LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Transportation Safety

Apr 22: Alberta launched a new Canadian Trucking Regulations Hub website to help truck drivers navigate regulatory differences across jurisdictions. Each province and territory will maintain its own data to ensure it remains accurate and up to date. Available in English and French, the Hub includes jurisdictional comparisons, route planning, permit information, vehicle configuration details, and other features.

Transportation Safety

Apr 29: Alberta temporarily increased the speed limit along a stretch of Highway 2 south of Leduc from 110 to 120 km/h as part of a plan to test what it calls “common sense” speed limits on rural highways. In a recent survey, almost 70% of respondents agreed that the government should increase speed limits on rural divided highways to 120 km/h.

Action Point: Find out how far you can go in disciplining workers for distracted and dangerous driving.

First Aid

Apr 1: Alberta published the revised list of officially approved first aid training agencies and courses for purposes of complying with OHS first aid requirements for the three-month period from April 1 to June 30, 2026.

Action Point: Find out how to implement an effective First Aid Compliance Game Plan at your workplace.

Airborne Contaminants

Apr 1: Alberta published updated guidelines to help employers control workplace radon hazards and comply with OHS Code radon safety requirements. Operations with high risk of radon exposure include oil and gas production, mining, tunneling, underground workings, water treatment processes, and metal recycling.

Action Point: Find out how to implement a legally sound Airborne Contaminant Exposure Control Plan at your workplace.

Emergency Response

Apr 27: Alberta is now accepting applications for Supporting Psychological Health in First Responders (SPHIFR) grants. The program provides up to $1.5 million for research and services to support firefighters, police officers, sheriffs, paramedics, corrections officers, and other emergency workers at high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) injuries. Deadline to apply: May 25.

Seasonal Safety

Apr 23: If and when it passes, newly tabled red tape cutting legislation (Bill 31) will move Alberta to permanent, year-round Mountain Daylight Time. This spring, British Columbia became the first Canadian province to end seasonal time change and make the permanent switch to Daylight Savings Time.

Action Point: Studies show that workplace injuries increase during the first three working days after daylight saving time begins each spring due to lingering fatigue and disruption to circadian rhythm. Find out how to help your workers adjust to daylight saving time changes.

New Laws

Apr 29: Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) will provide $91 million in Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program funding to support businesses seeking to upgrade their technology infrastructure, reduce emissions, and boost productivity. TIER funding will make these long-term transformational projects, which generally involve significant upfront investment and long payback periods, more viable for industries to undertake. Deadline to apply: June 17.

New Laws

Apr 22: Alberta published a new Advisory Panel report recommending what the government should do to foster a nuclear energy industry in the province. Based on recent public consultations, the recommendations encompass safety, efficiency, environmental, licensing, and other regulatory concerns.

New Laws

Apr 16: Responding to Ottawa’s “loss of control over immigration,” Alberta introduced legislation (Bill 26) to strengthen provincial oversight of employers, foreign worker recruiters, and immigration consultants. The Immigration Oversight Act, which has passed Second Reading, requires employers to register with the province before accessing federal temporary foreign worker programs and establishes a licensing system for immigration consultants and foreign worker recruiters.

Action Point: Expect more of your workforce to speak a language other than English and find out whether OHS laws require you to provide multilingual safety training to your workers.

New Laws

Apr 16: Royal Assent for Bill 21, the Interprovincial Trade Mutual Recognition Act, allowing goods and services from other mutual recognition provinces to be sold in Alberta as long as they meet the regulatory standards of that province. Thus, for example, Albertans could buy equipment manufactured in Ontario that complies with Ontario regulations even though Alberta’s regulations governing that particular type of equipment are different.

Environmental

Apr 14: Newly tabled Bill 30 establishes a 120-day approval time frame and clear criteria for government approval of major project developments of at least $250 million. To qualify for expedited approval, projects must align with provincial economic priorities. Project proponents will have to complete the mandatory environmental impact assessment and Indigenous consultation processes.

Environmental

Apr 23: Newly tabled Bill 31, the Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendments Act, 2026, proposes to streamline the process for adding new materials to provincial recycling programs and for designating materials that are banned from landfill disposal. The Bill would also allow irrigation districts to advertise meetings on their websites and communicate via email or mail.

CASES

OHS Enforcement: OK to Fine Company for Not Disclosing Client’s Asbestos Records

OHS inspectors issued a $18,000 ($1,000 for the violation and $1,000 per day for the 17 days it continued) administrative monetary penalty against an environmental consulting firm for refusing to provide lab testing and other records related to the presence of asbestos in an office building. The firm noted that the requested records belonged to a client and that disclosing them would violate its contractual duty to keep the information confidential. The Alberta OHS appeal board ruled that imposing the original $1,000 penalty for disobeying a disclosure order was reasonable because the information wasn’t privileged but that tacking on the extra $17,000 was unreasonable and “disproportionate” to the harm done. Result: The firm only had to pay $1,000 [Alberta Safety & Environmental Services Ltd. v Occupational Health and Safety, 2026 ABOHSAB 5 (CanLII), March 25, 2026].

Action Point: Find out how to use privilege rules to shield confidential client records, internal investigation reports, and other sensitive safety information from OHS investigators.

Retaliation: Company Didn’t Prove that Termination Was Not Retaliatory

A rope access technician complained that he got fired for raising asbestos concerns. The company, a safety services firm, denied that any of its workers were exposed to asbestos and insisted that it terminated the technician for his negative attitude and work ethic. The OHS investigator concluded that the firm didn’t meet its reverse burden of proving that termination was for a reason other than the technician’s exercise of his OHS right to express his asbestos exposure concerns and ordered it to pay him $1,581 in damages. The Alberta Labour Relations Board ruled that the officer’s calculation of money damages was out of whack with OHS law principles and sent the case back down for redetermination of the proper penalty [McLean v IRISNDT Corp. and Occupational Health and Safety, 2026 ABOHSAB 7 (CanLII), April 8, 2026].

Action Point: Find out how to avoid reprisals liability when disciplining workers who commit infractions unrelated to their work refusals or previous exercises of OHS rights.