ABCA Confirms Rule 4.33 Is Only Meant To “Prune Out Actions That Have Truly Died”

In Baron Real Estate Investments Ltd v Tri-Arrow Industrial Recovery Inc, 2026 ABCA 249, the Court of Appeal restored an action that had been dismissed for long delay under rule 4.33 of the Alberta Rules of Court. The sole question was whether service of a supplemental affidavit of records significantly advanced the action. The chambers judge said no, on the basis that the supplemental records went only to peripheral issues and should have been produced years earlier. The Court of Appeal disagreed on both points and allowed the appeal.

Baron is not an employment law case, but a Court of Appeal decision on a 4.33 application is important to civil litigation in Alberta generally, including employment law cases.