eFileCheck

Federal Court of Appeal file size limit and PDF requirements

Short answer

VerifiedFederal, CanadaCourt

The Federal Court of Appeal requires PDF documents with security settings deactivated, and strongly recommends that each document not exceed 100MB, with OCR and bookmarks applied. Larger documents need arrangements with the Registry.

Source: Consolidated Practice Direction

Source checked: October 21, 2026

Requirements

Every rule Federal Court of Appeal publishes that affects your PDF, with its source.

Federal Court of Appeal requirements with sources
Maximum file sizeRecommended100MBParagraph 9(4): if a document must exceed 100MB, contact the Registry to arrange filing.Source [1]
Accepted formatsRequiredPDFSource [1]
OCR on scansRecommendedRequiredSource [1]
Passwords and securityRequiredNot allowedParagraph 8: electronic documents must have any security settings deactivated. Confidential documents follow a separate password process and must not go through e-filing.Source [1]
BookmarksRecommendedRequiredBookmark each table-of-contents entry, affidavit, exhibit and transcript.Source [1]

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Common rejection reasons

  • Accepted formats: PDF. [1]
  • Passwords and security: Not allowed. [1]

Also worth knowing

  • The practice direction also says electronic documents must have "commenting" functionality enabled, so do not lock a PDF against comments.
  • Email filing may be phased out; use it only if absolutely necessary (paragraph 7).

Sources

  1. [1]
    Consolidated Practice Direction

    Federal Court of Appeal

    Read on October 21, 2026. Page date: Dated July 9, 2026 (Date modified: 2026-07-09).

Get an email if these rules change

We re-read every source at least once a week. One email when a source for Federal Court of Appeal changes, nothing else.

Changelog

  1. Replaced the archived 2020 notice (25 MB) with the Consolidated Practice Direction dated July 9, 2026. Status changed from needs_check to verified.

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