List of Canadian constitutional documents

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The Constitution of Canada is a large number of documents that have been entrenched in the constitution by various means. Regardless of how documents became entrenched, together those documents form the supreme law of Canada; no non-constitutional law may conflict with them, and none of them may be changed without following the amending formula given in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982.

The constitution includes legislation that was specifically written as constitutional documents, statutes that have become entrenched since their original creation, some ancient treaties and royal proclamations, unwritten procedures adopted from the British parliamentary system of government, and unwritten underlying values.

The oldest Canadian constitutional documents were enacted before Confederation, and originated from the English or British government. Those documents were received—along with many subconstitutional laws—into the law of Canada and its provinces by means of section 129 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (then called the British North America Act, 1867). Between Confederation in 1867 and patriation in 1982, the United Kingdom enacted some Canadian constitutional documents by means of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 and the Statute of Westminster, 1931, most notably the British North America Acts. During this time, Canada also passed a small number of constitutional documents for itself. After patriation, all new constitutional documents were passed by the Parliament of Canada and the Legislatures of its provinces.

After patriation, there are five general methods of constitutional entrenchment:

1. specific mention as a constitutional document in section 52(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982;
2. amendments to constitutional documents using the amending formula in Part V the Constitution Act, 1982;
3. constitutional entrenchment of a statutory document because its subject matter concerns a topic that can only be changed by the amending formula in Part V the Constitution Act, 1982;
4. reference by an entrenched document; or
5. ruling by a court that a practice is part of Canada's unwritten constitution.

The list of documents for the first two methods is well-established. For the next three, however, there is debate about which documents, or which parts of those documents, are included in the constitution. In some cases, the Supreme Court of Canada has made definitive rulings regarding whether a given documents forms part of the constitution, but in many cases the question is still unclear.

List of documents

Legislation mentioned in §52(2)

Section 52(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982 says "The Constitution of Canada includes (a) the Canada Act 1982, including this Act; (b) the Acts and orders referred to in the schedule; and (c) any amendment to any Act or order referred to in paragraph (a) or (b)." The schedule, in turn, lists the following documents. Most were British North America Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament, and were renamed as Constitution Acts. Others include the Acts that created new provinces or changed provincial borders. The list also includes the Parliament of Canada Act, 1875 and the Statute of Westminster, 1931. In addition to the acts listed here, six other acts were listed as constitutional in §52(2) but were repealed at the same time (see "Repealed constitutional documents", below).

Name	Old name	Original constitutional enactment	Full text	Purpose
Constitution Act, 1867 30 & 31 Victoria, c. 3 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1867	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Entails the original creation of a federal dominion and defines much of the operation of the Government of Canada, including its federal structure, the House of Commons, the Senate, the justice system, and the taxation system.
Manitoba Act, 1870 33 Victoria, c. 3 (Canada)	An Act to amend and continue the Act 32-33 Victoria, chapter 3; and to establish and provide for the Government of the Province of Manitoba	Canadian act entrenched by the British North America Act, 1871	Wiki- source	Created the province of Manitoba and continued in force An Act for the Temporary Government of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territories when united with Canada.
Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory Order	Order of Her Majesty in Council admitting Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory into the union	British order entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Royal Order declaring that Rupert's Land become a part of Canada, effective July 15, 1870. Relieved Hudson's Bay Company of any unsettled Aboriginal claims, effectively making it the responsibility of the Canadian government.
British Columbia Terms of Union	Order of Her Majesty in Council admitting British Columbia into the Union	British order entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Admitted the colony of British Columbia as a province into the Dominion of Canada.
Constitution Act, 1871 34 & 35 Victoria, c. 28 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1871	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Gave Canada the power to establish new provinces and territories and change provincial boundaries with the affected province's consent. The Act recognized the creation of the province of Manitoba and the incorporation of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory into Canada.
Prince Edward Island Terms of Union	Order of Her Majesty in Council admitting Prince Edward Island into the Union	British order entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Admitted the colony of Prince Edward Island as a province into the Dominion of Canada.
Parliament of Canada Act, 1875 38 & 39 Victoria, c. 38 (U.K.)	Parliament of Canada Act, 1875	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Clarified the power of the Canadian Parliament to legislate over, "privileges, immunities, and powers of," its members.
Adjacent Territories Order	Order of Her Majesty in Council admitting all British possessions and Territories in North America and islands adjacent thereto into the Union	British order entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Admitted all remaining territories of British North America surrounding Canada (other than Newfoundland and its dependencies) into Canada.
Constitution Act, 1886 49 & 50 Victoria, c. 35 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1886	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Gave parliament the authority to allow the territories of Canada to have representation in the Canadian Senate and Canadian House of Commons.
Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 52 & 53 Victoria, c. 28 (U.K.)	Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Extended the boundaries of Ontario.
Alberta Act 4 & 5 Edward VII, c. 3 (Canada)	The Alberta Act, 1905	Canadian act entrenched by the British North America Act, 1871	Wiki- source	Created the province of Alberta out of part of the North-Western Territory. Created the administration and the government and designated Edmonton as its capital. Allowed the province to abolish the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the North-Western Territories so it could create its own superior court later. Created a system of subsidies to be provided by the federal government to the province. Specified that all remaining assets and liabilities of the North-west Territories be divided equally with Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan Act 4 & 5 Edward VII, c. 42 (Canada)	The Saskatchewan Act, 1905	Canadian act entrenched by the British North America Act, 1871	Wiki- source	Created the province of Saskatchewan out of part of the North-Western Territory. Created the administration and the government and designated Regina as its capital. Allowed the province to abolish the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the North-Western Territories so it could create its own superior court later. Created a system of subsidies to be provided by the federal government to the province. Specified that all remaining assets and liabilities of the North-west Territories be divided equally with Alberta.
Constitution Act, 1907 7 Edward VII, c. 11 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1907	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Regulated transfer payments by the federal government to smaller provinces to support their legislatures and governments.
Constitution Act, 1915 5 & 6 George V, c. 45 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1915	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Expanded the Canadian Senate by giving Western Canadian provinces 24 Senators, the same number guaranteed to Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces. The Act also guaranteed Newfoundland six Senators should the British colony join Confederation (it did in 1949).
Constitution Act, 1930 20 & 21 George V, c. 26 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1930	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Gave the newer provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan rights over certain natural resources found in federally controlled crown lands.
Statute of Westminster, 1931 22 George V, c. 4 (U.K.)	Statute of Westminster, 1931	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom and gave Canada effective legislative independence on most matters.
Constitution Act, 1940 3 & 4 George VI, c. 36 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1940	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Gave the federal government the jurisdiction over Unemployment Insurance thus allowing such a program to be created on a national level.
Newfoundland Act 12 & 13 George VI, c. 22 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1949	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Confirmed and gave effect to the Terms of Union agreed to between the then-separate Dominions of Canada and Newfoundland on March 23, 1949.
Constitution Act, 1960 9 Elizabeth II, c. 2 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1960	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Instituted a mandatory retirement age of 75 for all superior court judges.
Constitution Act, 1964 12 & 13 Elizabeth 11, c. 73 (U.K.)	British North America Act, 1964	British act entrenched by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Wiki- source	Expanded the federal government's jurisdiction over pensions to include survivor benefits and disability benefits while continuing to allow provincial legislation. This amendment to the BNA Act made the Canada Pension Plan possible.
Constitution Act, 1965 14 Elizabeth II, c. 4, Part I (Canada)	British North America Act, 1965	Canadian act entrenched by the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949	Wiki- source	Instituted a mandatory retirement age of 75 for all persons appointed to the Canadian Senate.
Constitution Act, 1974 23 Elizabeth II, c. 13, Part I (Canada)	British North America Act, 1974	Canadian act entrenched by the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949	Wiki- source	Changed the rules for the redistribution of seats in the Canadian House of Commons so that Quebec would have 75 seats while other provinces seat allocation would be determined based on the size of their population in comparison to Quebec's. Provinces continued to be guaranteed to have at least as many MPs as Senators.
Constitution Act (No. 1), 1975 23 & 24 Elizabeth II, c. 28, Part I (Canada)	British North America Act, 1975	Canadian act entrenched by the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949	Wiki- source	Increased the number of MPs representing the Northwest Territories into two.
Constitution Act (No. 2), 1975 23 & 24 Elizabeth II, c. 53 (Canada)	British North America Act (No. 2), 1975	Canadian act entrenched by the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949	Wiki- source	Increased the number of Senate seats to 104 from 102 and allocated one seat for the Yukon and one for the Northwest Territories.
Canada Act 1982 1982, c. 11 (U.K.)	Canada Act 1982	British act entrenched by §52(2) of Schedule B of itself	Wiki- source	Decreed that no future acts of the United Kingdom Parliament would extend to Canada, thereby patriating the constitution. Includes a French language version that has equal legal weight as Schedule A. Includes the Constitution Act, 1982 (in both languages) as Schedule B.
Constitution Act, 1982 1982, c. 11 (U.K.), Schedule B	Constitution Act, 1982	British act entrenched by §52(2) of itself	Wiki- source	Made several amendments to the British North America Act, 1867. Enacted the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Expanded Aboriginal rights. Amended the equalization formula. Prescribed procedures for amending constitutional documents in the future. Declared this list of documents to be part of the Constitution (although it did not say that the Constitution is limited to only those documents). Has the same legal weight as the French language version.

Amendments using the 1982 amending formula

Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982 described the process required for amending any constitutional document from then on. The general process requires the agreement of the federal government plus seven provinces with at least 50% of the population, but some amendments require unanimity of the provinces, and some can be done unilaterally by the federal government or a provincial government. As of 2012, ten amendments have been made under the 1982 amending formula, one of which was later repealed.

Name	Formula used	Full text	Purpose
Constitution Amendment, 1983 SI/84-102	§38 (the “7/50 formula”)		Strengthened Aboriginal rights in the Constitution.
Constitution Act, 1985 (Representation) S.C. 1986, c. 8, Part I	§44 (Parliament of Canada alone)		Modified the formula for apportioning seats in the House of Commons.
Constitution Amendment, 1987 (Newfoundland Act)	§43 (Parliament of Canada and Legislature of Newfoundland)		Extended education rights to the Pentecostal Church in Newfoundland.
Constitution Amendment, 1993 (New Brunswick)	§43 (Parliament of Canada and Legislature of New Brunswick)		added Section 16.1 to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which made the English and French linguistic communities in New Brunswick equal, with the right to distinct cultural and educational institutions.
Constitution Amendment, 1993 (Prince Edward Island)	§43 (Parliament of Canada and the Legislature of Prince Edward Island)		Allowed for a "fixed link" bridge to replace ferrying services to Prince Edward Island.
Constitution Amendment, 1997 (Newfoundland Act)	§43 (Parliament of Canada and the Legislature of Newfoundland)		Allowed the Province of Newfoundland to create a secular school system to replace the church-based education system. Use was also made, for the first time, of §47 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which permits the House of Commons to bypass the Senate by re-enacting a draft amendment which the Senate has not adopted.
Constitution Amendment, 1997 (Quebec)	§43 (Parliament of Canada and the Legislature of Quebec)		Permitted the Province of Quebec to replace the denominational school boards with ones organized on linguistic lines. The preamble to the resolution of the Quebec National Assembly adopting the amendment makes no reference to which amending formula is being used, and includes the following statement: "Whereas such amendment in no way constitutes recognition by the National Assembly of the Constitution Act, 1982, which was adopted without its consent."
Constitution Amendment, 1998 (Newfoundland Act)	§43 (Parliament of Canada and the Legislature Newfoundland)		Ended denominational quotas for Newfoundland religion classes.
Constitution Act, 1999 (Nunavut) 46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997–98, c. 15 (Canada), Part II	§44 (Parliament of Canada alone)		Granted the Territory of Nunavut representation in the Senate of Canada. The constitutional amendment was contained in sections 43 to 47 of a bill titled "Act to amend the Nunavut Act and the Constitution Act, 1867" At the time of the Act's adoption, Leader of the Opposition Preston Manning argued that both this Act and the Nunavut Act of 1993 ought to have been adopted using a more inclusive amendment formula (probably the 7 / 50 formula), and that the failure to use the appropriate formula could result in future constitutional difficulties.
Constitution Amendment, 2001 (Newfoundland and Labrador) SI/2001-117	§43 (Parliament of Canada and the Legislature of Newfoundland)	Canada Gazette	Changed the name of the "Province of Newfoundland" to the "Province of Newfoundland and Labrador".

Statutes concerning subject matter of the 1982 amending formula

Some legislative acts or other documents only had statutory authority when they were first passed, but became entrenched in the constitution in 1982 because the amending formula in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982, says that their subject matter can only be amended using the amending formula. In some cases, only part of the document is affected by this. Not all relevant documents have been tested in court to see whether they have truly become Constitutionally entrenched, while others have been deemed by the Supreme Court to be part of Canada's constitution.

One subject matter specifically mentioned in the amending formula is the role of the Canadian monarchy. This entrenches two pre-Confederation act of the English parliament that continue to govern the powers and the line of succession of the Canadian monarch. In both cases, provisions with regard to the monarchy are to be taken literally. Note that parts of both of these acts are also entrenched in through the "reference" method, below. Affected documents include the English Bill of Rights, 1689, and parts of the Act of Settlement, 1701 relating to the monarchy.

The amending formula also controls how changes can be made to the office of the Governor General of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. Although some documents concerning those two institutions are not mentioned in §50(2) as constitutional documents, the amending formula may prevent certain changes to them without going through the process of a formal constitutional amendment. Affected documents include parts of the Letters Patent, 1947, and parts of the Supreme Court Act.

One section of the amending formula, section 41, says that "the legislature of each province may exclusively make laws amending the constitution of the province". This might entrench some pre-Confederation legislation concerning the colonies that are now Canadian provinces, but that same section allow the provinces to amend the legislation unilaterally despite them being constitutional.

Statutes referenced by other entrenched documents

Some constitutional documents specifically reference the rights granted in other documents, and says that those rights continue to exist. By doing so, it entrenches those documents in the constitution, either in whole or in part.

One notable example are agreements with the Aboriginal people of Canada. Section 25 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes that rights in the Charter will not abrogate or derogate from existing or future aboriginal rights. Section 35(1) says that "the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed". These rights include:

• the Proclamation of 1763, and
• existing or future land claim agreements.

It has been argued that the preamble of the Constitution Act, 1867, which says in part that Canada will have a "Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom" means that British acts such as the Act of Settlement, 1701, the English Bill of Rights, 1689, and the Magna Carta are part of the Constitution of Canada. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that Canadians cannot claim specific rights mentioned in those documents, and that their provisions with regard to civil rights or the constitutional order are to be taken foundationally.

Unwritten constitutional rules

Many constitutional rules in Canada cannot be found in any of the above documents, and have been ruled to be implicitly part of the Canadian constitution by the courts. There are three general types of unwritten rules. First, there are court rulings that have changed the interpretation of the constitution or have read new rules into it. Second, there are long-standing British governmental procedures that are entrenched in the constitution by the preamble of the Constitution Act, 1867. Third, there are fundamental underlying tenets upon which the constitution is based that are used when interpreting it.

Courts have the power to interpret the Constitution and read into it rules that are implied but not directly stated. For example, section 15(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 lists grounds against which people may not be discriminated by the government. This list includes race, religion, sex, and others, but it does not limit itself to the listed grounds. Consequently, numerous provincial superior court cases, beginning with Halpern v. Canada (Attorney General) in Ontario, ruled that sexual orientation was an unwritten protected ground under section 15(1).

The preamble of the Constitution Act, 1867, which says in part that Canada will have a "Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom" entrenches some long-standing rules and values of the British Parliament into the Canadian constitution without entrenching any specific British Acts. Many of unwritten rules based on the preamble concern the procedure for how the Parliament of Canada and the Assemblies of its provinces are run. For example, in the case New Brunswick Broadcasting Co. v. Nova Scotia (Speaker of the House of Assembly), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that parliamentary privilege is a part of the unwritten convention in the Constitution of Canada, which means that Parliament may use parliamentary privilege to take certain actions even though they violate another part of the constitution, like the Charter of Rights. Many other elements of parliamentary procedure are not written in the constitutiont, such as the role of the Prime Minister of Canada. Most of these procedures have never been addressed by the Supreme Court, so it is not clear which ones form part of the constitution.

In addition to procedures entrenched in Canada's unwritten constitution, the Supreme Court has ruled that there are also underlying values. In Reference re Secession of Quebec, the court ruled that there are at least four fundamental tenets that form part of the constitutional framework of Canada:

• federalism,
• democracy,
• constitutionalism and the rule of law, and
• respect for minorities.

Repealed constitutional documents

Repealed before 1982

There are some acts that had constitutional authority in Canada by means of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, but were repealed before patriation in 1982. Other acts are not included in the modern list of Canadian constitutional documents because their only function is spent. These are:

Name	Reason for exclusion	Purpose
Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865	Redundant
Rupert's Land Act, 1868	Expired
Temporary Government of Rupert's Land Act, 1869	Expired
British North America Act, 1916	Repealed by Statute Law Revision Act, 1927
Statute Law Revision Act, 1893	Spent	Removed spent sections of the Constitution Act, 1867
Statute Law Revision Act, 1927	Spent	Repealed the British North America Act, 1916
Statute Law Revision Act, 1950	Spent	Removed the redundant section 118 of the Constitution Act, 1867
Miscellaneous Statue Law Revision Act, 1977	Redundant	Changed the name of the Representation Act, 1974 to the British North America Act, 1974 and the Northwest Territories Representation Act to the British North America Act (No. 1), 1975. Both of these new names were again changed by the Constitution Act, 1982.

Repealed by §52(2)

There were six acts named as constitutional in §52(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982, but were repealed at the same time:

Name	Purpose
Canadian Speaker (Appointment of Deputy) Act, 1895
British North America Act, 1943
British North America Act, 1946
British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949
British North America Act, 1951
British North America Act, 1952

Repealed after 1982

One amendment to the constitution made using the modern amending formula has since been repealed:

Name	Purpose	Formula used	Notes about amendment
Constitution Amendment, 1987 (Newfoundland Act)	Extended education rights to the Pentecostal Church in Newfoundland	§43 (Parliament and the Newfoundland legislature)	Replaced by Constitution Amendment, 1998 (Newfoundland Act)