CPA · Residential Tenancies Act
1 Interpretation
(a) "child" means a person under 18 years of age;
(a.1) "common areas" means areas controlled by a landlord and
used for access to residential premises or for the service or
enjoyment of tenants;
(b) "council" means
(i) the council of a city, town, village, municipal district or
Metis settlement,
(ii) in the case of an improvement district, the Minister
determined under section 16 of the Government
Organization Act as the Minister responsible for the
Municipal Government Act, or
(iii) in the case of a special area, the Minister determined
under section 16 of the Government Organization Act as
the Minister responsible for the Special Areas Act;
(c) "court" means
(i) the Court of Justice, or
(ii) the Court of King's Bench;
(d) "Director" means the Director of Residential Tenancies
appointed under section 55;
(e) "fixed term tenancy" means a tenancy under a residential
tenancy agreement for a term that ends on a day specified in
the agreement;
(f) "landlord" means
(i) the owner of the residential premises,
(ii) a property manager who acts as agent for the owner of
the residential premises and any other person who, as
agent for the owner, permits the occupation of the
residential premises under a residential tenancy
agreement,
(iii) the heirs, assigns, personal representatives and
successors in title of the owner of the residential
premises, and
(iv) a person who is entitled to possession of the residential
premises, other than a tenant, and who attempts to
enforce any of the rights of a landlord under a residential
tenancy agreement or this Act;
(g) "Minister" means the Minister determined under section 16
of the Government Organization Act as the Minister
responsible for this Act;
(h) "overholding tenant" means a person who was a tenant of
premises and who does not vacate the premises after the
tenancy has expired or been terminated;
(i) "periodic tenancy" means
(i) a tenancy under a residential tenancy agreement that is
renewed or continued without notice,
(ii) with respect to a fixed term tenancy that contains a
provision allowing for renewal or continuation of the
tenancy without notice, that part of the tenancy that
arises after the end of the fixed term tenancy, and
(iii) with respect to a fixed term tenancy that does not contain
a provision referred to in subclause (ii), the part of the
tenancy that arises after the end of the fixed term
tenancy, where the landlord and tenant by their conduct
expressly or impliedly indicate that they intend that the
tenancy be renewed or continued after the end of the
fixed term tenancy;
(j) "prescribed" means prescribed by regulation;
(j.1) "protected adult" means an assisted adult, represented adult
or supported adult as defined in the Adult Guardianship and
Trusteeship Act;
(k) "rent" means the consideration to be paid by a tenant to a
landlord under a residential tenancy agreement, but does not
include a security deposit;
(l) "residential premises" me ans any place occupied by an
individual as a residence;
(m) "residential tenancy agreemen t" means a written, oral or
implied agreement to rent residential premises;
(n) "security deposit" means any money, property or right paid
or given by a tenant of residential premises to a landlord
(i) to be held by or for the landlord as security for the
performance of an obligation or the payment of a
liability by the tenant, or
(ii) to be returned to the tenant on the happening of a
condition;
(n.1) "stalking" means repeated conduct by a person, without
lawful excuse or authority, that the person knows or
reasonably ought to know constitutes harassment of another
person and causes that other person to fear for his or her
personal safety;
(o) "subsidized public housing" means residential premises
rented to a tenant of low income who pays rent that is
(i) reduced by reason of public funding provided by the
government of Canada or Alberta or a municipality, or
by their agents, under the National Housing Act
(Canada) or the Alberta Housing Act or its predecessor,
and
(ii) determined by the tenant's income;
(p) "substantial breach" means
(i) on the part of a tenant, a breach of a covenant specified
in section 21 or a series of breaches of a residential
tenancy agreement, the cumulative effect of which is
substantial, and
(ii) on the part of a landlord, a breach of a covenant
specified in section 16(c);
(q) "tenancy month" means the period on which a monthly
periodic tenancy is based whether or not it is a calendar
month, and the month begins on the day rent is payable
unless another date is specified in the residential tenancy
agreement;
(r) "tenancy week" means th e period on which a weekly
periodic tenancy is based whether or not it is a calendar
week, and the week begins on the day rent is payable unless
another date is specified in the residential tenancy
agreement;
(s) "tenancy year" means the peri od on which a yearly periodic
tenancy is based whether or not it is a calendar year, and the
year begins on the day, or the anniversary of the day, on
which the tenant first becomes entitled to possession unless
another day is specified in the residential tenancy
agreement;
(t) "tenant" means
(i) a person who is permitted by the landlord to occupy
residential premises under a residential tenancy
agreement,
(ii) a person who is permitted to occupy residential premises
under an assignment or sublease of a residential tenancy
agreement to which the landlord has consented under
section 22, and
(iii) an heir, assign or pers onal representative of a person
referred to in subclause (i) or (ii).
(2) A reference to "tenant" in the following provisions includes a
person who was a tenant of premises whose tenancy has expired or
been terminated and who has vacated the premises:
section 1(1)(n);
section 19(2), (3);
section 25(b);
section 31;
section 37;
section 41;
section 44(5)(a);
section 46;
section 60(3), (5);
section 70(1)(h).
(3) For the purposes of this Act, unless the landlord and the tenant
agree otherwise, the tenant is considered to have taken possession
of the residential premises when
(a) the tenant has paid the required security deposit and fees, if
any, and the rent required at the beginning of the tenancy,
and
(b) the landlord, being in lawful possession of the residential
premises, has given the keys to the residential premises to
the tenant for the purpose of the tenant's occupying the
residential premises under the residential tenancy
agreement.
(4) Where, before the end of the residential tenancy agreement, the
tenant has paid the rent to the end of the tenancy but has not turned
in the keys to the residential premises, the tenant shall not be
considered to have given up possession of the residential premises
unless
(a) the landlord and the tenant agree that the tenant has given up
possession, or
(b) the landlord reasonably believes that the tenant has
repudiated the residential tenancy agreement or has
abandoned the residential premises.
2004 cR-17.1 s1;2007 c11 s1;2015 c20 s2;AR 217/2022;
AR 75/2023