The statute of limitations in Canada sets a two-year deadline for most civil lawsuits in the common law provinces, running from the date you discovered your claim. Quebec uses a three-year prescription period under its Civil Code. Criminal law is separate: serious indictable offences have no time limit, while summary conviction offences must be charged within 12 months.
The Two-Year Civil Deadline
Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan all set the basic limitation period for civil claims at two years. That window covers the lawsuits people are most likely to bring: personal injury, breach of contract, professional negligence, and property damage. File after it closes and the other side can ask the court to dismiss your case without ever looking at the merits.
The two years does not necessarily run from the date something went wrong. It runs from the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, that you had a claim worth pursuing. That difference matters, and it has its own body of law behind it.
When the Two-Year Clock Starts
The discoverability principle controls when the countdown begins. The Supreme Court of Canada set the standard in 2021: the clock starts when you have enough knowledge of the key facts to draw a plausible inference that someone is liable for your loss. Certainty is not required. A reasonable basis to suspect liability is enough, and you cannot sit on your hands once red flags appear.
In practice, three things need to come together before the clock starts. You need to know you suffered some kind of injury or loss. You need to know someone else’s actions caused or contributed to it. And you need to know a lawsuit is a realistic way to seek a remedy. Until those pieces line up, your two years have not started.
The Ultimate Limitation Period
Discoverability can stretch the start date, but every province also sets a hard cutoff that no amount of late discovery can push past. This ultimate limitation period bars claims after a set number of years from the date of the act itself.
The length varies. Alberta’s ultimate deadline is 10 years from when the claim arose. Ontario bars any proceeding after the 15th anniversary of the act or omission that gave rise to the claim.1Government of Ontario. Limitations Act 2002 SO 2002 c 24 Sched B British Columbia also uses a 15-year ultimate period under its Limitation Act.2Supreme Court BC. Limitation Periods
So if you discover a construction defect 16 years after the building was completed, you are out of time in every province, even though you just found out. Specific exceptions exist for minors and people who lack legal capacity, where the ultimate period may be paused.
Quebec Follows a Different System
Quebec’s rules sit in the Civil Code, and the language is different: time limits are called prescription rather than limitation. The general prescription period for personal and property claims is three years.3LégisQuébec. Civil Code of Quebec – Article 2925 The clock starts when the damage first appears, which tracks the discoverability idea with slightly different wording. For damage that builds gradually, it begins when the damage first becomes apparent.
One important feature of Quebec law: you cannot change a prescription period by contract. A clause trying to shorten or extend the three-year deadline is simply invalid.4Gouvernement du Québec. Time Limit for Filing an Application (Prescription) The Civil Code also contains shorter and longer periods for specific claim types, so a Quebec dispute requires a look at the particular provisions that fit the situation.
Exceptions That Pause or Remove the Deadline
The standard periods have several exceptions. Some pause the clock. Others eliminate it.
Minors and People Lacking Capacity
If you are a minor, the limitation clock does not start running until you reach the age of majority — 18 in most provinces, 19 in British Columbia and a few others.5BC Laws. Limitation Act SBC 2012 c 13 A child injured at age 10 in British Columbia would have until age 21 to file. The same principle applies when a person lacks the physical, mental, or psychological capacity to start a claim. The clock stays paused for the duration of the incapacity.
Sexual Assault
Sexual assault claims receive distinct treatment on both tracks. There is no time limit for reporting a sexual assault to police, no matter how many years have passed. On the civil side, several provinces have eliminated or significantly extended limitation periods for sexual assault and sexual abuse claims, in recognition of the well-documented barriers that keep survivors from coming forward promptly.
Fraudulent Concealment
When someone deliberately hides the facts that would give rise to your claim, Canadian courts have long held that the limitation period can be suspended. The doctrine does not require outright deceit. It is enough that the defendant’s conduct made it unconscionable for them to benefit from the delay they caused. A contractor who covers up shoddy foundation work cannot later argue that the homeowner waited too long to sue.
Claims Against Government Bodies
Several provinces require very short written notice before you can sue a municipality or other government entity. These are not full limitation periods but preliminary requirements, and missing one can end an otherwise valid claim. In Ontario, a person injured on a municipal sidewalk must notify the municipality in writing within 10 days of the injury. Other provinces impose their own notice windows. If you are considering a claim against any level of government, check the applicable notice period right away.
How Acknowledging a Debt Restarts the Clock
A limitation period that is already running, or even one that has expired, can sometimes start fresh. The most common trigger is acknowledgment of a debt: a written statement confirming you owe the money, or a partial payment on the balance.6Canada.ca. How Long a Debt Can Be Collected by the CRA When either happens, the time already elapsed is wiped out and a new limitation period begins from the date of the acknowledgment.
This surprises people more than almost any other rule here. A debtor who writes “I know I still owe you for that project” or sends a small check to quiet a creditor may have just handed that creditor a brand-new two years. If you are dealing with an old debt and worried about a limitation defense, be careful about what you put in writing and whether you make any payments before getting advice.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
Missing the deadline does not make your claim disappear on its own. It hands the other side a defense. If the defendant pleads the expired limitation period, the court will dismiss your claim without weighing its merits. The strongest case in the world does not matter once the door closes.
The defendant has to actually raise the defense; courts do not screen for it. In reality, any defendant with a lawyer will spot it, so relying on the other side to miss it is not a plan. Once a claim is statute-barred, it stays barred. There is no general process for asking a court to forgive a late filing because the delay was reasonable, outside the specific exceptions for minors, incapacity, and the other situations above.
Criminal Offences Work Differently
Everything above concerns civil lawsuits — disputes between private parties over money, property, or injuries. Criminal law runs under the Criminal Code of Canada, a federal statute that applies across the country, and follows its own rules.7Department of Justice Canada. The Criminal Code of Canada
Indictable offences, the most serious category, have no time limit for charges. Murder, aggravated sexual assault, major fraud, and other indictable offences can be prosecuted decades later. That is what makes cold-case homicide prosecutions and charges in historical sexual abuse cases possible.
Summary conviction offences carry a tighter deadline. The Criminal Code requires that proceedings for a summary offence be started within 12 months of the date the offence occurred.8Department of Justice Canada. Criminal Code RSC 1985 c C-46 – Section 786 Many offences are hybrid, meaning the Crown picks whether to proceed by indictment or by summary conviction. That election decides whether the 12-month deadline bites. Proceed by indictment, and there is no limit. Proceed summarily, and the charge must be laid within a year.