Registration of Provincial Court Order or Judgment in Court of Queen's Bench

If you wish to enforce your judgment or order from Provincial Court you must file either the order or the Certificate of Judgment with the Court of Queen’s Bench. The procedure for doing this may vary from courthouse to courthouse and so you may have to ask the clerks for the correct procedure.

A court judgment is valid for ten years and, for another ten after that if an application is made to the Provincial Court or Court of Queen’s Bench for renewal.

Filing Writ of Enforcement

Once the order or judgment is registered with the Court of Queen’s Bench you must also file a Writ of Enforcement. This document is filed with the Clerk of the Court of Queen’s Bench and then registered at the Personal Property Registry.

You need a Writ of Enforcement to enforce collection of your judgment. Once you have the Writ filed, you will be able to share in any money paid to the court from garnishment proceedings, or to a Civil Enforcement Agency from seizure proceedings. You will be entitled to share in the money even if another Enforcement Creditor initiated the garnishment or seizure.

A Writ of Enforcement form can be obtained from Queen’s Printer bookstores or at some stationary stores. The form asks for detailed information about the debtor and the amount of money owing. If more than one creditor or debtor is involved you will also need an additional form called an Addendum page. It is very important to record the information on the forms accurately, because once the Writ is filed with the Court, a court order is generally needed to make any alterations. In a few situations changes to the Writ can be made by filing a Status Report at the Registry which does not require a court order. Changes that can be made include adding aliases for the debtor, changes to the amount owing, or creditor/debtor details.

Registration of Writ of Enforcement with Personal Property Registry

You can register the Writ of Enforcement with the Personal Property Registry by going to the office of an authorized Alberta Registry agent. There will be a fee payable. Registration at the Personal Property Registry ensures registration against assets owned by the debtor. Registration at the Personal Property Registry does not affect land owned by the debtor. To register a claim against land, registration must be carried out at the Land Titles Office.  

Once your Writ is registered at the Personal Property Registry you are able to enforce collection of your money. You are also able to share in any money that might come into the court as a result of enforcement proceedings begun by another registered creditor of the same debtor.

Search the Personal Property Register to see if any related Writs are filed against the debtor

Before you start enforcement proceedings you will want to check if there are any other Writs filed against the debtor because the law sets out a formal procedure as to who gets paid first when money comes in. Once again, this knowledge may help you decide whether or not to proceed with enforcement as you will see the status of your claim in relation to those of others.