Guidelines on filing documents

Table of contents

    In accordance with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules, parties must file their documents by electronic transmission. Documents filed this way constitute the original record.

    We accept the following means of electronic transmission:

    If we consider that it’s justified in the circumstances, we may allow paper-only filings upon request. For more information, contact the Registrar at 613 993-3595 .

    Document naming convention

    Use the following naming convention for documents filed electronically:

    • Tribunal case No. – Party – Subject – Confidentiality designation

    Tribunal case No.: If you don’t have a Tribunal case No., disregard this requirement.

    Party: Participant or company name.

    Subject: Topic of the document.

    Confidentiality designation: “PUBLIC”, “PROTECTED” or “CONFIDENTIAL”.

    Examples

    • NQ-2018-001 – Company ABC – Witness Statement – PROTECTED
    • AP-2018-001 – Company ABC – Respondent’s brief – PUBLIC
    • Company ABC – Notice of appeal form – PUBLIC
    • Company ABC – Procurement complaint form – PUBLIC

    Document formats

    • Submit Tribunal questionnaires in Excel format, and all other documents in Portable Document Format (PDF). 
    • Convert documents to PDF prior to filing them electronically. 
    • Where possible, create PDF files directly from a source document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or any Microsoft Office Suite compatible format). 
    • Scan documents that only exist in paper format to create a PDF file that supports keyword searches.

    Portable document format conversion

    Numerous programs exist for PDF conversion (such as Adobe), including some that are free. Many word processing, spreadsheet and presentation programs have built-in options that allow you to create, download, export and save the document as a PDF file.

    Font

    Some special characters used in certain word processing applications may not convert easily to PDF. You’re responsible for the accuracy of the documents submitted.

    • Only use Roman and Cyrillic alphabets.
    • Scan documents in other foreign language alphabets. 
    • Check special characters on conversion to ensure they weren’t changed.

    Embedded files

    Don’t attach embedded files to your PDF document, including

    • comments (note tool, pencil tool, highlights tool, digital signature tool, embedded files, sounds or other multimedia);
    • forms actions;
    • JavaScript actions;
    • external cross references;
    • web links; and
    • image alternates.

    Document properties

    • Don’t incorporate in your PDF documents any properties that might restrict or prevent us from viewing, printing or searching them. 
    • Ensure that the security setting of PDF documents is “none” and the documents aren’t password protected.

    Page numbering

    • Ensure that pages are numbered consecutively.

    Page size

    • Ideally, each page of an electronically filed document should be in letter-sized format (i.e. 8.5” by 11” when printed); however, other formats are acceptable (e.g. 8.5” by 14”).

    Confidentiality

    • In the confidential version of a document, highlight all confidential information by using shading, boldface characters or square brackets.
    • When filing electronically, delete (don’t simply mask or hide) the confidential information from the public version of the same document. 
    • Add the word “PROTECTED” at the bottom right corner of every page of confidential documents. The font must be red, size 18 Arial and bolded.

    Scanned documents

    Although we prefer that PDF documents filed electronically be converted directly from the original source document, it’s not always practical or feasible. If you must scan a document for filing, follow these guidelines:

    • Resolution – Minimum 300 dots per inch.
    • Size – 1:1 resolution (scan so that the document is the same size as the original) or adjust paper size to the right format.
    • Optical character recognition – Use Adobe Acrobat’s “paper capture” feature to create a searchable PDF document (if you use different software, consult your technical support staff or software provider).
    • Compression – Set PDF compression to “standard”.
    • Images/photos – Set image quality to “standard”. 
    • Quality assurance – Ensure that:
      • all pages and details (e.g. decimal points) were captured;
      • the document is accurate and doesn’t include scanner-generated marks;
      • the document is fully searchable.

    File size limitations and electronic transmission

    Documents filed using our Secure E-Filing Service (preferred option) upload at approximately 5 MB per minute using a high-speed connection. However, many factors may have an influence on upload times, such as the PDF conversion format, the resolution of the document and whether a document has been scanned in colour or in black and white. See the table below for approximate upload times.

    Upload times 
    Size in megabytes Number of pages Approximate upload time
    5 125 > 1 minute
    10 250 > 2 minutes
    25 600 5 minutes
    50 1,130 10 minutes 
    100 1,600 22 minutes
    150 2,475 30 minutes

    Our Secure E-Filing Service can accept up to 10 files with a maximum of 500 MB per transmission. Therefore, the limit cannot exceed 500 MB per document.

    Save on electronic media such as a DVD or USB key documents that are in electronic form but exceeds the size limit, and send it to us by courier. Contact the Registrar at 613-993-3595 for more information.

    Don’t break a single document of less than the file size limit into multiple documents. Use tabs and bookmarks to identify each section in a logical sequence. Include a divider page or tab before each attachment. The divider page or tab must be properly identified/bookmarked.

    More than one document can be submitted at a time if the total transferrable size of the transmission does not exceed 500 MB.