Two advocacy groups representing the 2SLGBTQ+ community are initiating a legal challenge against the Alberta government’s regulations on names and pronouns in schools, which recently went into effect. Egale Canada and the Skipping Stone Foundation in Alberta are requesting a court order to declare certain sections of the Education Amendment Act unconstitutional. They are currently in the process of filing the necessary paperwork at the Calgary Courts Centre.
Under the new laws, students under 16 must obtain parental consent to change their names or pronouns at school. For students aged 16 or 17, parental notification is required when a name or pronoun change is requested. These regulations were implemented on September 1, 2025, just before the commencement of the school year for most children in the province.
Adam Goldenberg, a lawyer from McCarthy Tétrault representing Egale, expressed concerns over the impact of the regulations on gender-diverse youth, stating that it puts them in a difficult position of either being involuntarily disclosed by the government or facing misgendering and misnaming at school. Alberta’s Education Minister, Demetrios Nicolaides, refrained from commenting on the legal action, citing the ongoing court proceedings.
This legal challenge follows Premier Danielle Smith’s announcement in January 2024, introducing changes to school policies regarding gender identity, alongside other legislation affecting transgender individuals. Earlier, Egale and Skipping Stone had challenged a health care bill, resulting in a temporary injunction issued by a Calgary judge against a law prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming care to children under 16. The province is currently appealing this injunction as the legal battle continues.