The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th has been incorporated into the Federal Courts Rules definition of “holiday”. The Federal Court issued a notice reminding litigants to take this holiday into account when computing deadlines and that hearings are being rescheduled.

The Federal Court Notice of September 8 reads:

Subsection 35(1) of the Interpretation Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. I-21) was recently amended to include National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is observed on September 30, as a holiday. Accordingly, by legislative reference, the day is also recognized as a holiday under the Federal Courts Rules (SOR/98-106). Litigants are reminded to consider this legislative amendment in their computation of time. Any hearings previously scheduled for September 30 will be rescheduled.

In the Federal Courts Rules, “holiday” is defined as:

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

Section 35(1) of the Interpretations Act was amended as of August 3, 2021 to add the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is observed on September 30, by way of the An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation).