A civil action is commenced in the Provincial Court Civil Division by way of Civil Claim in the prescribed form within 2 years of a date of loss. The Provincial court hears claims with a monetary value under $50,000. Certain types of claims must be filed in the Court of Queens Bench as the Provincial Court does not have jurisdiction over certain types of claims including, but not limited, claims for title to land, defamation, malicious prosecution, validity of a bequest, and false imprisonment. The Provincial Court Act sets out jurisdiction and some statutes define the level of court that can hear a matter, often excluding the Provincial Court. Matters brought in Provincial Court where there is no jurisdiction may be transferred to the Court of Queen's Bench by the courts own motion or by way of an Application of any of the parties.

The Provincial Court Act and Provincial Court Civil Procedure Regulation came into force January 1, 2019 and set out in more detail the processes of the Alberta Provincial Court. It provides what the Court can do and how to do it.

Once a claim is filed, the plaintiff has 12 months to serve it on the defendant. If service is not completed within that time frame, it is no longer valid. Once the defendant is served he has 20 days to file a Dispute Note in the prescribed form if he is served within Alberta and 30 days if he is served outside Alberta. If the defendant has a counterclaim against the plaintiff it is filed concurrently with the Dispute Note. A defendant by counterclaim has the same time requirements to file a Dispute Note to Counterclaim. Service of the Dispute Note is deemed service of the counterclaim when filed together.

There is no specific direction respecting claims for contribution and indemnity between defendants; however, the usual practice is to follow the Court of Queen's Bench Rules in this regard allowing the defendant 20 days to file and serve a Notice of Claim Against Co-Defendant. If there is another party the defendant seeks to add to the litigation, the new regulation now includes a Third Party Claim, in a prescribed form, to be filed and served. The new regulation requires Third Party Claims to be filed and served within 30 days of the defendant's Dispute Note being filed and service on the Third Party must be in the same manner as commencement documents In addition, all other parties must also be served. The Dispute Note to Third Party Claim has the same timelines for filing as a Dispute Note.

All of the documents mentioned in this section are collectively the Pleadings.