Alberta court grants injunction against provincial legislation restricting gender affirming care

On June 27, 2025, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta granted an injunction that prevents the coming into force of provincial legislation that would limit access to gender-affirming healthcare for young people in the province. The injunction will remain in place while the applicants' constitutional challenge to the legislation continues.

After considering a significant volume of expert and fact evidence, the Court found that the impugned provisions of Bill 26 would inflict irreparable harm on gender diverse young people. The Court emphasized that denying access to gender affirming healthcare would further entrench the discrimination and prejudice that gender diverse young people already experience.

McCarthy Tétrault represented the successful applicants Egale Canada, the Skipping Stone Scholarship Foundation, and several individual young Albertans with a team led by Kara Smyth, Adam Goldenberg, and Ljiljana Stanić that included Branden Cave.