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By Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press

Education

Alberta teachers fail to get court injunction on back-to-work law that ended strike

Mar 13, 2026 | 12:14 PM

A judge has denied an injunction application from Alberta teachers against legislation that forced them back to work and ended a provincewide strike last fall.

Justice Douglas Mah says the Alberta Teachers’ Association failed to prove issues in the case are so serious and pressing that the law should be put on hold while the case is hashed out in court.

Mah also says putting the law on hold would cause chaos and uncertainty in the education system, as teachers have said they would be back in a legal strike position.

The judge says while the decision is not what teachers wanted, they will still have their day in court to argue the case in full.

Premier Danielle Smith’s government used the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to backstop the law that ended the strike and imposed a contract that teachers had previously rejected.

Lawyers for the union argue the government misused the notwithstanding clause to override rights beyond what’s allowed in the Constitution.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2026.