How to Write a Dispute Note Defence in Alberta Court of Justice

It's a Dispute Note, Not a Statement of Defence

The first terminology trap: in the Alberta Court of Justice (formerly the Provincial Court), your response document is called a Dispute Note. A "Statement of Defence" is used in actions in the Court of King's Bench — Alberta's superior court, with unlimited monetary jurisdiction and authority over matters outside the Court of Justice's subject-matter jurisdiction. The forms, fees, and rules are different between the two courts, so using the wrong term leads you to the wrong resources.

If you've been served with a Civil Claim in the Alberta Court of Justice (claims up to $100,000), you're filing a Dispute Note. Don't download Court of King's Bench templates.

What to Write

The Dispute Note has a text section where you explain your position. Here's how to approach it:

Address the specific allegations. The Civil Claim makes specific factual statements and demands. Go through them point by point. For each one, say whether you agree, disagree, or don't have knowledge of it, and explain why.

State your version of the facts. Don't just deny — give the court your account of what happened. Dates, amounts, what was said, what was agreed, and what actually took place. The clearer and more specific you are, the better the Justice can understand the dispute before trial.

Keep it factual. This isn't the place for emotional arguments, character attacks, or legal theories you picked up online. State what happened. If the contractor's invoice includes $2,000 for work that was never done, say that. If the car buyer inspected the vehicle three times before purchasing, say that.

Use plain language. You don't need legal jargon. The Court of Justice is designed for self-represented litigants. Write the way you'd explain the situation to a reasonable person who wasn't there.

What to Leave Out

Don't attach evidence. This is the number one reason clerks send defendants back to redo their filing. Alberta Court of Justice rules explicitly state that nothing else is to be attached to the Dispute Note — no photos, no contracts, no emails, no receipts. Evidence is exchanged later, during the disclosure and trial preparation stages.

Don't write a novel. You need to cover the essential facts and your position on each allegation. A Dispute Note that runs to ten pages of single-spaced narrative doesn't help your case — it makes it harder for the Justice to identify the real issues.

Don't include legal arguments. Save legal reasoning for the trial. The Dispute Note establishes the factual basis of your dispute, not your legal theory. You don't need to cite statutes or case law.

Don't make threats or personal attacks. Everything you write becomes part of the court file. A Justice will read it. Professionalism matters.

Structure That Works

A clear Dispute Note typically follows this pattern:

1. Identify the relationship — who the parties are and why you were in contact (contractor/homeowner, landlord/tenant, buyer/seller)
2. State the agreed facts — what both sides would likely accept as true (the contract existed, work began on a certain date, a vehicle was sold)
3. Identify what's disputed — where your account differs from the plaintiff's and what the disagreement is actually about
4. State your defence — why you don't owe what's being claimed, or why the amount is wrong

If you're filing a counterclaim alongside your dispute, the counterclaim section follows the same pattern: state the facts that support your own claim against the plaintiff, the amount you're claiming, and the basis for it.

The Statement of Defence Confusion

Self-represented defendants in Alberta regularly search for "how to write a statement of defence" and end up reading guides for the Court of King's Bench. Those guides describe a very different document — formal pleadings with numbered paragraphs, specific rules about admissions, and strict requirements around striking out irrelevant material.

The Court of Justice Dispute Note is simpler. It doesn't require numbered paragraphs, formal pleading structure, or the precise paragraph-by-paragraph response format that King's Bench rules demand. Write clearly, cover the facts, and be specific about what you dispute.

After You File

The clerk stamps your Dispute Note, mails a copy to the plaintiff, and the court assigns the case to a resolution track. You'll receive a notice about the next step — typically mediation, a pre-trial conference, or a trial date.

Between filing and your hearing, you'll prepare your evidence, identify witnesses, and build your case. The Dispute Note gets you in the door; what comes next is where the real preparation happens.

The Alberta Civil Claim Response Guide includes section-by-section Dispute Note drafting instructions, examples of effective defence language for common claim types, and a filing checklist that keeps you from making the mistakes that send defendants back to the registry counter.

See more Alberta guides →