverse portions of Edmonton’s recent infill reforms and could reduce opportunities for increased residential density within established neighbourhoods.
Similarly, Calgary’s Land Use Bylaw 1P2007 must be amended to establish an overlay affecting residential parcels impacted by Bylaw 9P2026. The Order effectively reverses elements of Calgary’s city-wide rezoning approach by reintroducing additional layers of review and neighbourhood-specific considerations for certain residential developments. The Province has stated that the amendments are intended to align municipal land-use policies with provincial objectives regarding neighbourhood character and public input into planning decisions.
The Order cites the Government of Alberta’s provincial policy direction on infill development, including the objective that new developments be compatible with the established character of existing neighbourhoods. The Province has framed the changes as a means of balancing housing development with local planning considerations and community input, but effectively removes local considerations and efforts that have been evaluated and applied over the past several years.
The Order was issued under authorities created through Bill 28: Municipal Affairs and Housing Statutes Amendment Act, 2026, which expanded provincial powers over certain municipal land use decisions. Municipal stakeholders, including the RMA, previously raised concerns that these provisions could reduce municipal autonomy and limit the ability of locally elected councils to make planning decisions based on local circumstances. OIC 353/2026 represents the first known use of these new provincial intervention powers and may serve as an indication of how the Province intends to exercise its expanded authority over municipal planning matters in the future