The limitation period in s. 39(2) of the Federal Courts Act applies when a cause of action arises otherwise than in a province:
(2) A proceeding in the Federal Court of Appeal or the Federal Court in respect of a cause of action arising otherwise than in a province shall be taken within six years after the cause of action arose.
When does a cause of action arise in a province? The Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Liang clarifies:
[19] A cause of action is a set of facts that provides the basis for an action in court: see Markevich, at paragraph 27. A cause of action arises in a province when all of the elements of the cause of action are present in that province: see Canada v. Canada Maritime Group (Canada) Inc., 1995 CanLII 3513 (FCA), [1995] 3 F.C. 124 at page 129, 185 N.R. 104; Apotex v. Sanofi-Aventis, 2013 FCA 186 (CanLII) at paragraph 105, [2015] 2 F.C.R. 644. The question as to which facts constitute the plaintiffs’ cause of action and where they arose does not appear to have been canvassed in the Federal Court and it was not debated on this appeal. Given the importance of the question for these litigants and for the jurisprudence, I would allow the appeal in part and return this question to the Federal Court, to be decided as directed by the case management judge.