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Calculating deadlines

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Include in the computation of time

Deadlines in days

For a document that must be served or filed within a defined number of days before or after a specified event:

Example 1: Applications for leave to appeal

To calculate the deadline for serving and filing an application for leave to appeal “within 60 days after the date of the judgment appealed from” (paragraph 58(1)(a) of the Supreme Court Act):

In this example, the date of the judgment appealed is April 30, so the application for leave to appeal must be served and filed by end of the day on June 29 (Eastern time).

The months of April (30 days), May (31 days) and June (30 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Monday April 30 and Friday June 29 are highlighted in yellow to show the 60 day period.

Example 2: Response to an application for leave to appeal

The deadline for serving and filing a response to an application for leave to appeal is “within 30 days after the day on which a file is opened by the Court following the filing of an application for leave to appeal” or, if a file has already been opened, within 30 days after the service of an application for leave to appeal (subrule 27(1) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada).

To calculate the deadline:

In this example, the application for leave to appeal was served on May 2 and the response must be served and filed by the end of the day on June 1 (Eastern time).

The months of May (31 days) and June (30 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Wednesday May 2 and Friday June 1 are highlighted in yellow to show the 30 day period.

Deadlines in weeks

For a document that must be served or filed within a defined number of weeks after a specified event:

A week is counted 7 days at a time.

Example: Factums on appeal

An appellant’s factum must be served and filed within 8 weeks of the notice of appeal. The respondent’s factum on appeal must be served and filed “within 8 weeks after the service of the appellant’s factum” (subrule 36(2) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada).

In this example, the appellant’s factum was served on May 2. The respondent’s factum must be served and filed by the end of the day on June 27 (Eastern time).

The months of May (31 days) and June (30 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Wednesday May 2nd and Wednesday June 27 are highlighted in yellow to show the eight week period.

Holidays and weekends

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

The Registry of the Supreme Court of Canada is closed on the following holidays:

However, please note that the Registry of the Supreme Court of Canada may be open on provincial and territorial holidays, including June 24 (National Day in Quebec) and the third Monday in February. Please contact the Registry if you have any questions about deadlines that expire on a provincial holiday.

Example 1:

A notice of appeal as of right must be served and filed “within 30 days after the date of the judgment appealed from” (paragraph 58(1)(b) of the Supreme Court Act). The date of the judgment appealed from is not included in the calculation of time. In this example, the date of the judgment appealed from is May 4 and the 30th day is a Sunday, so the notice of appeal as of right must be served and filed by the end of the day on the next business day, which is Monday June 4.

The months of May (31 days) and June (30 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Friday May 4 and Monday June 4 are highlighted in yellow to show the 30 day period. Sunday June 3 is shaded because it is not counted in the computation of time.

Note: May 21, which is a holiday (Victoria Day), is included in the calculation of time.

Example 2:

A reply must be filed “within five days after the service of the response to the motion” (subrule 50(1) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada). In this example, the response was served on April 3, so the deadline for serving and filing the reply is by the end of the day on April 12 because 2 holidays and 2 weekend days are excluded from the calculation. The shaded days, April 6 (Good Friday), April 7 and April 8 (weekend days) and April 9 (Easter Monday) are not counted in the calculation of time.

The month of April (30 days) is represented in a calendar view. Tuesday April 3 and Thursday April 12 are highlighted in yellow to show the 5 day period. Friday April 6, Saturday April 7, Sunday April 8 and Monday April 9 are shaded because it is not counted in the computation of time.

Exclusions

Some deadlines are suspended during the month of July and for the period between December 23 of one year and January 3 of the next year.

The month of July

The month of July is not included in the calculation of time for the serving and filing of the following documents:

The month of July is included in the calculation of time for the serving and filing of the following documents:

Example:

A notice of appeal as of right must be served and filed “within 30 days after the date of the judgment appealed from” (paragraph 58(1)(b) of the Supreme Court Act). In this example, the judgment appealed from was rendered on June 21. The shaded days in the month of July are not counted. The 30-day time limit for serving and filing the notice of appeal expires on August 21.

The months of June (30 days) and July (31 days) and August (31 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Thursday June 21 and Tuesday August 21 are highlighted in yellow to show the 30 day period. All days in July are shaded because they are not counted in the computation of time.

Holiday recess period from December 23 to January 3

The period beginning on December 23 in a year and ending on January 3 inclusively in the following year is not included in the calculation of deadlines in the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada, except for the service and filing of a notice of constitutional question.

Because the deadlines for the documents listed below are imposed by statute (Paragraph 58 of the Supreme Court Act), there is no suspension of the time limits for the serving and filing of the following documents:

If you are served with a document during the holiday recess period, the calculation of your deadline for serving and filing any documents in response starts on January 4, even if this day falls on a weekend. The only exception to this is the calculation of a deadline for filing a reply to a response to a motion. In this case, the 5-day deadline is calculated from the first day after January 4 that is not a weekend.

Example 1: Deadlines in days

The deadline for serving and filing a response to an application for leave to appeal is 30 days after the leave application was served. To calculate the deadline:

In this example, the application for leave to appeal was served on December 14 and the response must be served and filed by the end of the day on January 25 (Eastern time).

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 25 are highlighted in yellow to show the 30 day period. All days between Sunday, December 23 and Thursday, January 3 inclusive are shaded because they are not counted in the computation of time.

The shaded days from December 23 to January 3 (the holiday recess period) are not included in the calculation of time.

Example 2: Deadlines in weeks

Within two weeks after being served with the factum in a cross-appeal, an appellant may serve and file a factum in response to the cross-appeal. In this example, the factum on cross-appeal was served on December 14 and the factum in response to the cross-appeal must be served and filed by the end of the day on January 9 (Eastern time).

The months of December (31 days) and January (31 days) are represented side by side in a calendar view. Friday, December 14 and Wednesday, January 9 are highlighted in yellow to show the two week period. All days between Sunday, December 23 and Thursday, January 3 inclusive are shaded because they are not counted in the computation of time.

The shaded days from December 23 to January 3 (the holiday recess period) are not included in the calculation of time. A week is counted 7 days at a time (Rule 5(1.1)).

Date modified: 2024-12-17