Citing Canadian Government Documents- Chicago Style

 

Government publications come from many different sources and so can be particularly challenging to cite. The Chicago Manual of Style provides examples and rules for many, but not all, types of Canadian government documents.
 
This online guide was developed by SFU Librarians using the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (Z 253 u69 2003).
When citing legal cases, the Chicago Manual of Style gives some examples, following the style recommended by the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (KE 259 C36 2006).
 
Please note that Chicago style outlines two distinct citation styles, and this guide covers only the Humanities (notes/bibliographies) style.

 

 

 

Examples (Chicago Manual of Style, 17.293, 17.325-17.335)

  Back to topReports by Individual Author

Where individual is the only author

Where individual author is noted as well as a government or government agency 

Back to topStanding Committee Reports (Chicago Manual, 17.308)

Back to topDepartment Reports

 

Back to topBills (Chicago Manual 17.330)

 

Back to topGovernment Regulations (Chicago Manual, 17.332-3)

 

Back to topCase Law (Chicago Manual, 17.334)

R. v. Nguyen [2009] 1 S.C.R. 826 at para. 16, 2009 SCC 25. http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/2009/2009scc25/2009scc25.html

 Back to topDebates (Hansard) (Chicago Manual, 17.329)

Note: include the name of the speaker (after the date) only if relevant

Back to topCommittee Proceedings 

Back to topActs/Statutes 

Federal Accountability Act, Statutes of Canada 2006, c.9. http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/F-5.5/index.html

Back to topStatistics

See also: SFU's Citing Guide for Statistics Canada, PCensus Estat and CHASS 


Back to topRules & Explanations

 Back to topOnline vs. Print Government Documents

Many government documents are most often accessed online, and so almost all the examples above are for documents accessed online. In Chicago citation style, online government documents generally have the addition of a web address, and no other changes from print documents.

Print Document
Online Document


 

Include as much of this information as possible:

  • Author (e.g., Canada. British Columbia. Ministry of Health)
  • Title
  • Individual author, editor or compiler, if given (e.g., report prepared by Fred Cockerham)
  • Report number or other identifying information
  • Publisher, if different from the issuing body
  • Date
  • Page, if relevant
  • Include all print information, then add the web address (URL) of the document.
  • If a web address has to be broken at the end of a line, the break should be made after a double slash (//) or a single slash (/); before a tilde (~), a period, a comma, a hyphen, an underline (_), a question mark, a number sign or a percent symbol; or before or after an equals sign or an ampersand. (17.11)

Back to topBuilding Citations

  • Citations should begin with Canada unless it is obvious from the content. State the name of the province, department or agency following the word Canada.

National:

Canada. Commission of Inquiry into Part-Time Work.

Provincial:

Canada. British Columbia.

  •  If the agency has subgroups, arrange the subgroups in descending order, with periods in between.

Canada. British Columbia. Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.

  •  The title of the publication, italicized, should follow.

 

  •  Finally, include the place, publisher (if different from the issuing body/author) and date. In government documents, If you retrieved the document online, include a web address that goes directly to the document, if possible. 

  • In cases where no ambiguity could occur, you may use 3 hyphens for repeated references to the same government author in the bibliography. Only in cases where no ambiguity can occur can the 3 hyphens stand for two parts of a government name that are separated by a period (Chicago Manual, 16.86). 

Back to topAbbreviations (Chicago Manual, 5.5.20. p. 175)

Statutes of Canada-  SC (optional)

Revised Statutes of Canada-  RSC

Session - sess.

Canada Gazette- C.Gaz (optional)

Chapter- c.

Section- s.

 

Back to topAdditional Resources

SFU's Chicago Style Citation Guide, 15th ed.  - General guide to MLA-style citation

Brief Guide to Citing Canadian Government Sources - Guide by Queen's University for citing government resources. Note that this resource does not use Chicago Style, but does have some useful examples.