Alberta WCB Claim Deadlines
The dates that govern a WCB claim in Alberta. Free. No email required. For anyone injured at work.
Alberta gives you twenty four months to file a claim, a year to ask for a review and another year to appeal. What it does not do is tell you loudly that you can ask for money while you wait.
THE SEVEN CLOCKS
Three of the seven run out inside your first month, and only the first of those three is yours to act on. Not drawn to scale.
Inside the first month Longer, but they start now
They do not all count from the same event. One runs from the accident, or from the day you became aware of it. Two run from the date printed on a letter. Two more run from the day you ask for something, and those two are not yours at all, they are what WCB owes you. Everything below sets out what starts each clock, and what to write down at the moment it matters.
How long do I have to report a workplace injury in Alberta?
Twenty four months to file your claim. A worker has twenty four months after the date of the accident, or after the date they became aware of it, to file a claim with WCB. That limit is stated in WCB-Alberta's own Worker Handbook.
Two obligations run alongside it and both start much sooner. You have to give notice of the accident to your employer as soon as practicable. You also have to notify WCB if the injury disables you, or is likely to disable you, for more than the day it happened. Your employer then has seventy two hours to submit their own report.
Two different dates can start the same twenty four months. The date of the accident, or the date you became aware of it. For an injury that arrived all at once they are the same day. For one that came on gradually they are not, and the second is the one that matters.
Nobody else can establish that date for you, so write it down while you still remember the week: the day you first connected what you were feeling to what you do at work.
Two years is a long window and it is not an invitation to use it.
The three obligations are not interchangeable. Telling your employer is not filing a claim. Filing a claim is not the same as notifying WCB that you are disabled beyond the day of the accident. And your employer's seventy two hour report is theirs, not yours, so it does not fill in for anything on your side.
It has been more than two years. Is it too late to file?
Ask anyway, and explain why. A late claim is harder to prove, slower to process and is not approved automatically. None of that is the same as closed. The mistake worth avoiding here is deciding on WCB's behalf that the answer is no.
Check which date you are counting from before you decide you are late. The twenty four months runs from the accident or from the date you became aware of it. If you have spent a year being treated for something nobody connected to your work, the second date may be much closer than you think, and it is the one to put in your letter.
Before you write anything, read the section on free help in Alberta further down this page. The Advisor Office is independent of WCB, costs nothing and exists for exactly this kind of question.
My claim was denied. How long do I have to ask for a review?
Twelve months from the date of the decision letter. That is a long window, and it is worth not treating it as permission to wait.
There is an informal step first. Raise it with your adjudicator, case manager or supervisor. If you then request a formal review, a supervisor should contact you within fourteen days to try to resolve it. Only if that fails does it go to the Dispute Resolution and Decision Review Body.
| The step | Who deals with it | You have | Counting from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raise it informally | Your adjudicator, case manager or supervisor | No limit stated | Whenever the problem appears |
| Request a formal review | A supervisor first, then the Dispute Resolution and Decision Review Body | 12 months | The date of the decision letter |
| Appeal the review decision | The Appeals Commission, which is independent of WCB | 1 year | The date of the DRDRB decision |
Alberta has two review bodies and they are not the same organisation. The Dispute Resolution and Decision Review Body reviews WCB decisions and is reached through WCB, at drdrb@wcb.ab.ca. The Appeals Commission comes after it and is independent of WCB.
You cannot skip the first to reach the second. The year to appeal counts from the DRDRB decision, which means it does not start until the review is finished.
The date on the letter is the date that counts, not the day it reached you and not the day you opened it. Open WCB post the day it arrives and write the decision date on the front of the envelope. That one habit is what turns twelve months into twelve months rather than into whatever is left of it.
If your claim were decided tomorrow, what would your file say?
People who were genuinely hurt have lost benefits over a date nobody recorded, a body part left off the first form, or a call nobody wrote down. Caught early that is fixable. A year on it is an argument you have to win. The Alberta Workplace Injury Companion Guide keeps every date on this page in one place, with the form that goes with each and room to write down what actually happened. $24.99, yours to keep.
What happens if I missed the twelve month review deadline?
You can request an extension, and the request has a shape. Explain your circumstances, for example a medical or physical condition that stopped you acting sooner. The Dispute Resolution and Decision Review Body can extend the twelve months where you explain the reason for the delay.
The supporting documents have their own short clock. Send them to drdrb@wcb.ab.ca, ideally within two business days of the form, with your claim number and your name in the body of the email.
Two business days is the detail people miss. The form goes in first and the evidence that supports it is expected within two business days, so gather the documents before you send the form rather than after.
Put your claim number and your name in the body of the email itself, not only in the attachment. An email that arrives inside the window and cannot be matched to a file is an email that arrives late.
An explanation is not a plea. Give the reason, give the dates it covers, and attach the thing that proves it: the clinic letter, the hospital discharge, the record of the weeks you could not manage your own paperwork.
How long do I have to appeal to the Appeals Commission?
One year from the DRDRB decision. That sits in section 13.2(8) of the Workers' Compensation Act. Decisions dated between 1 September 2018 and 31 March 2021 carry two years instead, under the law in force when they were made.
The Appeals Commission is independent of WCB. A panel of three commissioners hears it, in person, by video or on the documents, whichever you ask for. A written decision normally follows within six to eight weeks.
It is the final level of appeal, which means the record you put in front of it is the last chance the facts of your injury get a hearing.
Two practical things follow from that. Ask for the hearing format you can actually manage, because the choice is yours and a panel you cannot travel to is not a hearing. And ask for your claim file before you write the appeal, not after, because thirty business days of waiting is six weeks you would rather spend inside the year than at the end of it.
Can I get money while my review or appeal is waiting?
Sometimes, and you have to ask. Interim relief is temporary financial support given to workers while a decision is under review or appeal. Alberta can provide it so that you can meet basic living expenses in the meantime.
It is granted in exceptional circumstances rather than automatically. If a refusal has left you without income and an appeal will take months, this is the first question to put to WCB, not the last.
There is no deadline on this one, which is exactly why it gets missed. Nothing expires if you do not ask, so it never appears on a list of dates. It simply does not happen.
Ask at the point the money stops rather than at the point the appeal is heard. Interim relief is for the gap in between, and the gap is measured in months.
Can I get a copy of my WCB claim file, and how long does it take?
Yes, at any time, and you should. Phone the Claims Contact Centre on 780-498-3999 and expect it within thirty business days.
Request it before you write your review, not after. You cannot argue against reasoning you have never read, and thirty business days is six weeks, so ask early enough that it arrives while you still have time to use it.
Work backwards from the deadline, not forwards from today. If your decision letter is nine months old, the twelve months and the six weeks now overlap. Ask for the file in the same week you decide to dispute the decision, and treat the request as the first step of the review rather than as preparation for it.
How long does WCB have to answer me?
Not every clock on this page runs against you, and knowing which ones do not is how you tell a delay from a decision. Your employer has seventy two hours. A supervisor should reach you within fourteen days of a formal review request. The file takes up to thirty business days. A written decision from the Appeals Commission normally follows within six to eight weeks.
| The step | How long | Counting from | Whose clock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your employer submits their report of the accident | 72 hours | The accident | Theirs |
| A supervisor contacts you after a formal review request | 14 days | Your request | Theirs |
| WCB sends the copy of your claim file | 30 business days | Your request | Theirs |
| The Appeals Commission issues a written decision | Normally 6 to 8 weeks | The hearing | Theirs |
| You give notice of the accident to your employer | As soon as practicable | The accident | Yours |
| You send documents supporting a late review request | Ideally within 2 business days | The form | Yours |
Their clocks are not enforced by you missing yours. If the fourteen days pass without a supervisor calling, that is not a signal to stop, and it does not extend the twelve months. Write down the date you asked, note that nobody called, and carry on to the review.
Dates are only half of it. Knowing when something is due does not tell you whether your employer has to give your job back at all, what the duty to cooperate now asks of you or how a wage loss benefit can be reduced when WCB decides you did not meet it.
Recovering after a workplace injury in Alberta covers the whole process and is free to read. Hurt in another province? Start from the guides by province and territory.
I was hurt in a vehicle while working. Which deadlines apply?
Two systems touch the same injury, and the motor vehicle side moves much faster. Alberta's Section B accident benefits start with a thirty day clock, not a twenty four month one.
That is the part to act on first. The shortest deadline that can apply to a work injury in Alberta is not on this page at all, it is on the motor vehicle side, and it can run out while you are still reading about two year limits.
Our Alberta Section B page sets that out, including which accident benefit form is which.
What changed in 2026, and did the deadlines change?
The limits above are the ones WCB-Alberta publishes and the one the Act sets. Twenty four months to file, from the Worker Handbook. Twelve months to request a review, from the date of the decision letter. One year to appeal, under section 13.2(8) of the Workers' Compensation Act. This page was checked in August 2026 against WCB-Alberta's review and appeals pages for workers, its Request for a decision review page and Worker Handbook, the Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers' Compensation and the Alberta Advisor Office.
The date change worth knowing about is older than 2026 and it is still live. Decisions dated between 1 September 2018 and 31 March 2021 carry two years to appeal rather than one, under the legislation in force when they were made. If you are holding a decision from inside that window, count two years, not one.
Where the letter in your hand says something different from this page, the letter and the Act govern. The sources to check them against are listed at the bottom of this page, and if one of them has moved, write to us and we will correct it.
Do I need a lawyer or a representative to file a WCB claim?
Not to start one, and there is free help in Alberta that most people never hear about. The Advisor Office provides independent advice, assistance and advocacy to injured workers and their dependants, at no charge, and it is separate from WCB.
Call before the forms, not after them. One of its stated aims is early resolution, meaning getting an issue fixed so that it never needs to be appealed at all. That is worth a call before you start filling anything in, because the cheapest dispute is the one that never becomes a dispute.
Filing a claim, phoning the Claims Contact Centre for your file, requesting a review and appealing to the Appeals Commission are all things you can do yourself. Whoever ends up helping you, the record they will work from is the one you kept while the clocks were running.
Last verified: August 2026
Checked against: WCB-Alberta, Review and appeals for workers, WCB-Alberta's Request for a decision review page and Worker Handbook, the Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers' Compensation, and the Alberta Advisor Office. Section 13.2(8) of the Workers' Compensation Act sets the appeal window.
The twenty four month limit for filing a claim is stated in WCB-Alberta's Worker Handbook and in the national reporting requirements table published by the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada.
Deadlines change. If you find something on this page that is out of date, write to Recovery@hurtsquare.ca and we will correct it publicly.
Keeping the record these deadlines depend on
A year sounds like plenty until you are eleven months in, cannot remember which decision letter said what, and have not yet asked for the file that explains it.
Two things decide how an injury claim goes. What you wrote down and whether you did the right thing at the right time for where you live. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide handles the first, the daily record of symptoms, appointments, calls and costs that a claim is eventually judged on. The Alberta Workplace Injury Companion Guide handles the second, the deadlines on this page and the forms, boards and appeal routes behind them. People who have only one tend to end up with a careful record aimed at the wrong process, or the right dates and nothing to put in front of them.
Your Recovery. Documented. Protected.
EVERYTHING ON THIS PAGE, AND WHAT COMES NEXT
The Alberta Workplace Injury Companion Guide
This page tells you the dates. The guide walks you through them, and gives you somewhere to write down what happened on each one.
- All seven clocks, with what starts each one
- The route in order, from your adjudicator to the DRDRB to the Appeals Commission
- What to write down the day each WCB letter arrives
- How to ask for interim relief, your claim file and a late review
$24.99 · instant download · yours to keep
See the Alberta Workplace Injury Companion GuideMost people take it with the National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide, which is the daily record the dates hang on.
Not ready for a guide? The checklist for the first week after a workplace injury is at hurtsquare.ca/7. It is free and asks nothing of you.
This page is general information for people in Alberta. It is not legal or medical advice. Rules differ by province and change over time. Confirm anything specific to your situation with a representative, WCB-Alberta or the Advisor Office.