Introduction

In this article, I’ll walk you through how to request an extension of time when you’re unable to meet a Federal Court deadline during your judicial review process.

I’m assuming you’re already familiar with the basics of judicial review. If not, I highly recommend reading my post: “Understanding the Judicial Framework” — it explains the structure and deadlines involved in mandamus and judicial review applications in detail^[1].

I highly recommend contacting your local Federal Court by phone to ask how to request an extension. They can guide you on the best approach based on your specific situation. Once you have that information, this guide will help you prepare and file your motion in accordance with the Federal Court Rules.

What is an Extension of Time?

An extension of time is a request you submit to the Federal Court when you need more time to complete a required step (like submitting your Applicant’s Record or Reply Memorandum). You file a motion asking the Court to extend your deadline, and a judge will review your request and issue a decision. This decision will then be served to all parties involved.

There are two types of motions when it comes to requesting an extension:

1. Informal Motion (by consent)

This is the simpler option. You reach out to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to explain why you need more time and ask for their written consent. If they agree, you can submit a short informal motion to the Court, attaching their consent. The judge usually approves this kind of request.

2. Formal Motion

If the DOJ does not agree to your extension, or if you are unable to reach them in time, you must file a formal motion. You filling out a Motion Record, attaching affidavits explaining your reasons, providing any supporting evidence (e.g., medical issues, professional obligations like a full time job, etc.)

The DOJ may respond with a letter supporting or opposing your request, and the judge will make a final decision. It’s more involved, but don’t worry — we’ll break it down step by step in this article.

Informal motion (by consent)

An informal motion is a bundle of 3 documents submitted to the Federal Court when both parties agree to extend a deadline. It’s faster and easier than a formal motion.

Here’s what it includes:

1. Application Letter: A one-page letter addressed to the Court, explaining which rule or deadline you wish to extend, why you’re requesting more time, and confirming that you have the consent of the other party (the Department of Justice).

2. The Consent Evidence: A PDF copy of the email exchange with the DOJ showing that you requested consent and that they agreed to the extension. This proves the motion is filed on consent.

3. A Draft Order: This is a template of the Court Order you’re asking the judge to sign. It simply outlines the extension and confirms that the parties agree.

Now, let’s begin. First, you’ll need to write an email to the DOJ requesting their consent for the extension. You can download an example of this email here: informal-motion-consent-email.txt.

Make sure to read the content carefully and replace all the placeholder text (everything between the brackets) with your actual case information before sending it.

If you receive the respondent’s consent, export both your email and their reply as a single PDF file (If they refuse to consent then you have to fill a formal motion).

Now, fill out the application letter, which you can download here: informal-request-for-an-extension-of-time.docx. Make sure to replace all the highlighted fields with your case information. Replace the highlighted text “File Name” by the the name of the document you need an extension to serve, example: Applicant’s Record, Reply to Memorandum of Arguments etc..

Now let’s prepare the third and last document, the draft order, download the template from here informal-motion-draft-order.docx. Make sure to replace all the highlighted fields with your case information. Replace the highlighted text “File Name” by the the name of the document you need an extension to serve, example: Applicant’s Record, Reply to Memorandum of Arguments etc..

Once you have prepared the three documents, merge them in one file and respect the order: first the application letter, then consent evident (the email sent to DOJ and their response) and then the draft order.

That’s it, now serve the notice to DOJ, create and affidavit of service and serve them to the FC via the e-filling portal. If you don’t know how submitting your document to FC, read my step-by-step guide “Serving document to the Federal Court“.

Formal motion

Now, let’s assume that the respondent refuses to consent to your request for an extension of time. In that situation, you will need to file a formal Motion for an Extension of Time. To support your motion, you must prepare evidence explaining why you were unable to submit your document on time. This could include, for example, an employment letter confirming that you work full-time, proof of an urgent family obligation, or a medical record.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what evidence you will provide to convince the Federal Court that your request is justified. In this guide, I’ll use the example of an employment letter, but you can include any type of document as an exhibit, and as many exhibits as you feel necessary. Keep in mind that the stronger and more numerous your reasons, the higher your chances of obtaining a positive order from the Court.

Now let’s start preparing your motion record. First, download the motion-record.zip file to your computer and unzip it. You should see four files inside. Let’s begin with the first one:

01-table-of-content.docx

This document serves as the cover page of the motion and includes the table of contents.

Leave the Page column as it is for now. Once you have completed your motion record, assembled all the files together, and numbered the pages, return to the table of contents and update the Page column with the correct page numbers.

• On page 1, replace the highlighted case number with your own, and insert your first and last name in uppercase letters.
• On the next page (the table of contents)
  • Replace the highlighted placeholders with your informations.
  • The exhibit(s) you are including (add a new row if you have multiple exhibits)
  • The signing date of each document in the Date column
  • Leave the Page column as it is for now. Once you have completed your motion record, assembled all the files together, and numbered the pages, return to the table of contents and update the Page column with the correct page numbers.

02-notice-of-motion.docx

Next, let’s prepare your Notice of Motion. Replace the highlighted text with your personal information. The “Document Name” refers to the document for which you are requesting an extension of time to file. In most cases, this will be either the Applicant’s Record or the Reply to the Respondent’s Memorandum of Arguments. You may also edit the text of this file to fit your situation, for example, by adding new grounds or including references to additional evidence. Once you have completed your edits, don’t forget to sign the document.

03-affidavit-of-applicant.docx

Carefully replace all highlighted sections with your personal details, the template provided is only an example. Add a new paragraph for each exhibit you are including. This affidavit, along with its exhibits, must be notarized. You can notarize them in the nearby Federal Court for FREE. Otherwise you can go for a private notary or an online notary (I recommend Canada Notary or ATIS, we received a positive feedback regarding them). Note: Don’t sign your documents yet, you will sign them before the notary.

4-written-representations.docx

Carefully replace all highlighted sections with your personal details, and edit the text so that it reflects the specifics of your case. Once you’re done, don’t forget to sign the document.

When you have completed all four documents, merge them into a single file. Add page numbers, update the table of contents with the correct page references, and insert bookmarks and hyperlinks so the document is easy to navigate. I have a video tutorial that shows this process for preparing the Applicant’s Record; the same method applies when assembling the motion record. You can find the video here.

Once your motion record is finalized and ready to submit to the Federal Court, the next step is to serve a copy to the respondent (DOJ). After serving, you must prepare an Affidavit of Service and then file both the motion record and the affidavit with the Federal Court.
If you’ve never prepared an affidavit of service or served documents before, I recommend reading my dedicated guide: “Serving document to the Federal Court“.

What’s next?

IIf you filed a formal motion, you will usually receive a letter from the Respondent (DOJ) within a few days. In that letter, the DOJ often asks the Federal Court to reject your motion record. If, however, you filed an informal motion, you will not receive such a letter, since the respondent has already consented to your extension request.

After a few weeks, the Federal Court will issue an order. This order may grant your motion, setting a new deadline for you to serve your document (if you haven’t already done so). On the other hand, the Court may issue an order rejecting your motion. In that situation, the next steps can vary, but in many cases you may need to file a Notice of Discontinuance in order to withdraw your mandamus application.