The "gap effect" describes a phenomenon whereby saccadic reaction times are expedited by the removal of a visible fixation point prior to target presentation. Here, we investigated whether processes controlling saccade cancellation are also subjected to a gap effect. Human subjects performed a countermanding experiment which required them to try to cancel an impending saccade in the presence of an imperative visual stop signal, across different fixation conditions. We found that saccadic cancellation latencies, estimated via derivation of the stop signal reaction time (SSRT), were ~40 ms shorter on trials with a 200 ms gap between fixation point removal and target presentation compared to when the fixation point remained illuminated. Follow-up experiments confirmed that the reduction in SSRTs were primarily due to removal of a foveal fixation point (as opposed to a generalized warning effect), and persisted with an auditory stop signal that controlled for potential differences in stop signal saliency across different fixation conditions. Saccadic RTs exhibited a gap effect in all experiments, with reductions in RTs being due to both removal of a foveal fixation point and a generalized warning effect. Overall, our results demonstrate that processes controlling saccade cancellation can be expedited by a 200 ms gap. The simultaneous priming of both saccade cancellation and generation is of particular interest considering the mutually antagonistic relationship between the saccade fixation and generation networks in the oculomotor system.