The recently effective Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2014, SA 2014 c 13 amends, among several other pieces of legislation, Alberta’s Limitations Act.
The purpose of the changes is to clarify the limitation applicable to claims for contribution made under the Tort-Feasors Act, RSA 2000, c T-5. This Act allows a defending tort-feasor to claim contribution from another potential tort-feasor defendant where both were involved in the same tort.
Until 2013, the courts consistently held that the applicable limitation for such a claim is 2 years from when a defending tort-feasor knew or ought to have known that a claim for contribution existed. However, in 2013 the waters were muddied on this issue when the Court of Appeal held that the applicable limitation begins to run with the plaintiff’s (and not the defendant’s) limitation period. That is, the claim had to have been advanced by a defending tort-feasor against another tort-feasor within 2 years from when the plaintiff knew or ought to have known of a claim against that other tort-feasor. This more narrow interpretation of the Act caused a potential situation in which a defendant, if served late by a plaintiff, could have been out of time to add another tort-feasor to the action before even learning of that tort-feasor’s liability.
The amendments to s. 3(1.1) of the Limitations Act, retroactively effective from March 1, 1999, overcome this problem by essentially overturning the 2013 Court of Appeal decision. Under the new provisions of the Limitations Act, the limitation period applicable to claims for contribution is: the later of 2 years from when a defendant is served with a statement of claim and the date on which the defendant knew, or ought to have known, that another tort-feasor may be liable for the same damage.
Karen McDougall, LESA Counsel
