I recently received a question from an FOI Assist Knowledge Base reader about whether September 30 — the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — should be considered a “holiday” or a “business day” when calculating FOI deadlines under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).
This question has taken on greater importance following the changes introduced by Bill 97. As of July 1, 2026, most statutory deadlines under FIPPA and MFIPPA are calculated in business days rather than calendar days. September 30, 2026 is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation since those changes came into effect.
A quick refresher: how are “business days” calculated?
As discussed in the earlier FOI Assist Knowledge Base article, How are “holidays” defined under FIPPA and MFIPPA when counting “business days”?, section 2(5) of FIPPA and section 2(4) of MFIPPA now provide that:
a business day is any day that is not a Saturday or a holiday.
Neither FIPPA nor MFIPPA defines “holiday” itself. Instead, the applicable definition comes from Ontario’s Legislation Act, 2006 (the “Legislation Act”).
Section 88(2) of the Legislation Act specifically identifies a number of holidays, including Sunday, New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
It also includes:
any day fixed as a holiday by proclamation of the Governor General or Lieutenant Governor.
September 30 — the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — is not one of the holidays specifically named in section 88(2).
The fact that September 30 is a federal statutory holiday does not immediately answer the question. Section 88(2) refers to both the Governor General of Canada and the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, so the Legislation Act appears capable of capturing holidays established at either the federal or provincial level.
The more precise question, then, is how was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation established? Was September 30 fixed as a holiday by proclamation of the Governor General?
How was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation established?
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was established federally in 2021.
Parliament did this by amending the federal Interpretation Act to add:
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is observed on September 30
to the federal definition of “holiday.”
That distinction is important. September 30 became a federal statutory holiday because Parliament amended federal legislation to make it one.
The upshot is that September 30 was not fixed as a holiday by proclamation of the kind referred to in section 88(2)(12) of Ontario’s Legislation Act, 2006.
(For completeness, the federal amending legislation itself did not come into force by proclamation either. Rather, it contained its own coming-into-force provision, under which it came into force automatically two months after receiving Royal Assent. In my view, however, even if the amending legislation had come into force by proclamation, that would not have changed the result. The relevant question under section 88(2)(12) is whether the day itself was fixed as a holiday by proclamation, not whether the legislation establishing the holiday came into force by proclamation.)
Ontario did not add September 30 to its list of holidays
Ontario has also not added the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to the holidays specifically identified in section 88(2) of the Legislation Act, 2006.
The fact that a day is a federal statutory holiday does not necessarily make it a “holiday” for the purpose of calculating deadlines under Ontario legislation. For FIPPA and MFIPPA purposes, the relevant question is whether the day falls within the Ontario Legislation Act definition.
September 30 does not appear to do so.
The Ontario Court of Justice reached the same conclusion
There is also a helpful Ontario Court of Justice order which is directly on point.
In August 2023, Chief Justice Sharon Nicklas issued an order concerning time limits under the Provincial Offences Act around the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
That year, September 30 fell on a Saturday, and Ontario Court of Justice proceedings on Monday, October 2 were set to be limited to Weekend and Statutory Holiday Bail Courts. However, the Court noted that deadlines expiring on October 2 would not automatically be extended to October 3, because September 30 was not a “holiday” within the meaning of the Legislation Act, 2006.
The Chief Justice therefore made an order extending the affected deadlines to October 3.
Although the order arose in the context of proceedings under the Provincial Offences Act, its conclusion about whether September 30 is a “holiday” under the Legislation Act, 2006 is directly relevant to FIPPA and MFIPPA, which rely on the same statutory definition.
So, is September 30 a business day under FIPPA and MFIPPA?
Yes. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is not a “holiday” for the purposes of calculating business days under FIPPA and MFIPPA.
Although September 30 is a federal statutory holiday, it was established through federal legislation rather than by the kind of proclamation referred to in section 88(2)(12) of Ontario’s Legislation Act, 2006. Ontario has also not separately added the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to its statutory definition of “holiday.”
The Ontario Court of Justice’s conclusion that September 30 is not a “holiday” within the meaning of the Legislation Act, 2006 provides additional support for this interpretation.
Accordingly, September 30 should be treated as a business day when calculating FIPPA and MFIPPA deadlines (unless it falls on a weekend). FOI Assist’s free Business Day Calculator applies this approach when calculating statutory deadlines.
For more information about how holidays and business days are calculated under the new FIPPA and MFIPPA rules, see How are “holidays” defined under FIPPA and MFIPPA when counting “business days”?.
Upcoming FOI Assist Seminar: Reducing FOI Request Volumes
The FOI Assist Seminar Series continues on Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern with a free, 60-minute online seminar: Reducing FOI Request Volumes with the “Publicly Available Information” Exemption.
Not every request for government information needs to be processed through the formal FOI system. This seminar will examine how Ontario institutions can use the Publicly Available Information exemption, routine disclosure and other alternative access systems to reduce unnecessary reliance on formal FOI requests while continuing to provide effective public access to government information.
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