Agent for Service Changes – Appoint or Replace Your Alberta Agent

Appoint an agent for service in Alberta: the rules

An agent for service is the individual in Alberta who accepts legal documents, such as a statement of claim or a registry notice, on behalf of a corporation. Every out-of-province corporation registering in Alberta names one on its Notice of Agent for Service (REG3037), and the registration cannot be completed without it.

The rules are short:

• The agent must be an individual, not a company.
• The agent must be located in Alberta and have an Alberta address.
• The agent does not need to be a lawyer. An employee, a director who lives in Alberta, or a service provider such as ACS can act.

Other jurisdictions call the same role the attorney for service; Alberta's term is agent for service.

When the agent resigns, moves out of Alberta, leaves the company or dies, the corporation names a replacement on a notice filed through a registry agent. The agent's own change of address is filed the same way.

Who this is for

• The out-of-province corporation whose Alberta agent (often a former employee or a lawyer no longer retained) has moved on.
• The corporation that registered with a director as agent and now wants a stable Alberta address that does not change when staff change.
• The law firm that acted as agent for a client and is handing the role over, or a law clerk filing agent changes for a client list, with partner pricing.

How it works

1. Tell us the corporation's name and Alberta registration details, and either the new agent's name and Alberta address or that you want our agent for service. We confirm the registration with our free corporate lookup.
2. A CORES-trained agent prepares and checks the notice against the Alberta record.
3. We submit it through a licensed Alberta registry agent into CORES, Alberta's Corporate Registry System. ACS is a private company; we are not a government office or a registry agent.
4. You receive the filed notice by email the same business day for orders received before 3:00 pm MT.

If a notice cannot be filed, our refund policy explains what happens.

Common mistakes we catch before filing

• A company named as agent. The agent must be an individual.
• An agent with an out-of-province address, or an Alberta P.O. box with no street address.
• The head office changed on the agent's notice instead of on the change of head office filing.
• A New West Partnership corporation filing in Alberta when its home registry handles the update automatically at no cost. We check your home jurisdiction first.

What you need before you start

• The corporation's legal name, home jurisdiction and Alberta registration details.
• The new agent's full name and Alberta street address, or a request to use ours.
• The date the change takes effect.
• A credit card. No registry login is needed, because owners cannot file in CORES themselves.

Requirements in Alberta

• Every corporation registered in Alberta, whether Alberta-incorporated or extra-provincial, must have an agent for service who is an individual located in Alberta.
• The agent need not be a lawyer.
• A change of agent, or of the agent's address, is filed with Corporate Registry through a registry agent.