Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. S-20)
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Act current to 2024-11-11 and last amended on 2009-06-01. Previous Versions
Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act
R.S.C., 1985, c. S-20
An Act to provide for a continuing revision and consolidation of the statutes and regulations of Canada
Short Title
Marginal note:Short title
1 This Act may be cited as the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 1
- 2000, c. 5, s. 60
Interpretation
Marginal note:Definitions
2 In this Act,
- Commission
Commission means the Statute Revision Commission established by section 3; (Commission)
- Minister
Minister means the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; (ministre)
- regulations
regulations means
(a) statutory orders and regulations published in the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978,
(b) regulations, statutory instruments and other documents published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, after the publication of the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978, and
(c) any other regulations, statutory instruments or documents that, in the opinion of the Minister, are of continuing effect or apply to more than one person or body and that are not exempted from publication pursuant to regulations made under paragraph 20(c) of the Statutory Instruments Act; (règlements)
- revision
revision means
(a) for the purposes of Part I, the arrangement, revision and consolidation of the public general statutes of Canada authorized under that Part; and
(b) for the purposes of Part II, the arrangement, revision and consolidation of the regulations authorized under that Part. (révision)
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 2
- 2000, c. 5, s. 61
Statute Revision Commission
Marginal note:Commission established
3 (1) There is hereby established a Statute Revision Commission consisting of three employees of the Department of Justice appointed thereto by the Minister.
Marginal note:Chairman
(2) The Minister shall designate one of the members of the Commission to be Chairman thereof.
- 1974-75-76, c. 20, s. 3
Marginal note:Duties
4 The Commission shall, under the direction of the Minister, perform the duties imposed on the Commission under this Act.
- 1974-75-76, c. 20, s. 4
PART IPublic General Statutes
Revision
Marginal note:Revision of statutes
5 The Commission shall, from time to time, revise the public general statutes of Canada.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 5
- 2000, c. 5, s. 62
Marginal note:Powers of Commission
6 In preparing a revision, the Commission may
(a) omit therefrom all Acts or parts thereof that have expired, have been repealed or suspended, or have had their effect;
(b) omit therefrom all Acts or parts thereof that, although enacted as or in public Acts, have reference only to a particular country, province, locality, place or body politic, or otherwise have no general application;
(c) include therein Acts or parts thereof that, although enacted as or in private Acts, or although deemed to be local Acts or enactments, are of such a character that they impose duties or obligations on, or limit the rights or privileges of, the public;
(d) alter the numbering and arrangement of the statutes and of the different Parts, sections and other divisions thereof;
(e) make such alterations in the language of the statutes as may be required to preserve a uniform mode of expression, without changing the substance of any enactment;
(f) make such minor improvements in the language of the statutes as may be required to bring out more clearly the intention of Parliament, or make the form of expression of the statute in one of the official languages more compatible with its expression in the other official language, without changing the substance of any enactment;
(g) make such changes in the statutes as are required to reconcile seemingly inconsistent enactments; and
(h) correct editing, grammatical or typographical errors in the statutes.
- 1974-75-76, c. 20, s. 6
Marginal note:Parliamentary examination
7 (1) During the progress of the preparation of a revision or on the conclusion thereof, or both during the progress and on the conclusion thereof, the Minister shall cause drafts of the statutes so revised to be laid for examination and approval before such Committee of the House of Commons and such Committee of the Senate, or such Committee of both Houses of Parliament, as may be designated for the purpose of the examination and approval.
Marginal note:Enactment of Revised Statutes
(2) When drafts of all the statutes included in a revision have been examined and approved by the Committee or Committees referred to in subsection (1), the Minister shall cause to be prepared and introduced in Parliament a bill substantially in accord with the model bill set out in the schedule, or to the like effect.
- 1974-75-76, c. 20, s. 7
8 [Repealed, 2000, c. 5, s. 63]
9 [Repealed, 2000, c. 5, s. 63]
9.1 [Repealed, 2000, c. 5, s. 63]
PART IIRegulations
Revision
Marginal note:Revision of regulations
10 The Commission shall, from time to time, revise the regulations.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 10
- 2000, c. 5, ss. 63, 64
Marginal note:Powers of Commission
11 In preparing and maintaining the Revised Regulations and in keeping the Revised Regulations up to date, the Commission may exercise, in respect of the regulations, the powers that it has under section 6 in respect of a revision under Part I.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 11
- 2000, c. 5, s. 64
Marginal note:Deposit of revision
12 (1) On receipt of a written report from the Commission in respect of the completion of all or any part of the Revised Regulations, the Governor in Council may cause a printed Roll of the regulations, attested under the signature of the Minister and the President of the Privy Council, to be deposited in the office of the Clerk of the Privy Council, and the Roll shall be held to be the original of the regulations included in it.
Marginal note:Schedule
(2) There shall be appended to each Roll a schedule similar in form to the Schedule to Appendix I appended to the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, and the Commission may include in the schedule a list of all regulations and parts of regulations that, although not expressly repealed, are superseded by the regulations included in the Roll, or are inconsistent with them, and a list of all regulations and parts of regulations that were for a temporary purpose the force of which is spent.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 12
- 2000, c. 5, s. 64
Marginal note:Coming into force date
13 (1) The Governor in Council, after deposit of a Roll in accordance with subsection 12(1), may by order declare the day on which the Roll shall come into force and have effect as law.
Marginal note:Effect
(2) On the day referred to in subsection (1) in respect of any Roll, the regulations included in that Roll shall accordingly come into force and have effect as law as part of the Revised Regulations to all intents as if each regulation had been made by the appropriate regulation-making authority and all the requirements with respect to the making of that regulation had been complied with.
Marginal note:Repeal
(3) On the day referred to in subsection (1), all regulations and parts of regulations listed in the schedule to the Roll are repealed to the extent mentioned in that schedule.
Marginal note:Definition of regulation-making authority
(4) In this section and section 22, regulation-making authority means, in relation to any regulation, the authority authorized to make the regulation.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 13
- 2000, c. 5, s. 65
Marginal note:Notice in Canada Gazette
14 The Commission may cause to be published in the Canada Gazette a notice of the regulations contained in any printed Roll deposited in the office of the Clerk of the Privy Council in accordance with subsection 12(1).
- 1974-75-76, c. 20, s. 14
15 [Repealed, 2000, c. 5, s. 66]
16 [Repealed, 2000, c. 5, s. 66]
Marginal note:Bound volumes
17 If the Commission has, as of a day selected by it, revised all the regulations that it is required to revise under section 10 to that day, it shall cause the Revised Regulations to be published in the form of bound volumes, and the regulations to be included in them shall be those that have been revised as of that day, and that day shall be indicated in each of the volumes.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 17
- 2000, c. 5, s. 66
Marginal note:Old regulations not revived
18 (1) The repeal of the regulations and parts of regulations listed in the schedule appended to a Roll does not
(a) revive any regulation or part of any regulation so repealed;
(b) affect any saving clause in the regulations or parts of regulations so repealed; or
(c) prevent the application of any of those regulations or parts of regulations, or of any regulation or any part of a regulation formerly in force, to any transaction, matter or thing before the repeal to which they would otherwise apply.
Marginal note:Not new law
(2) A regulation included in the Revised Regulations shall not be held to operate as a new regulation, but shall be construed and have effect as a consolidation and as declaratory of the law as contained in the regulation and parts of regulations as revised, and for which the regulation included in the Revised Regulations is substituted.
Marginal note:Where revision differs
(3) Where, on any point, the provisions of a regulation included in the Revised Regulations are not in effect the same as those of the repealed provisions for which they are substituted, in respect of all transactions, matters and things subsequent to the time when the regulation included in the Revised Regulations takes effect, the provisions contained in that regulation prevail, but in respect of all transactions, matters and things before that time, the repealed provisions prevail.
Marginal note:Construction of references
(4) A reference in any regulation remaining in force and not revised, or in any instrument or document, to any regulation or part of a regulation repealed under subsection 13(3) by inclusion in the Revised Regulations shall, after the regulation in the Revised Regulations takes effect, be deemed, in respect of any subsequent transaction, matter or thing, to be a reference to the regulation or part of a regulation in the Revised Regulations having the same effect as the repealed regulation or part of a regulation.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 18
- 2000, c. 5, s. 67
Marginal note:Effect of inclusion in schedule
19 (1) The inclusion of any regulation or part of a regulation in the schedule appended to a Roll shall not be considered to be a declaration that the regulation or part was or was not in force immediately before the coming into force of the portion of the Revised Regulations that includes that regulation or part.
Marginal note:Paragraph 16(3)(b) Statutory Instruments Act
(2) The whole or any part of the Revised Regulations shall be construed to be a revision of regulations referred to in paragraph 16(3)(b) of the Statutory Instruments Act.
Marginal note:Scrutiny Committees of Parliament
(3) A regulation that is included in the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978 or in the Revised Regulations stands permanently referred to any Committee or Committees of Parliament established under section 19 of the Statutory Instruments Act.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 19
- 2000, c. 5, s. 68
Marginal note:Citation of Revised Regulations
20 (1) Any regulation included in the Revised Regulations may be cited and referred to in any Act, regulation, proceeding, instrument or document whatever either by its short or long title or by using the expression “Revised Regulations of Canada, chapter ”, or “Revised Regulations, chapter ”, or “Chapter of the Revised Regulations”, or the abbreviation “R.R.C., c. ”, adding in each case the number of the particular chapter.
Marginal note:Amendments included
(2) The citation of any chapter of the Revised Regulations in accordance with subsection (1) is deemed to include any amendments made after the publication of that regulation in the Revised Regulations.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 20
- 2000, c. 5, s. 68
Marginal note:Electronic publishing
21 (1) The Queen’s Printer may publish an edition of the Revised Regulations in electronic form and every copy of a revised regulation published in electronic form by the Queen’s Printer is evidence of that regulation and of its contents, and every copy purporting to be published by the Queen’s Printer is deemed to be so published, unless the contrary is shown.
Marginal note:Inconsistencies in regulations
(2) In the event of an inconsistency between a revised regulation published by the Queen’s Printer in electronic form and the original of the regulation as printed in the Roll deposited in the office of the Clerk of the Privy Council under section 12, the original of the regulation prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 21
- 2000, c. 5, s. 68
Marginal note:Request to remake regulations
22 (1) If the Clerk of the Privy Council, after consultation with the Deputy Minister of Justice, is of the opinion that any particular regulations should be remade by the regulation-making authority instead of being revised under this Act, the Clerk of the Privy Council may request that authority or any person acting on behalf of that authority to make new regulations.
Marginal note:Failure to comply with request
(2) Where any authority or person referred to in subsection (1) fails to comply within a reasonable time with a request made pursuant to that subsection, the Governor in Council may, by order, direct that authority or person to comply with the request within such period of time as he may specify in the order.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 22
- 2000, c. 5, s. 69
Marginal note:Indices
23 The Commission may cause indices to the Revised Regulations to be prepared and published for the convenience of the public.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 23
- 2000, c. 5, s. 70
Marginal note:Citation of Consolidated Regulations, 1978
24 (1) Any regulation included in the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978 may be cited and referred to in any Act, regulation, proceeding, instrument or document whatever either by its short or long title or by using the expression “Consolidated Regulations of Canada, chapter ”, or “Consolidated Regulations, chapter ”, or “Chapter of the Consolidated Regulations”, or the abbreviation “C.R.C., c. ”, adding in each case the number of the particular chapter.
Marginal note:Amendments included
(2) The citation of any chapter of the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978 in accordance with subsection (1) is deemed to include any amendments made after the publication of that regulation in the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978.
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 24
- 2000, c. 5, s. 70
PART IIIConsolidated Statutes and Regulations of Canada
Interpretation
Marginal note:Definitions
25 The definitions in this section apply in this Part.
- consolidated regulations
consolidated regulations means the consolidated regulations of Canada maintained by the Minister under this Part. (règlements codifiés)
- consolidated statutes
consolidated statutes means the consolidated statutes of Canada maintained by the Minister under this Part. (lois codifiées)
- R.S., 1985, c. S-20, s. 25
- 2000, c. 5, s. 71
Consolidation of the Statutes and Regulations
Marginal note:Authority to maintain
26 The Minister may maintain a consolidation of the public statutes of Canada and a consolidation of the regulations of Canada.
- 2000, c. 5, s. 71
Marginal note:Powers of Minister
27 In maintaining a consolidation of the statutes or regulations, the Minister may
(a) omit any Act or regulation, or any part of an Act or a regulation, that has expired, has been repealed or has had its effect;
(b) include historical references or other information that enhances the value of the consolidation;
(c) correct grammatical and typographical errors without changing the substance of any enactment; and
(d) set out as a separate Act or regulation any Act or regulation enacted by another Act or regulation.
- 2000, c. 5, s. 71
Publication and Distribution
Marginal note:Authority to publish
28 (1) The Minister may cause the consolidated statutes or consolidated regulations to be published in printed or electronic form, and in any manner and frequency that the Minister considers appropriate.
Marginal note:Differences in form
(2) A publication in an electronic form may differ from a publication in another form to accommodate the needs of the electronic form if the differences do not change the substance of any enactment.
- 2000, c. 5, s. 71
Marginal note:Free distribution
29 Copies of the consolidated statutes and consolidated regulations must be distributed without charge to the persons or classes of persons, and in the form and manner, that the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, directs.
- 2000, c. 5, s. 71
Effect of Consolidation
Marginal note:Consolidation not new law
30 The consolidated statutes and consolidated regulations do not operate as new law.
- 2000, c. 5, s. 71
Marginal note:Published consolidation is evidence
31 (1) Every copy of a consolidated statute or consolidated regulation published by the Minister under this Act in either print or electronic form is evidence of that statute or regulation and of its contents and every copy purporting to be published by the Minister is deemed to be so published, unless the contrary is shown.
Marginal note:Inconsistencies in Acts
(2) In the event of an inconsistency between a consolidated statute published by the Minister under this Act and the original statute or a subsequent amendment as certified by the Clerk of the Parliaments under the Publication of Statutes Act, the original statute or amendment prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.
Marginal note:Inconsistencies in regulations
(3) In the event of an inconsistency between a consolidated regulation published by the Minister under this Act and the original regulation or a subsequent amendment as registered by the Clerk of the Privy Council under the Statutory Instruments Act, the original regulation or amendment prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.
- 2000, c. 5, s. 71
Co-publishing Agreements
Marginal note:Agreements
32 The Minister may enter into agreements for the production of the consolidated statutes or consolidated regulations and for their publication, sale or distribution.
- 2000, c. 5, s. 71
SCHEDULE(Section 7)Model Bill
An Act to bring into force the Revised Statutes of Canada,
Whereas, pursuant to the Statute Revision Act, the Statute Revision Commission has, under the direction of the Minister of Justice, prepared a revision of the public general statutes of Canada, which revision has been examined and approved by (here specify the Committees of the House of Commons and of the Senate or the Joint Committee of the House and Senate, as the case may be, designated for the purpose), designated for the purpose of examining and approving the work of the Statute Revision Commission;
And Whereas a Statute Roll, in the form of a printed copy of the revision in volumes, has been prepared, attested at the beginning of each volume under the signature of His Excellency, the Governor General, countersigned by the Minister of Justice, and certified correct by the Chairman of the Statute Revision Commission, and deposited in the office of the Clerk of the Parliaments on the day of , 19;
And Whereas the Statute Revision Commission has recommended that the Acts and portions of Acts listed in the schedule entitled Schedule I, attached to the Statute Roll, be repealed on the coming into force of the Revised Statutes of Canada, ;
And Whereas it is expedient to confirm the Statute Roll and to give the statutes set out therein the force and effect of law as the Revised Statutes of Canada, , subject to the limitations stated in this Act;
Now, Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Short Title
Marginal note:Short title
1 This Act may be cited as the Revised Statutes of Canada (year) Act.
Marginal note:Confirmation of Statute Roll
2 (1) Subject to this section and to the exceptions or limitations mentioned in this Act, the Statute Roll deposited in the office of the Clerk of the Parliaments on the day of , 19 and the several parts and sections therein contained, being comprised within the chapters numbered from to as therein set out, are hereby declared to be, and are, law by the designation of the “Revised Statutes of Canada, ” in English and « Lois révisées du Canada de » in French, to all intents and purposes as though the Statute Roll and those statutes therein contained, and the several chapters, parts and sections thereof, were expressly embodied in and enacted by this Act.
Marginal note:Commencement of Revised Statutes
(2) Subject to this Act, the Revised Statutes of Canada, (in this Act called the “Revised Statutes”) come into force, and have operation and effect as law, as provided in this Act, on the day of , 19.
Marginal note:Acts to be proclaimed
(3) Where an Act included in the Revised Statutes contains a provision stating that the Act or any portion thereof is to come into force on a day to be fixed by proclamation, that Act or that portion thereof shall not be deemed to be in force solely by reason of subsections (1) and (2), but the Act or portion thereof comes into force only on the day fixed by proclamation for the coming into force thereof, or of that portion thereof, as provided in that Act.
Marginal note:Regulation-making power
(4) Where an Act included in the Revised Statutes, or any provision thereof, confers power to make regulations or to prescribe forms, that power, for the purpose of making the Act or the provision effective at the date of its coming into force, may be exercised at any time after this Act comes into force, but any regulation or form so made or prescribed does not come into force or have effect until the Act conferring the power comes into force.
Marginal note:Enactments repealed
3 On the day of , 19, all the provisions in the several Acts and parts of Acts listed in Schedule I to the Statute Roll are repealed to the extent mentioned in the third column of that Schedule.
Marginal note:Dead law not revived
4 The repeal of the Acts and parts of Acts listed in Schedule I to the Statute Roll does not
(a) revive any Act or provision of law repealed by them;
(b) affect any saving clause in the Acts or parts of Acts so repealed; or
(c) prevent the application of any of those Acts or parts of Acts, or of any Act or provision of law formerly in force, to any transaction, matter or thing anterior to the repeal to which they would otherwise apply.
Marginal note:Operation of Revised Statutes
5 The Revised Statutes shall not be held to operate as new law, but shall be construed and have effect as a consolidation and as declaratory of the law as contained in the Acts and parts of Acts repealed by section 3, and for which the Revised Statutes are substituted.
Marginal note:References to repealed enactments
6 A reference in any Act enacted before the coming into force of the Revised Statutes and remaining in force after that time, or in any instrument or document, to any Act or enactment repealed under section 3, shall, after the Revised Statutes take effect, be deemed, in respect of any subsequent transaction, matter or thing, to be a reference to the enactment in the Revised Statutes having the same effect as the repealed Act or enactment.
Marginal note:Effect of inclusion in Schedule I
7 The inclusion of any Act in Schedule I to the Statute Roll shall not be considered as a declaration that the Act or any part of it was or was not in force immediately before the coming into force of the Revised Statutes.
Marginal note:Publication of Statutes Act
8 (1) The Publication of Statutes Act does not apply to the Revised Statutes.
Marginal note:Printing and distribution of Revised Statutes
(2) The Revised Statutes shall be printed and bound in such style or form as the Statute Revision Commission deems best suited to the Revised Statutes and copies of the Revised Statutes shall be distributed without charge to such persons or classes of persons as the Governor in Council directs.
Marginal note:Citation of Revised Statutes
9 A chapter of the Revised Statutes may be cited and referred to in any Act, regulation, proceeding, instrument or document whatever either by its short or long title as an Act or by using the expression “Revised Statutes, 19, chapter ”, or “Chapter of the Revised Statutes”, or the abbreviation “R.S.C. 19, c. ”, or “R.S., c. ”, adding in each case the number of the particular chapter.
Marginal note:Publication of this Act
10 A copy of this Act may be included in one of the volumes that contain the Revised Statutes in addition to being printed and published with the statutes enacted at the session of Parliament in which this Act is passed.
Marginal note:Publication of appendices, etc.
11 (1) The Statute Revision Commission may cause to be printed, and included in the volumes that contain the Revised Statutes,
(a) appendices prepared by the Statute Revision Commission containing statutes of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and of the Parliament of Canada and other documents relating to the Constitution of Canada or of any of its provinces or territories;
(b) schedules prepared by the Statute Revision Commission of similar character to those published with the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, with any alterations or additions that seem proper; and
(c) an index to the Revised Statutes.
Marginal note:Constitutional statutes
(2) The Statute Revision Commission may cause a public general statute of Canada that is of a constitutional or quasi-constitutional nature to be printed with the appendices referred to in subsection (1) and may thereupon omit any such statute from the volumes of the Revised Statutes.
Marginal note:Supplements
12 (1) After the completion of the Revised Statutes, the Statute Revision Commission may, if the convenience of the public will be served thereby, prepare, under and in accordance with the Statute Revision Act, supplements to the Revised Statutes showing, as amendments or additions to the Revised Statutes,
(a) the public general statutes of Canada passed after the completion of the Statute Roll but before the coming into force of the Revised Statutes,
(b) any other public general statutes of Canada not included in the Statute Roll that the Commission may consider advisable to add thereto, and
(c) any corrections required to be made to the Statute Roll by reason of any omission or error in its preparation, editing or printing,
and the provisions of this Act applicable to or in respect of the Revised Statutes apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to and in respect of those supplements.
Marginal note:Part of Revised Statutes
(2) A supplement to the Revised Statutes shall be deemed to be included in and to be part of the Revised Statutes, and the citation of any chapter of the Revised Statutes in accordance with section 9 shall be deemed to include any amendments thereto contained in a supplement.
Marginal note:Notes and tables
13 (1) Any explanatory notes and tables inserted by the Statute Revision Commission in the Revised Statutes form no part of those statutes and shall be held to have been inserted for convenience only.
Marginal note:Text of orders
(2) The texts of orders in council inserted by the Statute Revision Commission in the Revised Statutes shall be held to have been inserted for convenience only and shall not be held to have affected the authority to revoke or replace the orders in council so inserted.
- 1974-75-76, c. 20, Sch
RELATED PROVISIONS
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