Guideline

How to calculate the due date for service and filing of your documents

The following provisions of the Federal Courts Rules will assist you in computing the time within which to file and serve your documents.

  • Rule 6(1) incorporates the provisions of sections 26 to 30 of the Interpretation Act for computing time.

  • Rule 6(2) governs the computation of periods of less than 7 days.

  • Rule 6(3) addresses the exclusion of the seasonal recess in the computation of time provided by the Rules.

  • Rules 7 and 8 govern extensions by consent and the Court’s discretion to extend or abridge time periods.

  • Holiday means a Saturday, Sunday or any other day defined as a holiday in subsection 35(1) of the Interpretation Act.

  • Summer recess means the months of July and August in each year.

  • Seasonal recess means the period beginning on December 21 in a year and ending on January 7 in the following year.

Deadlines - General

When a document is to be filed or served within a defined number of days before or after a specified event, do not include the day of the event when calculating the deadline, but do include all other days, including weekends and holidays (please see exceptions). The deadline includes the last day.

Example 1 - 10 Days

To calculate a 10-day deadline after a specific event, for example the filing of a document, do not include the first day of the period but do include the 10th day.  In this example, the period starts on May 31st and the 10th day is a Sunday, so the document is due on the next business day.

General deadline example 1
Example 1

The months of May (31 days) and June (30 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Thursday May 31st and Monday June 11th are highlighted in yellow to show the 10-day period taking into account the weekend.

Example 2 - 20 Days

To calculate a 20-day deadline after a specific event, for example the filing of a document, do not include the first day of the period but do include the 20th day. In this example, the period starts on May 1st and the 20th day is a holiday, so the document is due on the next business day, which is Tuesday May 22nd.

General deadline example 2
Example 2

Wednesday May 1st and Tuesday May 22nd are highlighted in yellow to show the 20-day period.

Note: in this example May 21st, which is a holiday (Victoria Day) is calculated in the computation of time.

Example 3 - 30 Days

To calculate a 30-day deadline, after a specific event, for example the filing of a document, do not include the first day of the period but do include the 30th day. In this example, the period starts on May 4th and the 30th day is a Sunday, so the document is due on the next business day, which is Monday June 4th.

General deadline example 3
Example 3

The months of May (31 days) and June (30 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Friday May 4th and Monday June 4th are highlighted in yellow to show the 30-day period.

Note: in this example May 21st, which is a holiday (Victoria Day), is calculated in the computation of time.

Extension by consent (Rule 7)

Certain periods provided by the Rules may be extended once by filing the consent in writing of all parties. The extension cannot exceed one half of the period sought to be extended. For example, if a period within which to file a document is 30 days, the parties may consent to an extension of up to 15 days. Once a consent to an extension of time is filed, the time for filing is extended by the agreed number of days.

Parties cannot consent to an extension of a period fixed by an order of the Court – this can only be accomplished by a further Court order or agree to extend the time for service of an originating document (statement of claim, notice of application).

Holidays / Weekends

As a general rule, holidays and weekends are included in the calculation of time.

Exceptions:

  • If a deadline is less than 7 days, holidays and weekends are not included in the calculation (see example 2 below).
  • If the time limit for serving and filing a document falls on a holiday on which the Court is closed or weekend, the document may be served or filed on the following business day.

The Registries of the Federal Court are closed on the following holidays:

  • Good Friday
  • Easter Monday
  • Victoria Day (Monday preceding May 25)
  • Canada Day
  • Labor Day (1st Monday in September)
  • Thanksgiving Day (2nd Monday in October)
  • Remembrance Day
  • National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
  • Christmas Day
  • Boxing Day
  • New Year's Day
  • Provincial and territorial public holidays **

Service and filing dates may vary depending on the province of residence of the parties. Directions may be sought from the Court.

** Only the registry located in the relevant province will be closed - other registries across Canada are open.

IMPORTANT: If a federal public holiday (other than Remembrance Day) falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the Court registries are closed the following Monday.

Example 1

A document must be filed and served within 30 days from an event that occurred on May 4th. As the 30th day is a Sunday, the deadline for serving and filing the document is the next business day, which is Monday June 4th.

Holiday, weekend example 1
Example 1

The months of May (31 days) and June (30 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Friday May 4th and Monday June 4th are highlighted in yellow to show the 30 day period. As the 30th day is a Sunday, the document is due on the next business day, which is June 4th.

Note: in this example May 21st, which is a holiday (Victoria Day), is calculated in the computation of time.

Example 2

A document is to be served and filed within 4 days from an event that occurred on April 3rd. The deadline for serving and filing the document is April 11th because two holidays and two weekend days are excluded from the calculation. The shaded days, April 6th (Good Friday), April 7th and April 8th (weekend days) and April 9th (Easter Monday) are not counted in the computation of time.

Holiday, weekend example 2
Example 2

The month of April (30 days) is represented in a calendar view. Tuesday April 3rd and Wednesday April 11th are highlighted in yellow to show the 4 day period. Friday April 6th, Saturday April 7th, Sunday April 8th and Monday April 9th are shaded because they are not counted in the computation of time.

Exceptions:

Some deadlines are suspended during the months of July and August (Summer Recess) and for a two-week period between December 21st of one year and January 7th (seasonal recess) of the following year.

Summer Recess (months of July and August)

The months of July and August are not included in the computation of time for filing of a notice of appeal in Federal Court of Appeal from a final decision from the Federal Court. (Section 27(2)(b) of the Federal Courts Act).

Example 1

A notice of appeal must be filed “within 30 days, not including any days in July and August, after the pronouncement of the judgment or determination appealed from or within any further time that a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal may fix or allow before or after the end of those 30 days” (Section 27(2)(b) of the Federal Courts Act). In this example, the judgment appealed from was rendered on June 11th. The shaded days in the month of July and August are not counted. The 30-day time limit for filing the notice of appeal expires on September 11th.

Summer Recess example 1
Example 1

The months of June (30 days) and July (31 days) and August (31 days) and September (30 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Monday June 11th and Tuesday September 11th are highlighted in yellow to show the 30-day period. All days in July and August are shaded because they are not counted in the computation of time.

(The months of July and August are included in the computation of time for the serving and filing of all other documents in Court of Appeal.)

Seasonal Recess (from December 21 to January 7)

The two-week period beginning on December 21st in a year and ending on January 7th inclusively in the following year is not included in the calculation of deadlines provided by the Rules.

Exceptions:

When calculating time limits, the seasonal recess period does not apply to deadlines imposed by statute.

If you are served with a document during the seasonal recess period, the calculation of your deadline for serving and filing any documents in response commences on January 8th in any given year, even if this day falls on a weekend. The only exception to this is the calculation of a deadline for filing a document due within 7 days or less.  See example 3 below.

If the Court intends to have time run during the seasonal recess, it will make an order stating that something is to be done on or before a specific day falling within the seasonal recess.

Example 1

A document is to be filed within 30 days from an event that occurred on December 14th. The seasonal recess period applies and the document must be served and filed by January 31st.

seasonal Recess example 1
Example 1

The months of December (31 days) and January (31 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Friday December 14 and Thursday, January 31 are highlighted in yellow to show the 30 day period. All days between Friday, December 21 and Monday, January 7 inclusive are shaded because they are not counted in the computation of time.

The shaded days from December 21 to January 7, the seasonal recess period, are not included in the computation of time.

Example 2

A document is to be served and filed within 10 days from an event that occurred on December 14th. The seasonal recess period applies and the document is due by January 11th.

seasonal Recess example 2
Example 2

The months of December (31 days) and January (31 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Friday, December 14 and Friday, January 11 are highlighted in yellow to show the 10 day period. All days between Friday, December 21 and Monday, January 7 inclusive, the seasonal recess, are shaded because they are not counted in the computation of time.

Example 3

A document is to be served and filed within 4 days from an event that occurred on December 16th. The seasonal recess period applies and the document is due by January 11th.

seasonal Recess example 3
Example 2

The months of December (31 days) and January (31 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Thursday, December 16 and Tuesday, January 11 are highlighted in yellow to show the 4 day period. All days between Tuesday, December 21 and Friday, January 7 inclusive are shaded because they are not counted in the computation of time. The shaded days from December 18-19 and January 8-9 (seasonal recess + weekends) are not included in the computation of time. 

Date modified: 2023-09-22

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