Standing Order 28(2)(a) sets out the pattern of adjournments, and thereby the sitting days, for most of the calendar year. There are two long adjournments, one during the summer (between June 23 at the latest and the second Monday after Labour Day) and another starting just before the Christmas holidays (between the second Friday before Christmas and the last Monday in January).

The sitting period from the end of the summer adjournment to the beginning of the Christmas adjournment is interrupted by two one-week adjournments coinciding with the weeks of Thanksgiving Day and Remembrance Day (both non-sitting days under S.O. 28(1)). The sitting period from the Monday after Easter Monday to June 23 is interrupted by a one-week adjournment mid-way between those two dates, and if that adjournment does not include Victoria Day, the House will not meet that day in accordance with S.O. 28(1).

The sitting period from the last Monday in January to the Monday after Easter Monday is governed by S.O. 28(2)(b), which empowers the Speaker to determine, after consultation with the House Leaders of the various parties, when adjournments will be scheduled. Adjournment periods can thus be set which coincide, over the course of a Parliament, with school breaks in different parts of the country so as to allow Members with younger children to spend this time with their families.