Medical malpractice in Alberta

Two years from discovery, ten-year ultimate

Alberta’s Limitations Act sets two years from the date the injury was, or ought to have been, discovered, subject to a ten-year ultimate period.

Not the same case twice

Physicians in Canada are defended by a well-resourced national organisation that does not settle weak claims and litigates hard. Proving a case requires independent expert opinion from a comparable specialist that both the care fell below the standard and that the breach caused the harm — two separate hurdles, and causation defeats more claims than standard of care does. Expert reports alone run into tens of thousands of dollars before a claim is even issued.

Standard of care versus causation

A bad outcome after imperfect care is not enough. If the harm would likely have occurred anyway, there is no claim. Experienced firms screen for this in the first conversation.

Birth injury

An entirely separate specialty with its own experts, its own extended limitation treatment for children, and lifetime-care damages. Very few firms in Canada do it properly.

Hospital versus individual practitioner

Systemic and institutional negligence claims are pleaded and proved differently than claims against an individual clinician, and often involve different defendants entirely.

Whether records have been requested

The complete chart, including nursing notes and imaging, is the whole case. How and when it is requested matters.

Whether a regulatory college complaint has been filed

A college complaint and a civil claim are different processes with different purposes, and one can affect the other. Sequence matters.