A Short Introduction to Finding an Act

Based on The Ajax Public Library's Finding Tool

In Canada, when a Bill receives Royal Assent by the Governor General and becomes law, it is called an Act. All Acts are published in the The Statutes of Canada as numbered Chapters. The Statutes of Canada are printed in annual volumes. Consolidated versions of The Statutes of Canada have been produced, the last consolidation was The Revised Statues of Canada 1985.

This guide provides a short introduction to some of the steps involved in finding:

• Acts Passed Before the Current Year
• Acts Passed in the Current Year
• Bills Not Yet Passed

Acts Passed Before the Current Year

If you don't know what year the Act was passed, consult The Table of Public Statutes or the Canada Statute Citator (Canada Law Book, Inc.)

Acts Passed Before 1984:

• Consult The Revised Statutes of Canada Index or the latest edition of The Table of Public Statutes under the name of the Act to find the Chapter number.
• Proceed to the main volumes of The Revised Statutes to find the volume containing the specific Chapter number you have just looked up.

Note! The Act may have been amended since 1985. To check if it has:

• Go to The Table of Public Statutes or the Canada Statute Citator (Canada Law Book, Inc.) and look the Act up by its name. These sources note any ammendments made to an Act.

Acts Passed After 1984:

• Look in the bound volume set of The Statutes of Canada for the year the Act was passed.
• Go to The Table of Public Statutes or the Canada Statute Citator (Canada Law Book, Inc.) and look the Act up by its name. These sources note any ammendments made to an Act after 1985.

Acts Passed in the Current Year

Within a week after a Bill is given Royal Assent by the Governor General, it is printed in a single loose-leaf edition with the title Statues of Canada - Bill Assented to Version. Up to four times a year, Bills are collected together and re-issued in the Canada Gazette III. The "Assented to" version of the Bill is considered the official version until it is published in the Canada Gazette III, which then becomes the official version.

1. If you don't know the Bill number, refer to Status of House Business, The Table of Public Statutes or The Canada Statute Citator (Canada Law Book, Inc.).
2. Look in the current year's issues of the Canada Gazette III.
3. If the Bill is not in any of the current year's issues of the Canada Gazette III, find the loose-leaf "Assented to" version. Many library collections file the "Assented to" versions of Bills filed together in numerical order.
4. Finally, check to see if there have been any ammendments made to the Act since the last issue of the Canada Gazette III was released by looking in the index to Status of House Business under the name of the Act.

Bills Not Yet passed

1. Look in Status of House Business or the "Progress of Legislation" section of The Ottawa Letter (CCH Canadian) to check the number of the Bill and to determine its status (it may be in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd reading in either the House of Commons or the Senate.)
2. Look for for the individual soft cover copy of the Bill. In many library collections, Bills are divided on the shelves into Bills of the House of Commons and Bills of the Senate, and then filed in numerical order.