Current Canadian Law
If you need help, please contact Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison Librarian for Criminology, Engineering, and Computing Science at 778.782.3315 or ysk6@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.
The words 'law', 'act' and 'statute' are used synonymously. Newly enacted federal laws are first printed in the Canada Gazette Part III Statutes of Canada, then later reissued in the Statutes of Canada. From time to time these volumes are revised or codified into a statement of current law known as the Revised Statutes of Canada. The following three sets of books comprise federal statute law currently in force in Canada:
| The Canada Gazette Pt. 3. Statutes of Canada. (Cited as S.C.) These binders contain the first official printing of new legislation and cumulated indexes which cover all three books described here. It supplements: |
Bennett Reference KE 89 C3423 |
| Acts of the Parliament of Canada. 1988-. annual. (Cited as S.C.) This contains changes in the law since publication of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985. It supplements: |
Bennett Reference KE 89 C342 |
| Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985. 8 v. plus supplements. (Cited as R.S.C. 1985) These blue sets are the basic compilations of acts. The 1st supplement contains enactments and amendments passed in 1985 plus those that were excluded from the R.S.C. 1985 because they were not in force by Dec. 31, 1984. The 2nd supplement contains enactments and amendments passed in 1986, the 3rd supplement those passed in 1987 and the 4th supplement, statutes passed in 1988. |
Bennett Reference KE 89 1985 C34; Bennett Reference Desk KE 89 1985 C341 (loose-leaf version ); http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/ |
Indexing
Two methods, official and unofficial, are given below:
Official method
Begin by consulting the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985. Index (Bennett Reference KE 89 1985 index). Look under subject. It may be necessary to look under more than one heading to find all relevant acts, e.g. air services, aircraft and airports.
To update this, consult the index (yellow pages section) in the Canada Gazette Part III under the name of the act (not subject). This index will indicate any amendments or new acts from January 1, 1985 to the latest date covered by the index. To update since the latest index, consult the issues of Canada Gazette Part III published after the index.
Example of entry in the yellow pages section:
This example indicates that Section 14 of the act was amended and the amendment will be found in the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985 (3rd Supp.), Chapter 28, Section 282.
Unofficial method
Consult the Canada statute citator 1985 (Bennett Reference KE 106 C35 1985). This loose-leaf publication is updated quarterly. All references are to chapter and section numbers in R.S.C. 1985 or (if 1986- ) in the supplements or annual Statutes of Canada (S.C.) volumes. It is not necessary to consult the Table of concordance. In addition, texts of amendments are given in full. Arrangement is alphabetical by title. For a more detailed explanation consult the 'Users guide' section at the beginning.
Example of entry in the Canada statute citator:
In summary: Look up your act in the basic statutes (R.S.C. 1985 or subsequent supplements, etc.) and read it; decide which sections interest you most. Check the 'yellow pages index' of the Canada Gazette Part III, or Canada statute citator 1985 to see if there have been changes.
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