Under the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), Canada has agreed to provide a means to adjust the term of a patent when the CIPO causes unreasonable delays. The new rules would come into force on January 1, 2025, and will only apply to patents based on an application filed on or after December 1, 2020.

Under the proposed rules, the additional term could apply when the issue date is more than the later of: (i) five years from the filing/national entry date; and (ii) three years from requesting examination. The additional term would be determined as the number of excess days (beyond the previously mentioned deadline) less a number of days such as days during the prosecution of the application where processing/examination was delayed other than by the CIPO.

The term adjustment would need to be requested by the applicant. If the application is accepted the CIPO would make a preliminary assessment of the term extension. There would then be a period where the CIPO would receive submissions from both the patentee and third-parties, after which the final extension length would be decided.  After an additional term is granted, third parties would be able to challenge the length of the term adjustment.

More information can be found here.