Casual legal: Challenging Assessment Review Board decisions

DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated. 

By Case Littlewood 

Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP 

Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider  

Many deadlines can be extended, and many procedural requirements can be varied, but some are unforgiving. One unforgiving deadline is the 60-day deadline to file and serve an application for judicial review challenging a decision of an Assessment Review Board (“ARB”). 

Part 11 of the MGA allows assessed persons to submit complaints to the ARB to challenge their municipal property assessments. These assessments are used to determine the amount of property tax they must pay. ARBs deal with complaints about the assessment of property, its assessment class, whether the property is exempt from taxation, and more (s. 460(5)). After hearing evidence and argument, ARBs generally have 30 days from the last day of the hearing to give a written decision (s. 468).  

If a party is unsatisfied with an ARB’s decision, they have 60 days after the date of the decision to file an application for judicial review with the Court of King’s Bench and serve the filed application (s. 470). Importantly, notice of the application for judicial review must be given to:  

• the ARB that made the decision,  
• the complainant,  
• an assessed person who is directly affected by the decision,  
• a municipality (if the decision concerns property within that municipality’s boundaries), and 
• the Minister of Municipal Affairs (s. 470).  

Failing to file and serve the application for judicial review within 60 days is fatal. 

A recent decision of the Court of King’s Bench illustrates the danger (Sunridge Mall Holdings Inc v Calgary (City), 2025 ABKB 289). An assessed person filed for judicial review of a decision of the Calgary Assessment Review Board. The CARB’s decision was dated December 14, 2023. The assessed person served an unfiled copy of its application for judicial review 60 days later and filed its application for judicial review 63 days later. They were out of time. Limitations periods like this are strict. The Court had no authority to extend or vary the deadline. The Court concluded: “Compliance with section 470 of the MGA is mandatory and the 60-day period to both file and serve the Originating Application cannot be extended or varied. The Originating Application for judicial review is therefore struck given the time limit for filing and service was not satisfied” (para 51).  

While many procedural slips can be fixed, being late in filing and serving an application for judicial review of an ARB decision cannot. Parties seeking to challenge ARB decisions should be mindful of the strict procedural deadlines under section 470 of the MGA.

To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1.800.661.7673 or email casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (casuallegal[at]abmunis[dot]ca) and reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please contact riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (riskcontrol[at]abmunis[dot]ca), or call 310.MUNI (6864) to speak to Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.