library guide canadian law

8/2/2019 Library Guide Canadian Law

1/4

Researching Canadian Law

Note: Call numbers refer to the Classified Collection (main stacks)

Background and Constitution

Canada is a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. This is apurely symbolic relationship.

Canadas ConstitutionCanadas constitution consists of a series of legislationmostly two major Acts.

Constitution Act of 1867 http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/o Created the federal government and 10 provincial governments.o Specified that everything not mentioned as belonging to the provincial legislatures

comes under the powers of the national Parliament.

Constitution Act of 1982 http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/9.html#anchorsc:7 o Includes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which added a constitutional document

that guarantees certain basic rights and freedoms. This came into force in 1985 and

had dramatic effect on Canadian jurisprudence. Canadian Supreme Court Judges

became much more active in striking down laws as unconstitutional. The Canadian Constitution in Historical Perspective: with Clause-by-Clause analysis of the

Constitution Acts and the Canada Act(JL65 .R44 1992). (This is just one of the secondary

sources the library has on this subject.)

Legislative Information

Legislature

Canada has a bicameral federal Parliament, modeled after Britainso the House of Commons has 308 elected seats,o and the Senate has 105 seats, appointed by the governing party.

Provincial legislatures are unicameral, each having a Legislative Assembly. (These bodiesare referred to directly in the Constitution Act of 1867.)

See an overview of the Canadian legislative process here, http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Reference/queens-e.html

Federal bills must be published in the Canada Gazette to become officialhttp://www.gazette.gc.ca/index-eng.htmlSome older Canadian legislative materials are

available on www.llmc.com

Statutes

Statutes of Canada (KE87 .A23) session laws (published chronologically); unofficialstatutes for 2002-present are available at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseAnnual .

Revised Statutes of Canada (KE173 .C38) This is not a codification of the law by subject,but an alphabetical compilation of acts. The most recent version the library has is 1970 (the

current version in existence is 1985). Unofficial Statutes by Title are available at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseTitle . These

are kept relatively up-to-date. Amendments to statutes and related regulations are noted, butrelated judicial decisions are not. PDFs of the 15 most frequently cited acts are offered.

Lexis/Westlaw Westlaw: CANFED-ST; Lexis.Updating Statutes

To find cases, Canadian Statute Citations (KE173.C38) can be used.
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/9.html#anchorsc:7http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Reference/queens-e.htmlhttp://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Reference/queens-e.htmlhttp://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Reference/queens-e.htmlhttp://www.llmc.com/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseAnnualhttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseTitlehttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseTitlehttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseAnnualhttp://www.llmc.com/http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Reference/queens-e.htmlhttp://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Reference/queens-e.htmlhttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/9.html#anchorsc:7http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/


2/4

To update statutes for amendments, the statutes can be viewed online athttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseTitle or on Westlaw or Lexis and updated with the Canada

Gazette, Part III http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p3/index-eng.html

Provincial Statutes

The library has copies of the statutes of Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan,however some of these are out of date. Provincial statutes can be found online athttp://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/resources/locate/canleg.htm . These are usually up-to-date(but are often unofficial). Provincial statutes are also available on Westlaw, and some are on

Lexis (see Georgetowns Canadian Legal Research Guide,

http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/CanadianLegalResearch.cfm , for the exactdatabases). Some older statutes and session laws are on www.llmc.com

Judicial Information

Court Structure

Canada has three court systems:o Superior federal courts of unlimited jurisdictiono Federal limited to matters involving federal lawo Provincial limited to powers given by provincial statute

And each generally has three levels of Courtso Trial courts single judgeo Provincial or federal appeals courts usually three judgeso Supreme Courts Either 7 or 9 judges sit on the Supreme Court of Canada,

depending on the case

Cases

Federalo CanLII, http://www.canlii.org/(includes Supreme Court, Fed. Ct. of Appeals, and

others; coverage varies by court)

o Dominion Law Reports (KE132 .D66) (all levels of courts,1912-current; on Lexis:Dominion Law Reports)o Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada,

http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.html (1983- present and some unreported

cases); Reports of the Supreme Court of Canada, www.llmc.com (1876-1922)

o Federal Court Decisions http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/index.html (1990-present)o Federal Court of Appeal Decisions http://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/en/index.html (1997-

present; selected 1988-1996). Decisions on this site are mostly drawn from FederalCourts Reports, available at http://reports.fja.gc.ca/en/index.html (1993-present)

o Tax Court of Canada http://decision.tcc-cci.gc.ca/en/index.html o Canada Human Rights Tribunal decisions http://www.chrt-

tcdp.gc.ca/tribunal/index_e.asp o Reports of the Exchequer Court of Canada (1877-1922 vols. 1-21),

http://www.llmcdigital.org/titleresults.aspx?searchtype=0&set=81002&volume=&par

t=&page=

o Lexis/Westlaweach has several databases of Canadian cases. Regional/Provincial

o ALL CanLII http://www.canlii.org/
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseTitlehttp://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p3/index-eng.htmlhttp://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p3/index-eng.htmlhttp://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/resources/locate/canleg.htmhttp://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/CanadianLegalResearch.cfmhttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.canlii.org/http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://www.llmc.com/http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://reports.fja.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://decision.tcc-cci.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/tribunal/index_e.asphttp://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/tribunal/index_e.asphttp://www.llmcdigital.org/titleresults.aspx?searchtype=0&set=81002&volume=&part=&pagehttp://www.llmcdigital.org/titleresults.aspx?searchtype=0&set=81002&volume=&part=&pagehttp://www.canlii.org/http://www.canlii.org/http://www.canlii.org/http://www.llmcdigital.org/titleresults.aspx?searchtype=0&set=81002&volume=&part=&pagehttp://www.llmcdigital.org/titleresults.aspx?searchtype=0&set=81002&volume=&part=&pagehttp://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/tribunal/index_e.asphttp://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/tribunal/index_e.asphttp://decision.tcc-cci.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://reports.fja.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://www.llmc.com/http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://www.canlii.org/http://www.llmc.com/http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/CanadianLegalResearch.cfmhttp://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/resources/locate/canleg.htmhttp://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p3/index-eng.htmlhttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/BrowseTitle


3/4

o Alberta Alberta Court Judgments (1998-present)

http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/Home/JudgmentsfromAllCourts/tabid/72/Defa

ult.aspx Alberta Law Reports, www.llmc.com (1908-1933)

Westlaw ALTANWT-CS-ALL; Lexiso British Columbia

British Columbia Supreme Court and Court of Appeal Judgmentshttp://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/search_judgments.aspx (1990-present)

Provincial Court Judgmentshttp://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/judgmentdatabase/index.html (selected1999-present)

LLMC www.llmc.com, various older decisions Westlaw BCYUKON-CS-ALL; Lexis

o Manitoba Manitoba Reports (KEM119 .A45M3, www.llmc.com) (1883 -1963)

Westlaw MAN-CS-ALL; Lexiso Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island)

Maritime Provinces Reports 1929-1967 (KE150 .A45M4)o New Brunswick

New Brunswick Reports 18251929 (KEN118 .A45N4, www.llmc.com) Westlaw NB-CS-ALL

o Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Reports 18341929 (KEN7518.A45N6, www.llmc.com) Westlaw NS-CS-ALL

o Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island Supreme Court Judgments,

http://www.gov.pe.ca/courts/supreme/reasons.php3 (1997 - present)

Westlaw NFLD-CS-ALL and PEI-CS-ALL; Lexiso Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories Judgments, http://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/dbtw-wpd/nwtjqbe.htm

LLMC www.llmc.com, Territories Law Reports, Northwest TerritoriesSupreme Court Reports

Westlaw ALTANWT-CS-ALLo Nunavut

Westlaw ALTANWT-CS-ALLo Ontario

Ontario Court of Appeal decisionshttp://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions/search/en/index.cfm (1998-present)

LLMC www.llmc.com, various older decisions Westlaw ONT-CS-ALL; Lexis

o Quebec Judgment (translation) http://www.jugements.qc.ca/traductions/index.php LLMC www.llmc.com, various older decisions Westlaw QUE-CS-ALL; Lexis
http://www.canlii.org/http://www.canlii.org/http://www.canlii.org/http://www.canlii.org/http://www.canlii.org/http://www.canlii.org/http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/Home/JudgmentsfromAllCourts/tabid/72/Default.aspxhttp://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/Home/JudgmentsfromAllCourts/tabid/72/Default.aspxhttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/search_judgments.aspxhttp://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/judgmentdatabase/index.htmlhttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.llmc.com/http://www.llmc.com/http://www.llmc.com/http://www.gov.pe.ca/courts/supreme/reasons.php3http://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/dbtw-wpd/nwtjqbe.htmhttp://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/dbtw-wpd/nwtjqbe.htmhttp://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/dbtw-wpd/nwtjqbe.htmhttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions/search/en/index.cfmhttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.jugements.qc.ca/traductions/index.phphttp://www.jugements.qc.ca/traductions/index.phphttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.llmc.com/http://www.jugements.qc.ca/traductions/index.phphttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions/search/en/index.cfmhttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/dbtw-wpd/nwtjqbe.htmhttp://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/dbtw-wpd/nwtjqbe.htmhttp://www.gov.pe.ca/courts/supreme/reasons.php3http://www.llmc.com/http://www.llmc.com/http://www.llmc.com/http://www.llmc.com/http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/judgmentdatabase/index.htmlhttp://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/search_judgments.aspxhttp://www.llmc.com/http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/Home/JudgmentsfromAllCourts/tabid/72/Default.aspxhttp://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/Home/JudgmentsfromAllCourts/tabid/72/Default.aspx


4/4

o Saskatchewan Westlaw SASK-CS-ALL; Lexis

o Yukon Territory Westlaw BCYUKON-CS-ALL

Topical (in the Deane Law Library)o Reports of Family Law 1976 current (KE542 .R3)o Canadian Environmental Law Reports 1973 current (E3612 .C37)o Canadian Criminal Cases 1898 2008 (KE8805.8 .C3)

Digestso Canadian Abridgment, 3rd ed. last updated 2008 (KE173 .C356) ; Westlaw:

ABRIDGMENT)

Guide to Research Using the Canadian Abridgment(KE173.C36 1990)o Family law digest1824 1988 and 3rd ed. 1995 1998 KE536.22 .C33

Regulations

Canadian regulations are sometimes called statutory orders and regulations (S.O.R.). The Deane Law Library does not have any Canadian regulations in print.

o Federal Consolidated Statutes and Regulations http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/index.html

(choose Regulations)

Consolidated Index of Statutory Instrumentshttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/StatutoryInstrument is a finding aid

See the Canada Gazette http://www.gazette.gc.ca/index-eng.html for updating(the Gazette is similar to the Federal Register in the U.S.) Part I: Notices,

Proposed Regulations; Part II: Official Regulations, and Part III: Acts of theParliament.

Westlaw (CANFED-REG English and CANFED-REG-FR French); Lexis.o Provinces

Internet Sources for Canadian Legislation and Parliamentary Materialhttp://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/resources/locate/canleg.htm , links to

provincial regulations and gazettes.

Westlaw has all provinces while Lexis only has several. For the exactdatabases see Georgetowns Canadian Legal Research Guide,

http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/CanadianLegalResearch.cfm

Citation

The standard for legal citation in Canada is the Canadian Guide to UniformLegal Citation (referred to as The McGill Guide) KE259.C36.

Updated by Mary Godfrey-Rickards 12/09
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/index.htmlhttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/StatutoryInstrumenthttp://www.gazette.gc.ca/index-eng.htmlhttp://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/resources/locate/canleg.htmhttp://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/CanadianLegalResearch.cfmhttp://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/CanadianLegalResearch.cfmhttp://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/resources/locate/canleg.htmhttp://www.gazette.gc.ca/index-eng.htmlhttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/StatutoryInstrumenthttp://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/index.html

library guide canadian law

Documents