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Government Information: Canadian Federal Statutes: Finding Statutes (Details)

This guide will assist the user in researching Canadian federal statutes and will show the user how to research bills before parliament.

Process

  1. Find the short title: Most Acts have a short title by which they are popularly known and usually cited. The first step is to determine the short title. This is normally found in Section 1 of the Act. The Criminal Code, properly speaking, is entitled An Act respecting the Criminal Law. Section 1 states, "This Act may be cited as the Criminal Code."
  2. Determine the citation: Public General Acts are accompanied by a citation in the Annual Statutes or the Revised Statutes of Canada. For Acts which existed before 1985, the citation is normally to the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985 which contains the Act's most recent consolidation. Canada passed its first Criminal Code in 1892 but is cited by its most recent consolidation (RSC 1985, c. C-46).  Canada's Immigration Act was published in the Revised Statutes (RSC 1985, c. I-2) but was replaced by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in 2001. Its citation is SC 2001, c. 27. The citation is easily found using the Table of Public Statutes and Responsible Ministers. The citation will appear  right beneath the Act's entry in the Table:
  3. Find the online consolidation: Once passed, Public General Acts are subject to change. For the latest consolidations, go to the Consolidated Acts section of the Justice Laws website. Versions from 2002 to the present are available there. 
  4. Update if needed: There may be a delay between the time an Act is passed by Parliament and comes into force and the time it is incorporated into the online consolidations. There may also be delays between the time an Act comes into force and the changes it makes are incorporated into the online consolidations. Normally, the delay is negligible but it can be significant especially if Parliament is pushing through legislation before prorogation or dissolution. The Updating Statutes section of this guide describes this process in some detail.
  5. Assemble the source material if needed: As of June 1st, 2009, the online consolidations are considered official. Section 30(2) of the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act (RSC, 1985, c. S-20) states that if there is an error, the original version as found in the Annual Statutes of Canada or the Revised Statutes of Canada prevails. Use the Table of Public Statutes and Responsible Ministers (and the updating tools) to find citations to the source of the original Act and all of its amendments. The Updating Statutes section of this guide describes this process in some detail