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When does the clock run out?
Work out the ordinary civil deadline in any Canadian jurisdiction, see how many days are left, and put it in your calendar.
Limitation period reference
Work out the ordinary civil deadline in a Canadian jurisdiction, and put it in your calendar.
This is a reference, not legal advice. It shows the general civil period only. Municipal notice periods, statutory accident benefits, workers' compensation, claims against the Crown, minors, and incapacity all run on different clocks and often much shorter ones. Confirm the statute before you rely on any date here.
When the claim was, or ought to have been, discovered.
Used for the ultimate period, where the jurisdiction has one.
Enter a discovery date to see a deadline.
- Basic period
- 2 years from discovery
- Ultimate period
- 15 years from the act
- Basic deadline
- Enter a discovery date
- Ultimate deadline
- Enter the date of the act
- Earliest of the two
- Not yet calculated
British Columbia
Limitation Act, SBC 2012, ss. 6 and 21 — ICBC claims carry their own notice requirements on top of this period.
How to use it
Four steps
- 1
Pick the jurisdiction
Each province and territory carries its own period and its own statute.
- 2
Enter the discovery date
When the claim was, or ought to have been, discovered. This drives the basic period.
- 3
Add the date of the act
The ultimate period runs from this date, whatever anyone knew.
- 4
Take the earlier date
The tool shows both and tells you which expires first. Export it as a calendar entry.
Background
What the numbers mean
Two clocks, not one
Most Canadian jurisdictions run a basic period from discovery and an ultimate period from the act itself. The basic period is usually two years. The ultimate period is fifteen years in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, ten in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador, and thirty in Manitoba. Whichever expires first is the one that matters.
Quebec counts differently
Quebec uses prescription rather than limitation. The general period for a personal action is three years under article 2925 of the Civil Code. Bodily injury has its own article, and claims arising from certain offences run far longer. Do not assume the common-law two years applies in Quebec.
The special regimes are the ones that catch people
The general civil period is rarely the shortest clock on an IME file. Statutory accident benefits, workers' compensation objections, municipal notice periods, and claims against the Crown all run on their own timelines, and several of them are measured in days rather than years. A file can be well inside the limitation period and already out of time to object.
This is a reference, not advice
Every row names its statute so you can check it. Minority, incapacity, acknowledgement, fraudulent concealment, and transitional provisions from a repealed Act can all move a date. Use this to set a reminder and to sanity-check a diary entry. Do not use it to decide whether to issue.
FAQ
Questions people ask
What is the limitation period in Ontario?
Two years from discovery for an ordinary civil claim, with a fifteen-year ultimate period from the act or omission. Source: Limitations Act, 2002, sections 4 and 15. Accident benefits under the SABS run on much shorter timelines of their own.
What is the limitation period in British Columbia?
Two years from discovery, with a fifteen-year ultimate period. Source: Limitation Act, SBC 2012, sections 6 and 21. ICBC claims carry separate notice requirements on top of this.
Why is Quebec three years?
Quebec is a civil-law jurisdiction and uses prescription rather than limitation. Article 2925 of the Civil Code sets three years for a personal action. Bodily injury is dealt with separately at article 2926.1.
Does the discovery date always start the clock?
Usually, but not always. The ultimate period runs from the act itself regardless of discovery, and that is the point of it. Minority and incapacity can suspend the basic period. Acknowledgement of a debt can restart it.
Can I rely on this for a filing decision?
No. It is a reference with the statutes cited so you can verify them, and a calendar export so a date does not get lost. The decision to issue is a legal one.
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