A surface cleaning apparatus having an air flow path from a dirty air inlet to a clean air outlet and including an air treatment member, a suction motor and a filter assembly in the air flow path. The filter assembly includes at least two spaced apart physical filter elements with the upstream face of the second filter facing the downstream face of the first filter element. The filter assembly is configured to prevent air from bypassing the first physical filter media. The filter assembly includes a gap between the first filter element and the second filter element that acts as a header and reduces the flow rate of air incident on the second filter element.