The legal system of Canada
A bijural federation: common law governs nine provinces and three territories while Québec applies its own Civil Code to private law. Criminal law is uniform and federal, and the Charter applies across the whole system.
Legal tradition
Canada belongs to the bijural: common law and québec civil law tradition. A bijural federation: common law governs nine provinces and three territories while Québec applies its own Civil Code to private law. Criminal law is uniform and federal, and the Charter applies across the whole system.
How power is divided
Sections 91 and 92 divide federal and provincial competence. Section 33 allows a legislature to override certain Charter rights for renewable five-year periods.
Where law comes from
- Constitution Acts and the Charter
- Supreme; courts may strike down inconsistent law.
- Federal and provincial statutes
- Divided by subject under sections 91–92.
- Common law and the Civil Code of Québec
- Two private-law traditions operating side by side.
- Indigenous law and treaties
- Recognised and affirmed by section 35.
The legal profession
Provincial law societies regulate admission: an accredited degree, articles, and bar admission courses. Québec has separate avocat and notaire professions.
Law by topic in Canada
- Constitutional LawThe Constitution Acts 1867 and 1982, with the Charter and section 33Canada's constitution is not one document. The Constitution Act 1867 divides powers between Parliament and the provinces, and the Constitution Act 1982 added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms plus a domestic amending formula, ending the need for a British statute. The Charter is enforced by the courts, which may strike down legislation, but section 33 — the notwithstanding clause — lets Parliament or a legislature override most Charter rights for renewable five-year periods.
- Immigration & NationalityIRPA, Express Entry and the provincial nominee programsThe Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its regulations govern all entry. Most economic permanent residence runs through Express Entry, a points-ranked pool covering the Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience classes, from which the Minister issues periodic invitations to apply. Provinces run their own nominee programs, and Quebec selects its own economic immigrants under a longstanding accord.
- Property & LandProvincial land titles, with Quebec's cadastre and Aboriginal title distinctLand is provincial jurisdiction. The western provinces and Ontario use a Torrens-style land titles system in which the register is conclusive as to ownership, while parts of the Atlantic provinces retain older registry systems that record deeds without guaranteeing title. Quebec runs a civil-law land register alongside its cadastre. Aboriginal title, recognised at common law and affirmed by section 35, exists independently of any of these registers.
- Employment & LabourProvincial standards for 94 per cent of workers, Canada Labour Code for the restWhich statute applies depends on the employer's industry, not the employee's job. Federally regulated sectors — banking, telecommunications, interprovincial transport, broadcasting — fall under the Canada Labour Code, and everyone else under provincial employment standards. There is no at-will employment: an employer without cause must give reasonable notice at common law, which routinely exceeds the statutory minimum.
- Civil ProcedureProvincial rules of civil procedure, with proportionality and summary judgmentEach province has its own rules of court: Ontario's Rules of Civil Procedure, British Columbia's Supreme Court Civil Rules, and in Quebec the Code of Civil Procedure recodified in 2016. All now open with a proportionality principle directing that steps be proportionate to what is at stake, and Quebec's code goes further by requiring parties to consider private dispute resolution before filing.
- Business & CorporateFederal or provincial incorporation, with the CBCA as the federal optionA Canadian business chooses its incorporating jurisdiction. The Canada Business Corporations Act gives a federal corporation the right to operate under its name nationwide, while provincial statutes such as Ontario's Business Corporations Act are often cheaper and simpler for a single-province operation. Either way the corporation must register extraprovincially in each other province where it carries on business.
- Family LawFederal Divorce Act over provincial property and Quebec's separate regimeFamily law is split. Parliament legislates divorce, and the Divorce Act as amended in 2021 replaced custody and access with parenting orders and decision-making responsibility, while requiring the court to decide by reference to the best interests of the child. Division of property on breakdown is provincial: Ontario equalises net family property, and Quebec applies the family patrimony rules of the Civil Code.
- Criminal LawOne federal Criminal Code, prosecuted mostly by the provincesCriminal law is exclusively federal, so the Criminal Code applies identically across the country — an unusual feature for a federation, and the opposite of the United States. Administration of justice is provincial, so provincial Crown attorneys conduct most prosecutions while the Public Prosecution Service of Canada handles drug, terrorism and regulatory offences. Charter sections 7 to 14 supply the procedural protections.
- Tax LawFederal and provincial income tax collected together, GST or HST on consumptionThe Income Tax Act imposes federal tax on residents on worldwide income, and each province levies its own rate on top. Except in Quebec, the Canada Revenue Agency collects both under collection agreements, so a taxpayer files a single return. Consumption is taxed by the federal GST at 5 per cent, harmonised with provincial sales tax into a single HST in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces.
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