Court holidaysFederal

Federal court holidays 2028

The 13 days that count as holidays when a Federal court deadline is computed, and the days taken in their place when one falls on a weekend.

Holidays in 2028
  • New Year's DaySaturday 1 January
  • New Year's Day (observed) substitute dayMonday 3 January
  • Good FridayFriday 14 April
  • Easter MondayMonday 17 April
  • Victoria DayMonday 22 May
  • Canada DaySaturday 1 July
  • Canada Day (observed) substitute dayMonday 3 July
  • Labour DayMonday 4 September
  • National Day for Truth and ReconciliationSaturday 30 September
  • Thanksgiving DayMonday 9 October
  • Remembrance DaySaturday 11 November
  • Remembrance Day (observed) substitute dayMonday 13 November
  • Christmas DayMonday 25 December

Questions this page answers

How many court holidays do the Federal Courts have in 2028?
13: 10 holidays, plus 3 substitute days taken because a holiday falls on a weekend. The holidays are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day and Christmas Day. This list was last checked against the official consolidation on 12 August 2026, and the instrument behind it is cited at the foot of the page.
Does every Federal court holiday that falls on a weekend move to the following Monday in 2028?
No. National Day for Truth and Reconciliation falls on Saturday 30 September, and the Federal instrument grants no substitute weekday for it. Assuming every weekend holiday shifts to the next open day adds a closed day the rule does not give you, which is an error in the opposite direction to the usual one.
Are these the days the Federal Courts are closed?
Not quite, and the difference matters. This is the list a court uses when it computes time, set by Federal Courts Rules, SOR/98-106, rule 2. Which days a registry has its doors open is a separate question with a separate answer: a local closure, or a day proclaimed after any list was published, binds you whatever a published list says, and a day the doors are shut is not necessarily a day that comes out of the arithmetic.

Where this list comes from

The days that are holidays under rule 2 of the Federal Courts Rules, which counts every Saturday and adopts the definition in s. 35(1) of the Interpretation Act (Canada). Rule 2 moves New Year's Day, Canada Day and Remembrance Day to the following Monday when they fall on a weekend, gives Christmas the following Monday and Tuesday, and gives a Friday Christmas the following Monday. 26 December is not on this list: the registries do close, but neither the Rules nor s. 35(1) name it, so it is not a holiday for computing time outside a province whose own Act makes it non-juridical. Separately, rule 6(3) takes the whole seasonal recess out of the computation of time for filing, amending, transmitting or serving a document, and rule 2 defines that recess as 21 December to 7 January, which no list of single days can show.

Every instrument below was opened and the provision quoted from it read on 12 August 2026. Anything amended since that date is not reflected here, and the dates are generated from a table in this site's source code rather than read live from the statute.

  • Federal Courts Rules, SOR/98-106, rule 2Defines holiday as a Saturday, a holiday under s. 35(1) of the Interpretation Act, the Monday after a weekend New Year's Day, Canada Day or Remembrance Day, the Monday and Tuesday after a weekend Christmas, and the Monday after a Friday Christmas. Also defines the seasonal recess as 21 December to 7 January.
  • Federal Courts Rules, SOR/98-106, rule 6Computation of time. Rule 6(2) takes holidays out of a period of less than seven days; rule 6(3) takes every day of the seasonal recess out of the time for filing, amending, transmitting or serving a document.
  • Interpretation Act, RSC 1985, c I-21, s. 35(1)The list rule 2 adopts: Sunday, New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day, the Sovereign's birthday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day, and any day proclaimed for general prayer, mourning, rejoicing or thanksgiving.
  • Courts Administration Service, registry holidaysThe days the registries are shut, which is a different list and is why 26 December is absent above. It closes on 26 December and on the Civic Holiday in most provinces; rule 2 names neither.

The table cannot know about a day proclaimed after it was written, a closure at your own courthouse, or an amendment to the underlying rules. Confirm any date that a limitation period or a filing deadline depends on.

This page is published for general information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a solicitor-client relationship, and no retainer arises from reading it. To the fullest extent the law allows, Yehuda Levy accepts no liability for any loss arising from reliance on it. You are responsible for verifying every date against the rules and the court in question.

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Counting a deadline around these days

The deadline calculator counts calendar or business days from a triggering date with this list already taken out. Freeboard does the same inside the matter, records the triggering date and the offset it came from, and locks the result so a limitation date cannot be changed quietly afterwards.