Canadian Law: Bills, Statutes & Regulations

A detailed outline of the stages of the legislative process is available from the Parliament of Canada compendium of procedures online. Topics covered include:

Overview
Stages in the Legislative Process 
Notice 
Introduction and First Reading of Bills 
Second Reading and Referral of a Bill to a Committee 
Referral of a Bill to Committee Before Second Reading 
Committee Stage of Bills 
Report Stage of a Bill 
Third Reading and Adoption of Bills 
Senate Consideration  
Royal Assent and Coming into Force of a Bill 
More information-Legislative Process

Federal statutes are created and amended by Bills, which are introduced in either the House of Commons or the Senate. Bills originating in the House of Commons begin with the letter C- and Senate bills with the letter S-. For a federal bill to become law, it must be read and voted on three times by both the House of Commons and the Senate, and then receive Royal Assent.  At the provincial level there is only a single legislature through which bills must pass only three readings.

When the federal government makes changes to Canadian law, often it will create "amending" Acts or regulations. These amending documents make changes to existing laws.  As of June 1, 2009, all consolidated Acts and regulations on the Justice Laws Website are "official", meaning that they can be used for evidentiary purposes.  A guide to making federal acts and regulations is available from the Privy Council website.

Regulations are a form of law, often referred to as delegated or subordinate legislation. "Regulations are not made by Parliament; they are made by persons or bodies to whom Parliament has delegated the authority to make them, such as the Governor in Council or a Minister."

The following databases have legal content as well as information on Canadian politics and government.