Jurisdiction assumptions — Critical Dates
This is the full reference of the assumptions behind every legal-deadline Athenty suggests, for all 13 Canadian jurisdictions. The “Calculate legal deadlines” tool on a matter uses these to compute a suggested critical date from a triggering event (e.g. statement of claim served).
How a deadline is counted
Section titled “How a deadline is counted”Unless a jurisdiction’s own rule differs, Athenty counts every period the same way — the common Canadian civil-procedure model:
| Assumption | Default behaviour |
|---|---|
| First / last day | Exclude the day of the triggering event, include the last day (exclude-first / include-last). |
| Saturdays | Treated as closed (a registry-closed, non-counting day). |
| Sundays & holidays | Non-counting; a deadline that lands on one rolls forward to the next open day. |
| Short periods (under 7 days) | Exclude holidays from the count. |
| Holiday set | Each jurisdiction uses its court / Interpretation Act computation “holiday” list — not the employment statutory-holiday list. These differ on purpose (for example, Thanksgiving is a court holiday in Ontario but not in British Columbia). |
“Holidays” throughout this page means the computation definition (the province’s Interpretation Act / Legislation Act / Rules of Court), which is what governs deadline math — not the paid stat-holiday list employees get.
Jurisdiction assumptions
Section titled “Jurisdiction assumptions”Provinces and territories, with the computation holiday set, the defence/response period (by where the originating document was served, where that matters), the appeal period, and the limitation/prescription period.
| Jurisdiction | Computation holidays — notable, intentional differences | Defence / response | Appeal | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | RCP r. 1.03 — incl. Easter Monday, Thanksgiving, the August Civic Holiday | Defence RCP 18.01 — 20 / 40 / 60 days (Ontario / elsewhere in Canada & US / outside) | RCP 61.04 — 30 days | Limitations Act, 2002 s. 4 — 2 years |
| British Columbia | Interpretation Act s. 29 — incl. Family Day, BC Day, Sept 30; excludes Thanksgiving | Response SCCR 3-3 — 21 / 35 / 49 days (Canada / US / elsewhere) | Court of Appeal — 30 days from pronouncement | Limitation Act (2012) s. 6 — 2 years |
| Alberta | Interpretation Act s. 28 — incl. Easter Monday, Family Day, Thanksgiving; no Heritage Day / Sept 30; Dec 26 → 27 rule | Defence Rules of Court 3.31 — 20 days (AB) / 1 month (Canada) / 2 months (outside) | Court of Appeal — 1 month | Limitations Act s. 3 — 2 years (10-yr ultimate) |
| Saskatchewan | Legislation Act (2019) — incl. Saskatchewan Day, Thanksgiving, Boxing Day; no Easter Monday; Sunday-only shift | King’s Bench — 20 / 30 / 40 days | Court of Appeal — 30 days | Limitations Act (2004) s. 5 — 2 years |
| Manitoba | Interpretation Act s. 23 — incl. Louis Riel Day, Sept 30, Thanksgiving, Boxing Day; no Easter Monday / August Civic | King’s Bench 18.01 — 20 / 40 / 60 days | Court of Appeal — 30 days | Limitations Act (2021) s. 6 — 2 years |
| Nova Scotia | Interpretation Act s. 235 — incl. Heritage Day, Thanksgiving; no Boxing Day / Easter Monday / Natal Day; Sunday-only shift | Civil Procedure Rules — 15 / 30 / 45 days | Court of Appeal — 25 business days | Limitation of Actions Act (2014) s. 8 — 2 years |
| New Brunswick | Interpretation Act s. 1 — incl. Easter Monday, Family Day, New Brunswick Day, Thanksgiving; no Boxing Day; Sunday-only shift | Rules of Court 20.02 — 20 / 40 / 60 days | Rule 62 — 30 days | Limitation of Actions Act (2009) s. 5 — 2 years |
| Prince Edward Island | Court set — incl. Islander Day, Victoria Day, Sept 30, Thanksgiving; no Easter Monday / August / Boxing Day | RCP 18.01 (Ontario-modelled) — 20 / 40 / 60 days | Court of Appeal — 30 days | Statute of Limitations s. 7 — category-based (~6 years) |
| Newfoundland & Labrador | Interpretation Act s. 27(1)(l) — incl. Memorial/Canada Day, Thanksgiving, Boxing Day; no Easter Monday / Sept 30 / St Patrick’s / St George’s / Discovery / Orangemen’s; Sunday-only shift | RSC 1986 r. 10.02 / 6.07(5) — 10 (NL) / 30 (Canada) / 45 (US) / 60 (world) days | Court of Appeal Civil Rules 2025 (NLR 44/25) — 30 days from filing | Limitations Act (1995) — category 2 yr / 6 yr, 30-yr ultimate |
| Yukon | Interpretation Act s. 21 — incl. Easter Monday, National Indigenous Peoples Day (Jun 21), Discovery Day (3rd Mon Aug), Sept 30; no October Thanksgiving / Boxing Day; Sunday-only shift, Remembrance Day exempt | Rules of Court r. 21(3) + r. 14(2) — appearance + 14 days = 21 / 35 / 42 / 56 (YT / Canada / US / world) | Court of Appeal Act → BC CoA r. 6(2) — 30 days from pronouncement | Limitation of Actions Act c. 139 — accrual 6 yr basic / 2 yr personal injury |
| Northwest Territories | Interpretation Act (SNWT 2017, c. 19) s. 21 — incl. Easter Monday, National Indigenous Peoples Day, August Civic, Sept 30, Thanksgiving, Boxing Day; full Sat/Sun → Monday roll | Rules of the Supreme Court r. 93 — 25 (NT) / 30 (outside) days, +10 on appearance | Court of Appeal Civil Rules R-091-2018 r. 7 — 30 days from entry + service | Limitation of Actions Act c. L-8 — category 2 yr / 6 yr |
| Nunavut | Legislation Act (S.Nu. 2020, c. 15) s. 1(1) — incl. Easter Monday, Nunavut Day (Jul 9), August Civic, Sept 30, Thanksgiving, Boxing Day; no National Indigenous Peoples Day; Boxing-Day-Sunday → Tuesday | Rules of the Nunavut Court of Justice r. 93 — 25 (NU) / 30 (outside) days, +10 on appearance | Court of Appeal Civil Rules R-014-2018 r. 7 — 30 days from entry + service | Limitation of Actions Act c. L-8 (inherited) — category 2 yr / 6 yr |
| Quebec (civil law — distinct regime) | Non-juridical days — CCP art. 82 + Interpretation Act s. 61(23): incl. Jan 2, Easter Monday, St-Jean (Jun 24), Dec 26; no Dec 24 / Dec 31; no weekend Monday-substitution | Answer to the summons CCP art. 145 — 15 days (uniform; no service-location tiers) | CCP arts. 360, 363 — 30 days, strict (right forfeited on expiry) | Civil Code art. 2925 — prescription, 3 years |
Quebec is a different regime
Section titled “Quebec is a different regime”Quebec is civil law. It does not use the common-law “statement of defence” or “limitation period”:
- a defendant answers the summons within 15 days (CCP art. 145) and the parties then build a case protocol — there is no statement of defence;
- the appeal period is a strict time limit — the right to appeal is forfeited on expiry (CCP art. 363), extendable only where it was factually impossible to act sooner;
- the limitation is prescription under the Civil Code (art. 2925, 3 years), a civil-law doctrine — not common-law discoverability.
Varying the assumptions (toggle settings)
Section titled “Varying the assumptions (toggle settings)”Most of the counting assumptions above are configurable per jurisdiction for your organization. Open Settings ▸ Critical Date Rules, pick a jurisdiction, and adjust any of:
- Saturday closed — whether Saturday counts as a closed day.
- First/last-day counting — exclude-first/include-last, include-both, etc.
- Short-period holiday handling — whether periods under 7 days exclude holidays.
- Roll forward — whether a deadline landing on a holiday/weekend rolls to the next open day.
- Individual holidays — turn a specific holiday on or off for a jurisdiction (e.g. if a court treats a day differently than the default set).
Nothing changes out of the box — the defaults on this page apply until you flip a toggle. Restore Default reverts any jurisdiction to the Athenty defaults at any time. These settings are admin-gated, and the org-wide Defaults page (Settings ▸ Organization ▸ Defaults) shows everything your organization has customised, with a one-click restore.
Sources & authorities
Section titled “Sources & authorities”Every assumption above traces to a statute or rule of court. These are the authorities behind each jurisdiction’s holiday set, response/defence period, appeal period, and limitation/prescription — linked to the official text or CanLII. They remain attorney-review-pending until a lawyer signs them off.
The in-app Settings ▸ Critical Date Rules library shows the same citation on each individual rule, with its version and review-due status.
Why the rulesets are maintained, not edited in place
Section titled “Why the rulesets are maintained, not edited in place”Legal-deadline rules are malpractice-sensitive. They are maintained as reviewed changes — each keeps its citation, a version bump, and a second set of eyes — rather than being free-text-edited. Every ruleset stays Attorney review pending until a lawyer signs it off, and every computed date is shown as “Suggested — verify.” If you spot a rule that needs updating, flag it for the team.
See also: Critical Date Rules (the in-app library view of these rules, with citations and review status).