What an Alberta commercial lease agreement is for
Alberta does not have a commercial tenancies statute that fills the gaps in a lease. Almost everything about a commercial tenancy, from how operating costs are shared to what happens on default, depends on what the lease says and on the common law. A handful of statutes matter at specific points: a landlord's distress for unpaid rent goes through a civil enforcement agency under the Civil Enforcement Act, a tenant facing forfeiture can ask for relief under the Judicature Act, a tenant protects its interest by registering a caveat at Land Titles, and the tenant's improvements fall under the Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act. And an individual who guarantees the lease must sign a certificate before a lawyer under the Guarantees Acknowledgment Act, or the guarantee has no effect.
This template is a complete Alberta commercial lease written as a net lease with a semi-gross option. It covers basic terms, fixturing, rent and GST, the deposit, operating costs and taxes with exclusions and an audit, use and permits, utilities, HVAC and winter protection, repairs, alterations and liens, insurance, damage, transfers, default and remedies, the indemnifier with the Guarantees Acknowledgment Act step, the caveat, holding over and renewal. Schedules give the plan, rent table with GST, work letter, rules, the guarantor certificate placeholder and notice addresses.
When to use it
Use it to lease an office suite, retail bay, warehouse or flex industrial unit anywhere in Alberta, from Calgary and Edmonton to Red Deer, Lethbridge and Grande Prairie, for a term of three to ten years. Landlords can use it as their standard form; tenants can use it to compare a landlord's draft against a balanced Alberta-specific lease.
It is not designed for shopping centre leases with percentage rent, ground leases, farm leases (see our Alberta Farmland Lease), or residential premises, which fall under the Residential Tenancies Act.
What's inside
The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.
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Basic terms and premises
- Property and legal description
- Bay or unit
- Proportionate Share
- Term and Fixturing Period
- Rent
- Deposit
- Use
- Renewal
- GST numbers
- Condition
- Possession delay
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Rent and deposit
- Monthly Basic Rent
- GST only
- Late interest
- Security deposit
-
Additional Rent
- Net or semi-gross
- Operating Costs
- Exclusions
- Property and education taxes
- Reconciliation and audit
-
Use, utilities and repairs
- Permitted use and permits
- Environmental
- Exclusive use
- Utilities and retailers
- HVAC and make-up air
- Freeze protection
- Tenant and Landlord repairs
-
Alterations and liens
- Consent
- Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act
- Holdback
- Lien removal
- Removal of fixtures
-
Insurance, casualty and transfers
- Tenant and Landlord insurance including hail and flood
- Releases
- Indemnities
- Damage and abatement
- Assignment and recapture
-
Default and indemnifier
- Events of default
- Re-entry
- Distress through a civil enforcement agency
- Accelerated rent
- Highway Properties damages
- Judicature Act relief
- Indemnity
- Guarantees Acknowledgment Act
-
Land titles and general
- Caveat
- Subordination and estoppel
- Holding over
- Surrender
- Quiet enjoyment
- Force majeure
- Renewal at fair market rent
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Schedules A to F
- Plan
- Basic Rent with GST
- Landlord's and Tenant's Work
- Rules
- Guarantees Acknowledgment Act certificate
- Addresses
Preview pages
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Page 1 -
Page 2 -
Page 3
How to complete the lease
- Fill in the basic terms. Use names as registered, the legal description or LINC, area, term, fixturing period, deposit, use and renewal.
- Complete Schedule B with rent and GST for each year.
- Choose net or semi-gross, keep the exclusions and set the management fee.
- Set the HVAC and repair split, including overhead doors and make-up air.
- Define the work and any allowance in Schedule C, tied to the lien period.
- Set insurance limits, including hail and flood where relevant.
- Arrange the indemnity. An individual indemnifier must sign the Guarantees Acknowledgment Act certificate before their own lawyer.
- Sign, then register a caveat if the tenant wants one, and collect insurance certificates.
Example: a warehouse bay in Edmonton
A fictional landlord, Yellowhead Business Park Ltd., leases a 6,000-square-foot warehouse bay in a 48,000-square-foot building in northwest Edmonton to Prairie Fastener Supply Inc. for five years from April 1, 2026, with the owner, Ken Novak, as indemnifier.
Proportionate Share: 6,000 ÷ 48,000 = 12.5%. Basic Rent, year 1: $11.50 per sq. ft. = $69,000 a year, $5,750 a month, plus GST of $287.50. Additional Rent estimate: $5.25 per sq. ft. = $2,625 a month plus GST. Indemnity: capped at 12 months of Rent; Ken signs the Guarantees Acknowledgment Act certificate before his lawyer on March 10, 2026. Caveat: Prairie Fastener registers a caveat because its term with renewal is ten years.
Alberta rules to know
- No commercial tenancies statute. The lease and common law govern most issues.
- Distress (Civil Enforcement Act). Carried out by a civil enforcement agency; not available after termination.
- Relief from forfeiture (Judicature Act section 10). Available to tenants on terms.
- Caveats (Land Titles Act). Protect the tenant's interest against later buyers and lenders.
- Liens (Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act, 2022). 10% holdback; 60-day lien period (90 for concrete).
- Guarantees (Guarantees Acknowledgment Act). Individual guarantors need a lawyer's certificate.
- GST. 5% on commercial rent; no provincial sales tax.
Lease problems Alberta landlords and tenants run into
The most expensive Alberta mistake is an unenforceable guarantee: an owner signs a personal indemnity without the Guarantees Acknowledgment Act certificate, the tenant company fails, and the landlord discovers the guarantee has no effect. Other disputes come from open-ended operating costs, a tenant whose ten-year lease was never protected by a caveat when the building sold, a landlord who seized goods after terminating, and an allowance paid before the lien period expired. The indemnity schedule, caveat clause, default section and allowance conditions in this lease address each of them.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a commercial tenancies act in Alberta?
Not like Ontario's or BC's. Alberta commercial leases are governed mainly by the lease and the common law, with specific statutes covering distress (Civil Enforcement Act), relief from forfeiture (Judicature Act), registration of interests (Land Titles Act) and construction liens (Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act). The lease itself needs to be complete.
Does an Alberta commercial lease guarantee need a lawyer's certificate?
Yes, if the guarantor is an individual. Under the Guarantees Acknowledgment Act, an individual's guarantee has no effect unless the guarantor appears before a lawyer, who is satisfied they understand it and signs the prescribed certificate. Corporate guarantors do not need it.
Is GST charged on commercial rent in Alberta?
Yes. A GST-registered landlord charges 5% GST on basic rent and additional rent. Alberta has no provincial sales tax, so no PST or HST applies.
Should a tenant register a caveat for an Alberta commercial lease?
For longer leases, leases with renewal options or significant improvements, yes. Registering a caveat at the Land Titles Office gives notice of the tenant's interest so a later buyer or mortgagee takes the property subject to it.
Can an Alberta landlord seize a tenant's goods for unpaid rent?
Yes, by distress through a civil enforcement agency under the Civil Enforcement Act, following its procedure and exemptions. The landlord cannot distrain after terminating the lease, and a wrongful seizure can make it liable for damages.
