Service of Alberta Process Outside of Canada Now More Complicated

The Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed the proper reading of the latest Alberta Court of Appeal decision on service ex juris under Alberta law, which greatly complicates serving legal documents outside of Canada. In our August 2012 Bennett Jones Update, “Recent Alberta Court of Appeal Decision on Service Ex Juris and the Hague Convention,” we discussed the Alberta Court of Appeal's decision in Metcalfe Estate v Yamaha Motor Powered Products Co Ltd, 2012 ABCA 240, noting important implications for the service of documents from Alberta into international jurisdictions that are signatories to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra-judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters. In Metcalfe, the Court held that service under the Alberta Rules of Court in Hague Convention signatory states must comply with the requirements of the Hague Convention. In our August 2012 update, we noted that the ruling brought Alberta in line with current Ontario law on this issue and made international service more complicated. Published on the Bennett Jones Thought Network.