Alberta teachers’ court challenge of Bill 2 delayed 10 months
Posted April 21, 2026 9:41 am.
Last Updated April 21, 2026 12:14 pm.
The constitutional challenge of Alberta’s back-to-work legislation by the province’s teachers has been delayed until the summer of 2027.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) says the full hearing on merits of the court challenge to Bill 2 has been rescheduled to the week of July 19, 2027.
It was originally scheduled for the week of Sept. 21, 2026 – a full 10 months earlier.
“The rescheduling takes into account two cases currently before the Supreme Court of Canada that deal with similar legal questions, particularly the use of the notwithstanding clause by provincial governments,” the ATA wrote in a brief email Tuesday.
Last month, the teachers lost their bid for an injunction seeking to suspend the Alberta government’s legislation that forced 51,000 striking teachers back to work last October. The teachers were hoping a judge would temporarily set aside all or part of that bill.
Bill 2 also imposed on the teachers a collective bargaining agreement rank-and-file teachers had earlier rejected and invoked the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to shield it from legal challenge.
The teachers, however, argue the clause has not been properly used.
The clause overrides teachers’ Charter rights, but Premier Danielle Smith has said the government had no choice but to end the strike given that it was affecting students’ social, educational and emotional well-being.
