The body also reported that it was changing rules to improve regulatory processes
The Law Society of Alberta has highlighted an enhanced triage process for complaints and the development of new committee guidelines as part of its operational advancements over the past year, according to its 2025 annual report.
Processes are being amended to bolster investigation and complaint review timelines, and rules are being reformed to modernize and streamline regulatory processes, the legal body reported. Moreover, client identification and verification rules are being aligned with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s model rules in this regard.
Meanwhile, the new committee guidelines were developed to improve consistency and process transparency. According to the LSA, the reforms are in line with the objectives listed in the first goal of the body’s 2024-2027 strategic plan.
“We have been investing in technology to simplify interactions with lawyers and the public, reduce administrative burden and ensure our systems support our regulatory mandate. These efforts build on the Strategic Plan’s goals of effective regulation and enhancing lawyer competence,” said Elizabeth J. Osler, the LSA’s chief executive officer and executive director, in the report.
The LSA also supported efforts to protect the rule of law by joining the national campaign Ours to Protect. The campaign was established in November 2025 and sought to raise awareness regarding the rule of law’s importance and the value of democracy and justice. The LSA is part a coalition of law societies that works with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada on the campaign.
“A prominent theme this past year has been the importance of the rule of law and the role lawyers play in a functioning democratic society. In our capacity as the regulator, we are not an advocacy body, however we are committed to promoting and supporting the rule of law,” said Stacy Petriuk, the LSA’s president for the 2025-2026 term. “Alberta lawyers have professional pride and over the last year we have seen many examples of individual lawyers and legal stakeholders advocating for the Rule of Law and we applaud those individual and collective efforts.”
Petriuk also chaired the legal body’s November 27, 2025 annual general meeting, where over 490 active Alberta-based lawyers voted on two member motions.
The LSA also spotlighted a modified five-year governance agreement for legal aid services that was signed and effected on July 16, 2025. The LSA worked with Legal Aid Alberta and the provincial government on the agreement, which bolsters the certainty of Legal Aid Alberta’s long-term sustainability. The agreement will be in place until July 2030.
Moreover, over the past year the LSA also released over $3.8 million in funding to the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education, Alberta Law Libraries, Alberta Lawyers' Assistance Society, Pro Bono Law Alberta, Legal Archives Society of Alberta, and the Alberta Law Review.
The LSA is also evaluating changes to the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act and corresponding reforms to the Legal Profession Act to identify their effects on Law Society operations. The legal body said that through the LPA changes, it developed a purpose statement in its governing legislation establishing that its regulation was in the public interest – a positive development that it said codified the common law.
