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

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

Overview

Updating a Public General Act involves two steps:

  1. Updating the Text
    Consolidations are usually "current to" a cutoff date expressed in terms of acts passed by Parliament. The Table of Public Statutes and Responsible Ministers and the Consolidated Acts are said to be current to a chapter in the Statutes of Canada. The Table and the consolidations will reflect any changes up to that point only. To update the text, the researcher needs to see if any acts have been passed and have come into force after the cutoff date.
  2. Updating the Status
    Once passed, Acts (or parts of Acts) may not be in force. The status of consolidations is also current to a cutoff date expressed in terms of issue of the Canada Gazette, part II (where SIs bringing Acts into force are published). To update the status of amendments to an Act, once the text is updated, the researcher must determine if any SIs have been issued subsequent to the publication of the cutoff issue of the Canada Gazette, part II. 
 

Updating Text

  1. Look at the Table of Public Statutes to determine the coverage of the consolidation on hand. In this example, the consolidation incorporates all changes up to and including those found in the Statutes of Canada, 2018, c.23.
  2. Determine if there are any Acts not covered by the consolidation. In other words, see if there is a c.24 and, if there is, see if there is a c.25 and so on. Do this by first checking the Annual Statutes section of the Dept. of Justice's website. Finish up by checking LEGISinfo for very recent Acts.
  3. In  LEGISinfo, select the current Session and restrict to Status: "Royal Assent Received." Sort by "Latest Activity Date" (most recent to oldest). 
  4. If there are any, search the text of the Act for amendments to the consolidation you are updating. If there are, incorporate them manually. 

Updating Status

  1. Look at the Table of Public Statutes to determine the status of the consolidation on hand. In this example, the consolidation incorporates all changes in status of amendments up to and including those found in the Canada Gazette, part II, vol. 152, no.22.
  2. Go to the Table (as amended by the work carried out above under "Updating the Text"), and see if there are any amendment not in force. In this example, one amendment, found in SC 2018, c.9, section 75(3) is not in force. 
  3. If there are any, determine if they have come into force since the publication of the Table of Public Statutes. Consult the resources listed in steps 4 and 6 to see if there are any SIs bringing into force the amendments. Remember to look for the amending Acts, not the consolidation being researched. In this example, look for SIs relating to SC 2018, c.9.
  4. First, see if there are any subsequent issues of the Canada Gazette, part II. In this example there are two issues not included in the Table:
  5. Look at the issues for SIs pertaining to the amending Acts.
  6. Lastly, check the the Privy Council Office Order in Council Database. Restrict your search to orders pertaining to the "Coming into Force of Acts since 2002." 
  7. Look at any OICs issued subsequent to the publication of the most recent issue of the Canada Gazette, part II. The default sort is newest to oldest.