How to get started
This page is organized to help the new researcher: first with links explaining how to find historic laws, then with sections specific to immigration and the constitution in Canada. Last updated 2 Mar 2024.
Canadian Laws (historic)
Acts of Parliament – Internet Archive
Could be described as a century of legislation – fully digitized Acts of Parliament. Choose your year. When I looked, there was 1901-2000.
Canada Gazette (1841 to 1997) – LAC
Guide to searching the Canada Gazette, the newspaper of the the Canadian parliament. Does not have every Order in Council but worth looking.
Canadian constitutional documents – Solon.org
William Maton has built a website where you can find a few Aboriginal treaties, a collection of constitutional documents, and provides a clear set of descriptions.
Finding Historical Federal Legislation – Simon Fraser University
From the library of Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, comes this excellent breakdown on finding historic laws in Canada.
Court Cases
NOTE: wills, probates, and divorces are often found at the archives.
Search the Supreme Court of Canada for court judgements from 1877 to present day. Very easy to use search engine, or browsable by year. Note that the Supreme Court is Canada’s final court of appeal, meaning it hears cases that have already been heard by the lower courts, provincial or territorial, in matters that are of national importance.
Search The Courts of British Columbia for court judgements from ~1990s onward for the Court of Appeal and the BC Supreme Court. Does not have historic cases.
Search the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) for all databases for Canadian cases and legislation. Now with an easy, centralized search function that is a joy to genealogy. From the site: “The CanLII.org website provides access to court judgments from all Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, federal courts, and the courts in all Canada’s provinces and territories. CanLII.org also contains decisions from many tribunals nationally.” It doesn’t have everything, but it has a great deal to find.