In Frederico v Cabral, 2026 ABCA 251 (CanLII) a single judge of the Court of Appeal granted Federico’s application for permission to appeal a King’s Bench decision (the “Decision”) that set aside a spousal support Arbitration Award (the “Award”) and ordered a new hearing before a substitute arbitrator. The judge found that Federico had raised a reasonably arguable position: that the appointment of a substitute arbitrator exceeded the authority of the King’s Bench judge who heard the original appeal from the Award. Section 16(1) of Alberta’s Arbitration Act(the “Act”) provides that a substitute arbitrator shall only be appointed when an arbitrator’s mandate is terminated. Pursuant to section 14, an arbitrator’s mandate ends only under specific enumerated circumstances. None of them applied here. Despite this, the appeal judge appointed a substitute arbitrator on remittal. The case raises an important question: does an arbitrator’s mandate automatically end at delivery of a final award in Alberta? It also highlights whether a court can interfere with parties’ intention to have their dispute determined by a specific arbitrator by ordering a substitute arbitrator.
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