Quebec time limits, with their source
Version 1.0.0 · published 19 August 2026 · CC BY 4.0 · French and English
In short
14 time-limit reference points used in Quebec, published as open, bilingual JSON. What sets this dataset apart: every entry carries the section it rests on and the date that section was read in the official text , not a second-hand compilation. Freely reusable (CC BY 4.0) by a clinic, a community organisation, an application or a spreadsheet.
This dataset gives no legal advice. It does not say which time limit applies to a situation: it documents reference points and their source. A missed deadline can close a recourse for good · always check the statute, the court office, or a lawyer.
Why this dataset
Time limits are the costliest mistake in a file: once they have run, the merits stop mattering. Yet what circulates online is almost always a number without its section · impossible to verify, impossible to date, and therefore impossible to correct when the law changes.
Three examples from the 19 August 2026 update, all found by reading the text rather than copying a secondary source:
- refusing a rent increase is not “30 days” but “within the month” of receiving the notice (art. 1945 C.C.Q.); for a notice received on 31 January the difference sends you two days late , and silence counts as acceptance;
- challenging before the Administrative Labour Tribunal is 60 days (AIAOD s. 359), not 45: the 45 days belong to a different recourse, the dismissal complaint (ALS s. 124);
- suing a municipality is not the three-year civil limitation: the action must be brought within six months (Cities and Towns Act, s. 585 para. 5).
Publishing the section and the read date is what makes a number verifiable by someone else. That is the only reason this file exists.
What the dataset contains
14 reference points, each with its area, label, length, starting point and source · in French and in English.
| Area | Reference point | Time limit | Starting point and notes | Source · read on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penal and criminal | Contest a ticket / an offence | 30 days | from SERVICE of the ticket (Code of Penal Procedure s. 160, read in the text on 2026-08-19) | Code de procédure pénale art. 160 2026-08-19 |
| Penal and criminal | Appeal a decision | 30 days | from the first-instance judgment (Code of Penal Procedure s. 271, read in the text on 2026-08-19) · a judge may set ANOTHER time limit, even after it has run out · in criminal matters (Criminal Code s. 815) the time limit is set by the rules of court and the court may extend it | C.p.p. art. 271 2026-08-19 |
| Statement of offence (ticket) | Plead / contest a ticket | 30 days | from SERVICE of the ticket, at the address shown on it (Code of Penal Procedure s. 160, read in the text on 2026-08-19) | Code de procédure pénale art. 160 2026-08-19 |
| Work and CNESST | Request a CNESST review | 30 days | from NOTIFICATION of the decision (Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases, s. 358, read in the text on 2026-08-19) | LATMP art. 358 2026-08-19 |
| Work and CNESST | Challenge before the TAT | 60 days | from NOTIFICATION of the review decision (Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases, s. 359, read in the text on 2026-08-19) · not to be confused with the 45 days for a dismissal complaint (Act respecting labour standards, s. 124) | LATMP art. 359 2026-08-19 |
| Housing (TAL) | Revocation of a TAL decision | 10 days | from BECOMING AWARE of the decision, or from when the impediment ends (Act respecting the TAL, s. 89, read in the text on 2026-08-19) · the application suspends enforcement and interrupts the appeal period | Loi sur le TAL art. 89 2026-08-19 |
| Housing (TAL) | Refuse a rent increase | 1 months | from RECEIPT of the notice of modification · with no answer, the tenant is deemed to have ACCEPTED (art. 1945 C.C.Q., read on 2026-08-19) | art. 1945 C.c.Q. 2026-08-19 |
| Family | Appeal a judgment | 30 days | from the date of the NOTICE of judgment, or the date of the judgment if it was rendered at the hearing (Code of Civil Procedure s. 360, read in the text on 2026-08-19) | C.p.c. art. 360 2026-08-19 |
| Immigration | Judicial review · Federal Court (in Canada) | 15 days | from notice or knowledge of the decision · a judge may extend it for special reasons (IRPA s. 72(2)(b) and (c), read on 2026-08-19) | LIPR art. 72(2) b) et c) 2026-08-19 |
| Immigration | Judicial review · Federal Court (outside Canada) | 60 days | from notice or knowledge of the decision · a judge may extend it for special reasons (IRPA s. 72(2)(b) and (c), read on 2026-08-19) | LIPR art. 72(2) b) et c) 2026-08-19 |
| Municipal | Written notice to the municipality (damage) | 15 days | from the accident or the damage (Cities and Towns Act s. 585, read in the text on 2026-08-19) · in a municipality governed by the Municipal Code, the notice is given within 60 days instead (s. 1112.1) · failing to give notice does not remove the right of action if the person proves they were prevented from giving it | Loi sur les cités et villes art. 585 2026-08-19 |
| Municipal | Lawsuit against a municipality | 6 months | from the accident or from when the right of action arose (Cities and Towns Act s. 585 para. 5 · Municipal Code s. 1112.1, read in the text on 2026-08-19) · THIS is the period that runs, not the general 3-year civil limitation | Loi sur les cités et villes art. 585 al. 5 · Code municipal art. 1112.1 2026-08-19 |
| Municipal | Civil limitation period (general) | 3 years | from awareness of the harm (art. 2925 C.C.Q., read on 2026-08-19) · does NOT apply to a lawsuit against a municipality: see the 6 months above | art. 2925 C.c.Q. 2026-08-19 |
| General | Civil limitation period (general) | 3 years | from awareness of the harm (art. 2925 C.C.Q., read on 2026-08-19) | art. 2925 C.c.Q. 2026-08-19 |
Method and limits
How each entry was checked. The section was opened on the official site · LégisQuébec
for Quebec law, the Justice Laws website for federal law · and read. The date in the
source.lueLe field is the date of that reading, not the date the law was last amended.
What the dataset leaves out. Only entries whose section was read in the text, with its date. Reference points tied to the person’s profile (crime-victim compensation, peace bond) are deliberately excluded from version 1.0.0: they cite a section but do not yet carry a read date, and publishing an undated time limit would defeat the point of the file.
A time limit is not arithmetic. The starting point often matters more than the length:
several entries run from the notification or the knowledge of a decision, not from the date
written on it. Several can also be extended by a judge. Those nuances live in the
pointDeDepartEtNotes field, and they are not decorative.
How this file is produced. It is not typed by hand: it is generated from the application’s own table, and an automated check rebuilds the projection at every deployment and requires byte-for-byte equality. A time limit corrected in the tool therefore cannot stay wrong here.
Reuse and citation
CC BY 4.0 licence: reuse, adapt, embed · including commercially · with credit. Citation format:
Preuve en main, « Délais et prescriptions du Québec : repères sourcés », v1.0.0, 2026, https://preuveenmain.ca/donnees/delais-quebec.json, CC BY 4.0
If you republish these entries, keep the section and the read date with the number. A time limit cut off from its source becomes unverifiable again, which is exactly the problem this dataset tries to reduce.