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Canadian Legal Research Guide

This guide will help you research Canadian law. Where possible, reference has been made to the locations of materials within the Harvard Law Library by Library of Congress call number and by Hollis catalog number, as well as to online resources, both free and fee-based (Westlaw and Lexis). Please use this form to make a suggestion regarding the Library's collection of Canadian law materials.

IMPORTANT: if you choose to click on links taking you to Westlaw or Lexis search or information screens, you must "sign off" the database before hitting the "Back" icon on your browser before returning to this guide. If you neglect to do so, you will remain signed on and may accrue charges.

To skip to a specific section of this web guide, click on a link in the outline below.

I. Primary Sources

A. Case Law
B. Statutes and the Constitution
C. Regulations
D. Treaties

II. Secondary Sources

A. Treatises
B. Directories
C. Handbooks, Practice Guides and Nutshells
D. Encyclopedias and Digests
E. Dictionaries
F. Indexes
G. Associations
H. Other Online Research Guides
I. Helpful Links and Canadian search engines

 

I. Primary Sources

A. Case Law

  1. Structure of the court system

As in the United States, Canada has two parallel systems. In addition to the National Federal Court system, each province and territory has its own court system. (Canada also has a military court system and a special tax court described more fully here.) The Federal system consists of three levels: (1) the Federal Court (trial level); (2) the Federal Court of Appeals and (3) the Supreme Court of Canada. In the provincial system, each province has three levels of courts. Each province has a provincial (or territorial) court, followed by a superior court and then by a provincial court of appeal. The Canadian Supreme Court constitutes a fourth layer, because it is also the court of last resort for provincial cases. While the provincial and territorial superior courts can hear all matters except those which are specifically excluded by statute, the Federal Court may only hear matters that are precisely mentioned by federal statute.

For more detailed information regarding the Canadian court system, its organization and jurisdictional details, including a diagram of the court's hierarchy, click here. For information regarding which court hears appeals of other lower courts, click here. Additionally, the Bora Laskin Law Library at the University of Toronto has prepared a legal research guide that describes the Canadian judicial system thoroughly.

  1. Locating decisions of the federal and provincial courts in Canada

Decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada are published in print within the Supreme Court Reports (KE 140 .A23) and the Dominion Law Reports (KE 132 .A23). Online access is also available to the decisions of the Supreme Court and to the federal courts.

For provincial and territorial case law decisions, there is a provincial or territorial reporter for each province. Click here for a table detailing where these reporters can be found in print and online. Additionally, some regional reporters report cases from multiple provinces, such as the Western Weekly Reports (KE 156 .W47). The law school library also has access to its predecessor, Western Law Reporter ( Harvard Depository CAN 503 WES) for researchers looking for earlier decisions.

Many of the provincial and territorial courts have selected decisions available on their web sites, with varying degrees of coverage. (A review of these web site shows that their coverage starts with the late 1990s.) Some do not contain any of their decisions but provide other useful information. For information on citing Canadian decisions, click here.

Decisions of administrative tribunals may be found in print and online. In print, they are published within the Administrative Law Reports (KE 5015.A45 A35). Availability is through the ADMINLR-RPTS database on Westlaw.

    1. Locating Canadian case law when you don't have a citation.

If you don't have a citation, the Canadian Abridgement allows you to identify cases by looking up keywords used in the decision. Additionally, numerous online sources, such as the Canadian Legal Information Institute, provide key word searching in either English or French, and pertaining to particular jurisdictions or within many jurisdictions at once.

In addition to keyword searches in online databases and web sites and the Canadian Abridgement, case law decisions are available in other resources such as legal encyclopedias and reporter indices, such as the Master Key Word Index. A helpful guide prepared by the Bora Laskin Law Library, at the University of Toronto provides more information on case law research.

    1. Making sure your case is still good law

Once you have found the case law you are looking for, you'll need to make sure that it is still good law, known in Canada as "noting up" a decision. One resource to use to "note up" your case decision is the Canadian Case Citations: References jurisprudentielles canadiennes. While Harvard Law Library has access to this resource only in its print format, however, it may be available at other institutions in a CD format or on e Carswell. (For those researchers who are familiar with US law, comparable tools in the United States are Key Cite on Westlaw and Shepard's on Lexis.) For more information on how to note up a case decision, review the helpful guide on this subject prepared by the Bora Laskin Law Library, at the University of Toronto.

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B. Statutes and the Constitution of Canada

Statutory law in Canada has some similarities and some differences from statutory law within the United States. Similar to federal statutes within the United States, a federal statute in Canada applies to every province and territory within Canada. A provincial statute only has mandatory authority within its own jurisdiction. Thus, a British Columbia statute has no mandatory authority within another province or territory within Canada. In the United States, if a power is not mentioned as belonging to the federal government, that power would come under the power of the states. However, in Canada, the opposite holds true. If a power is not mentioned as belonging to a provincial government, then that power lies with the national Parliament.

For more information on the legislative process within Canada's national Parliament, click here. For information regarding how a bill becomes a law within Canada's parliament, visit LEGISInfo, and then click on "How does a bill become a law?" Additionally, the Department of Justice has a detailed guide on its web site, entitled A Guide to the Making of Federal Acts and Regulations.

Access to free legislative information on the Internet varies by province and territory, but a good resource to use for access to the statutory collections of most of the Canadian jurisdictions is the Canadian Legislative Information Institute, which contains 13 collections. In addition, the University of Toronto's Law Library has amassed many internet sources of Canadian federal and provincial legislation into one table.

You will always want to make sure that your statutory legal research is up to date. To verify that a Canadian federal statute in still good in print, consult the Canada Statute Citator (KE 106.C36x 1989). This resource tracks any amendments to an act after the 1985 consolidation. Also, online resources such as CanLII or any of the legislative bill services offered by many of the Canadian provincial legislature web sites may be used. In addition, these online research guides provide detailed, step-by-step instruction on how to perform statutory research; prepared by Queens University (instruction on federal and Ontario statutory research), University of Calgary, and Catherine P. Best.

Canadian provincial statutory compilations are available in print at the Harvard Law Library. Canadian provincial session laws are also available. This table shows the locations of the federal statutory compilations, session laws, and regulations of Canada. Click here for a table of the provincial and territorial legislative websites.

Currently, there are ten provinces and three territories within Canada. Establishing a new province would require Constitutional amendment. Once a province is established, per section 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867, a province has exclusive legislative authority. In contrast, territories only have that legislative authority given to them by Parliament, which may be limited.

Canada's Constitution can be found in Volume 4 of the Constitutions of the Countries of the World (ILS RR K3157 .A2 B58 1971). This volume contains a consolidation of the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982 as of April 1, 1999. As such, it takes into account the Constitution Act of 1999, Nuvanut. When Nuvanut became a new territory, the Constitution Act, 1867, Part 2, was amended to allow for an increase in Senators from 104 to 105, with the maximum number of senators being raised from 112 to 113, accordingly, and to allow for each of the three territories to have one representative each. Additionally, the Canada Department of Justice web site provides the text of the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982.

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C. Regulations

Similar to the consolidation of Canada's federal and provincial statutes, the federal regulations of Canada were last consolidated in 1978, in the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978 (Harvard Depository CAN 401). Any amendments to these regulations or any new regulations since promulgated can be found online within the Canada Gazette Part II. Regulations are published within the Gazette within 23 days of registration (unless the enabling statute provides that a particular regulation is exempt from publication), per the Statutory Instruments Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. S-22.

Before relying on a regulation, it is important to know its effective date. For those regulations that are published, the regulation is deemed to be effective as of the date it is registered with the Clerk of the Privy Council. For regulations exempt from publication, the regulation is effective as of its promulgation date. For more information regarding regulations and detailed instructions on how to find regulations in print, online and on CD-rom, Queens University's research guide entitled Legal Research Materials: Finding and Updating Regulations, should be consulted.

Provincial regulations of Canada are available in print and electronic databases subscribed to by the Harvard Library. For more information, review the Department of Justice's guide mentioned above regarding the making of regulations and Updating Statutes and Regulations for All Canadian Jurisdictions (Reference KE 250.S47 1995).

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D. Treaties

Information regarding treaties to which Canada is a party can be obtained in print at the Harvard Law Library, or online through the web site of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. For information on how to find a treaty when you have a citation, click here. For information on how to find a treaty when you do not have a citation, click here.

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II. Secondary Sources

A. Treatises and Books Listed by Practice Area:

The following are a list of scholarly works related to Canadian law which are held by the Harvard Law Library.

1. General Legal Research:

Criminal Law

Constitutional Law

Intellectual Property

Professional Responsibility

Tax Law

In addition, many treatises can be found online in paid databases. On Westlaw, they can be found within the TP-Canada database.

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B. Directories

  1. Canadian Law List (KE 211 .C36). This is also available on Lexis in the CANLST library. This directory contains listings on thousands of barristers and solicitors within Canada. Information is also included regarding judges from all across Canada. Government contact information for each of the provinces is included as well as corporate law departments for numerous corporations.
  2. Canadian Legal Directory (Reference KE 211.C35 2004). Published annually, this 1-volume directory provides information regarding law schools, law firms, in-house counsel, legal publishers, and governmental organizations and ministries as well as court and court officials. Especially helpful is an updated internet directory, which includes information regarding court web sites and their inclusion of case law decisions online.
  3. Martindale Hubbell Law Digest (Reference KF 190.M36). Canada's directory information is contained within the International Law Directory (North America), portion of this resource. Information provided includes law firm alliances, networks, associations, clubs and other affiliations, as well as the Martindale-Hubbell ratings, and an index to the many colleges, universities, and law schools This is also available on Lexis within the following four libraries, listed in order below from largest to smallest library file. To access the free version on the web, click here.
    • CANADA (Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory - Canada Practice Profile and Biographies)
    • CPROF (Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory - Canadian Prof. Listings)
    • CBIO (Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory - Canadian Prof. Bio Listings)
    • MHCAN (Martindale-Hubbell Canadian Law Listings)
  4. West Legal Directory - Canada: This is available on Westlaw in the WLD-CANADA database and provides information regarding individual attorneys and law firms in Canada. Information within the directory is by response to the West Legal Directory Data form or has been gathered from other sources.

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C. Handbooks, Practice Guides and Nutshells

  1. Legal Research Handbooks: The Harvard Law Library has many handbooks and practice guides on Canadian legal research.
  2. Legal Research Handbook (Ref Desk KE 250.M33x 2003)
  3. Legal Research and Writing (KE 250.T55x 2001)
  4. The Practical Guide to Canadian Legal Research (Reference KE 250.C37 1996) (although somewhat dated, still very relevant)
  5. Legal Problem Solving: Reasoning, Research and Writing (KE 250.F58x 2001)
  6. Guide to Electronic Legal Research (Reference KE 252.Z58 2002x)
  7. The Internet Handbook for Canadian Lawyers (Reference KE 252.J33x 2000)
  8. Techniques de reperage des sources documentaires du droit: Guide pratique (KE 250.L34x 2002)
  9. La recherche documentaire en droit (KEQ 140.L55x 2000)
  10. Statutes Compared: A U.S., Canada, Multinational Research Guide to Statutes by Subject (Reference KF 1.S356 2001)
  11. Canadian Law: an Introduction (KE 444. B69x 2002)

In addition, the Nahum Gelber Law Library at McGill University has compiled an updated annotated bibliography on various Canadian legal research handbooks.

  1. Nutshells
  1. Citation Guide

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D. Encyclopedias and Digests

  1. Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (KE 156.2.C36x 1978). This is also available on Westlaw within the CED database.
  2. Canadian Current Law (KE 173.C36) continues the Canadian Abridgement. The Abridgement is also available on Westlaw in the ABRIDGMENT database. Case law digests are classified within 120 subject titles and are alphabetically arranged.
  3. Current Legislative Digest - Canada (Can Doc. 202.50): This legislative index is currently located in the Documents section of the Lamont Library.

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E. Dictionaries

  1. Canadian Law Dictionary (Reference KE 183.Y63 2003). The fifth edition provides seven helpful appendices as well a bibliography, a pronunciation guide, and includes an outline of the Canadian court system. This is a one-volume work, written in English. Many citations are made to court cases, code sections and secondary sources shedding more light on a defined term.
  2. Dictionnaire de Droit Quebecois et Canadien (Reference KE 183.R45 2000). This is a one-volume work, written in French. Entries include definitions as well as references to synonyms or comparable terms in French as well as the English equivalent of the term or phrase. A glossary translates words from English to French.
  3. Pocket Dictionary of Canadian Law (Reference KE 183.D85x 2002). Definitions in this work arise mainly from primary sources of Canadian law, including cases, statutes, regulations and basic Canadian legal textbooks.
  4. The Dictionary of Canadian Law (Reference KE 183.D85x 1995). This one-volume work provides citations to case law, statutes and secondary sources in its definitions. Many cross-references are provided to broader and narrower terms of the defined term to assist the user.

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F. Indexes and Periodical Literature

When starting a research project, it is sometimes helpful to start with a secondary source such as an index or a periodical literature source. A legal periodical can provide analysis and insight into a recent case decision or piece of legislation. Use of an index may provide more access points to journal literature than searching through a full-text database.

  1. Canadian Legal Literature - is indexed by Index to Canadian Legal Literature (1985-2000) . This is also available on Westlaw within the CANADA-JLR database.
  2. Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature (Reference KE 8 .I5). This is a multiple-volume work, starting in 1963. It can also be found online within the ICLL database on Westlaw.
  3. Index to Legal Periodicals and Books (Reference K 33 .I54) It can also be found online through the ILP file on Lexis and the ILP database on Westlaw.
  4. Current Law Index (Reference K33. C87). This is a multiple-volume work, starting in 1980.
  5. Journals and Law Reviews: Many of these can be found online.

Westlaw:

  • TP-Canada (Canadian Law Reviews, Texts & Journals)
  • Canada-JLR (Journals and Law Reviews - Canada)
  • CLRA-ALL (Carswell Law Reports - All)

Lexis:

  • Many journals have their own individual library files on Lexis. However, the CANJNL (Canadian Law Journals, Combined) file includes journal articles from multiple sources, as its name indicates.

Free Web sources:

  • Law Source (note that links in French link to pages written in French)

7. Canadian Law Symposia Index: This index covers papers delivered at various law symposia either held in Canada or that include Canadian content, dating back to 1986.

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G. Associations

Canadian Bar Association: Provinces and territories with branches of the Canadian Bar Association are listed below. The Canadian Bar Association is a professional one, and membership is voluntary. For more information regarding its mission and goals, click here.

In addition, many of the provinces and territories have their own law societies, listed below. Law societies are self-governing bodies, created to regulate the profession in each of their jurisdictions.

 

H. Other Online Research Guides

  1. Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research, by Catherine P. Best.
  2. University of Toronto,Guide to Legal Research by Susan Barker.
  3. University of Calgary, Legal Research Guide.
  4. LLRX: Overview of Sources of Canadian Law on the Web, Revised, by Louise Tsang.
  5. Canadian Government and Legal Information,by Chenglin Liu.
  6. Doing Legal Research in Canada, by Ted Tjaden.

 

I. Helpful Links and Canadian search engines

  1. American Law Sources Online (also!) (Canadian section)
  2. Canadian Justice System
  3. Access Canada
  4. Lexum's The Virtual Canadian Law Library (by the University of Montreal Faculty of Law)
  5. University of Victoria Library
  6. British Columbia Courthouse Library Society
  7. Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs
  8. Law Library of Congress (Canadian section)
  9. JURIST Canada
  10. CANLII (Canadian Legal Information Institute) and CANLII Beta (searchable in French and English) with RSS Feeds
  11. Canadian Law School Websites search engine (created by Michel-Adrien Sheppard, searches 25 websites)
  12. Legal Research/Recherche juridique (created by Michel-Adrien Sheppard, searches legal research guides and tutorials created by Canadian law schools and their corresponding libraries)

 

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If you have any questions regarding researching Canadian law, please contact the Harvard Law School Library Langdell Reference Desk by email or by phone, at 617-495-4516.

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