Table of Contents
Citations to Legislation
Legislation from the various Canadian jurisdictions include Acts and regulations. Acts are bills which are passed by the various parliaments (i.e., receive "Royal Assent"). Once a bill receives Royal Assent it is assigned a chapter number. Regulations are laws under Acts, but do not require parliamentary approval (they are executive instruments of the governments).
Part I ACT CITATIONS
The Canadian jurisdictions basically cite Acts the same way by providing a year and chapter number. For example, "S.C. 2001, c. 34" stands for "Statutes of Canada 2001, chapter 34". Acts can either be new (original) Acts or amendments of existing ones. In enviroOSH documents the original Act citation appears directly under the name of the Act, and any amending Acts appear after the phrase: "As amended by:...". Amendment citations also appear after sections of Acts, if the amending Act affects that section.
Example (Statutes of Ontario):
ENVIRONMENTAL BILL OF RIGHTS, 1993(Act)
S.O. 1993, c. 28(original citation)
As amended by: S.O. 1996, c. 27; 1999, c. 5; 2001, c. 9(citations of 3 amendments)
Revised Statutes
Most jurisdictions periodically issue "revised statutes" which simply consolidate the changes made by any amendments since the last revision. For example, if an amendment inserts a new section "9.1" between sections 9 and 10 the revised Act will simply re-number them "9, 10, and 11". Revised statutes also eliminate amendment citations at the end of sections. After a revision, subsequent new Acts and amendments will cite individual years until the next revision.
The chart below shows the two types of Act citations encountered, revised and yearly, for the various jurisdictions. Amendment citations following sections will be shown in the yearly form within the Acts.
Table
| Jurisdiction | Citation | Example |
| Canada | R.S.C. 1985 | Pest Control Products Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-9 |
| S.C.[year] | Canada Shipping Act, 2001, S.C. 2001, c. 26 | |
| Alberta | R.S.A. 2000 | Coal Conservation Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. C-17 |
| S.A. [year] | Climate Change and Emissions Management Act, S.A. 2003, c. C-16.7 | |
| British Columbia | R.S.B.C. 1996 | Water Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 483 |
| S.B.C.[year] | Fish Protection Act, S.B.C. 1997, c. 21 | |
| Manitoba* | C.C.S.M. | Manitoba Hydro Act, C.C.S.M. c. H190 |
| S.M. [year] | For unconsolidated, unamended Acts. Example: Special Payment to Certain Dependent Spouses of Deceased Workers Act, S.M. 1999, c. 6 | |
| New Brunswick | R.S.N.B. 1973 | Highway Act, R.S.N.B. 1973, c. H-5 |
| S.N.B. [year] | Endangered Species Act, S.N.B. 1996, c. 9.101 | |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | R.S.N.L. 1990 | Forestry Act, R.S.N.L. 1990, c. F-23 |
| S.N.L. [year] | Mining Act, S.N.L. 1999, c. M-15.1 | |
| Northwest Territories | R.S.N.W.T 1988 | Workers' Compensation Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. W-6 |
| S.N.W.T. [year] | Mine Health and Safety Act, S.N.W.T. 1994, c. 25 | |
| Nova Scotia | R.S.N.S. 1989 | Special Places Protection Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 438 |
| S.N.S. [year] | Conservation Easements Act, S.N.S. 1992, c. 2 | |
| Nunavut | R.S.N.W.T. 1988 | For Northwest Territories Statutes that were duplicated for Nunavut on April 1, 1999. Example: Official Languages Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. O-1 |
| S.N.W.T. [year] | For Northwest Territories Statutes that were specifically enacted for Nunavut by the Northwest Territories prior to April 1, 1999 , that were to apply only in Nunavut after March 31, 1999. Example: Nunavut Judicial System Implementation Act, S.N.W.T. 1998, c. 34 | |
| S.Nu. [year] | For Nunavut Statutes enacted by Nunavut after April 1, 1999. Example: Workers' Compensation Act, S.Nu. 2007, c. 15 | |
| Ontario | R.S.O. 1990 | Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1 |
| S.O. [year] | Waste Management Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 1 | |
| P.E.I.** | R.S.P.E.I. 1988 | Environmental Protection Act, R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. E-9 |
| Quebec* | R.S.Q. | Fire Safety Act, R.S.Q. c. S-3.4 |
| Sask. | R.S.S. 1978 | Pest Control Act, R.S.S. 1978, c. P-7 |
| S.S. [year] | Forest Resources Management Act, S.S. 1996, c. F-19.1 | |
| Yukon | R.S.Y. 1986 | Dangerous Goods Transportation Act, R.S.Y. 1986, c. 39 |
| S.Y. [year] | Environment Act, S.Y. 1991, c. 5 |
* Statutes are "continuing consolidations". No year is given, only a code - letter and number.
** Prince Edward Island cites all legislation as R.S.P.E.I. 1988, including new ones. Amendments are cited by year and chapter number.
Part II REGULATION CITATIONS
Regulations follow the same pattern as for Acts. The periodic revision citations are listed followed by the yearly citations. * Indicates no revised collection
| Jurisdiction | Citation | Example |
| Canada | C.R.C. [number] | Canada-United States Nuclear Liability Rules - C.R.C., Vol. XIII, c. 1240 |
| SOR/[year][number] | Persistence and Bioaccumulation Regulations - SOR/2000-107 | |
| Alberta* | Alta. Reg. [number]/ [year] | Plumbing Code - Alta. Reg. 219/97 |
| British Columbia* | B.C. Reg. [number] / [year] | Administrative Remedies Regulation - B.C. Reg. 182/98 |
| Manitoba* | Man. Reg. [number] / [year] | Appeal Commission Rules of Procedure - Man. Reg. 279/91 |
| "R" after the reg. number and year indicates "Re-enacted in English and French] | Atmospheric Pollution Regulation - Man. Reg. 320/88R | |
| New Brunswick* | N.B. Reg. [year] - [number] | Wellfield Protected Area Designation Order - N.B. Reg. 2000-47 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | C.N.L.R. [number] / 96 | Occupational Health and Safety Regulations - C.N.L.R. 1165/96 |
| N.L.R. [number] / [year] | Botanical Ecological Reserve Regulations - N.L.R. 64/97 | |
| Northwest Territories | R.R.N.W.T. 1990, c. [letter] - [number] | Mackenzie Development Area Regulations - R.R.N.W.T. 1990, c.A-14 |
| R - [number] - [year] | Enterprise Development Area Regulations - R-037-92 | |
| Nova Scotia* | N.S. Reg. [number] / [year] | Asbestos Waste Management Regulations - N.S. Reg. 53/95 |
| Nunavut | see Northwest Territories | |
| Ontario | R.R.O. 1990, Reg. [number] | Industrial Establishments - R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 851 |
| O. Reg. [number] / [year] | Gasoline Volatility Regulation - O. Reg. 271/91 | |
| P.E.I.* | EC/[number]/[year] | Litter Control Regulations - EC697/91 |
| Quebec¶ | R.S.Q. [Act letter & number] [reg. number] | Regulation respecting wildlife habitats - R.S.Q., c. C-61.1, r.0.1.5 |
| O.C. [number - year] | Regulation respecting occupational health and safety - O.C. 885-2001 | |
| in french | L.R.Q.... | Règlement sur les habitats fauniques - L.R.Q., c. C-61.1, r.0.1.5 |
| Décret... | Règlement sur la santé et le sécurité du travail - Décret 885-2001 | |
| Sask. | R.R.S. c. [Act letter & number] [regulation number] | Scrap Tire Management Regulations - R.R.S. c. E-10.2, Reg. 9 |
| Sask. Reg. [number] / [year]§ | Shoreland Pollution Control Regulations, 1976 - Sask. Reg. 54/76 | |
| Yukon* | O.I.C. [year] / [number] | Mendenhall Development Area Regulations - O.I.C. 1990/94 |
¶Due to inconsistent practices from the source, Quebec regulations are not consistently cited in enviroOSH. Revised Regulations of Quebec (R.R.Q.) / Règlements refondus du Québec (R.R.Q.) will sometimes be shown; more likely the R.S.Q / L.R.Q. citation will be shown, along with the Act letter and number followed by a regulation number. When new regulations are first published the citation will be the "O.C." number and year; only later is a regulation number assigned.
§format used for amendments and older regulations