61-560: The Court Challenges Program of Canada ( CCP ) is a non-profit organization whose stated purpose is "to provide financial support to Canadians to bring before the courts test cases of national significance that aim to clarify and assert certain constitutional and quasi-constitutional official language rights and human rights". Its history can be traced to 1978, when the federal government of Canada began providing assistance for minority language cases. The government of Brian Mulroney created an expanded Court Challenges Program in 1985, after
122-524: A governing party . Further elements of governance are outlined in the rest of the Canadian constitution , which includes written statutes in addition to court rulings and unwritten conventions developed over centuries. Constitutionally, the King's Privy Council for Canada is the body that advises the sovereign or their representative on the exercise of executive power. This task is carried out nearly exclusively by
183-583: A Dominion, joined Confederation in 1949. Nunavut was created in 1999 from the Northwest Territories. An Imperial Conference in 1926 that included the leaders of all Dominions and representatives from India (which then included Burma , Bangladesh , and Pakistan ), led to the eventual enactment of the Statute of Westminster 1931 . The statute, an essential transitory step from the British Empire to
244-779: A combination of uncodified constitution , provisions of the Constitution of Canada, and provincial statutes. Overall structures of provincial governments (like the legislature and cabinet) are described in parts of the Constitution of Canada. Governmental structure of the original four provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario) is described in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1867 . The three colonies that joined Canada after Confederation (British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) had existing UK legislation which described their governmental structure, and this
305-566: A constitution "similar in principle" to the largely unwritten constitution of the United Kingdom , recognizes Canada as a constitutional monarchy and federal state , and outlines the legal foundations of Canadian federalism . The Constitution of Canada includes written and unwritten components. Section 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982 states that "the Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of Canada" and that any inconsistent law
366-614: A constitution would. This is referred to as quasi-constitutionality . Quasi-constitutionality is often applied to human rights laws, allowing those laws to act as a de facto constitutional charter of rights. For example, laws preventing discrimination in employment, housing, and services have clauses making them quasi-constitutional in ten of thirteen jurisdictions. Section 45 of the Constitution Act, 1982 allows each province to amend its own constitution. This applies, for example, to provincial statute laws like Constitution of Quebec and Constitution Act (British Columbia) . However, if
427-519: A requested exception—the Canadian federal and provincial governments could not agree on an amending formula for the Canadian constitution. It would be another 50 years before this was achieved. In the interim, the British parliament periodically passed constitutional amendments when requested by the government of Canada. This was never anything but a rubber stamp . The patriation of the Canadian constitution
488-510: A simple majority of the legislative assembly, despite section 45. For example, section 7 of the Constitution of Alberta Amendment Act, 1990 requires plebiscites of Métis settlement members before that Act can be amended. Courts have not yet ruled about whether this kind of language really would bind future legislatures, but it might do so if the higher bar was met when creating the law. Three amendments to provincial constitutions in
549-470: Is Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982 . The Charter is the constitutional guarantee of the civil rights and liberties of every citizen in Canada, such as freedom of expression, of religion, and of mobility. Part II addresses the rights of Aboriginal peoples in Canada . It is written in plain language to ensure accessibility to the average citizen. It applies only to government and government actions to prevent
610-442: Is not disclosed in the interest of preserving the right of program applicants to keep their information confidential, just as any other person or group seeking legal action. Government of Canada The Government of Canada ( French : Gouvernement du Canada ) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada . The term Government of Canada refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of
671-471: Is of no force or effect. It further lists written documents which are included in the Constitution of Canada; these are the Canada Act 1982 (which includes the Constitution Act, 1982 ), the acts and orders referred to in its schedule (including in particular the Constitution Act, 1867 ), and any amendments to these documents. The Supreme Court of Canada has held that this list is not exhaustive and that
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#1732844754328732-631: Is personally represented by a governor general (currently Mary Simon ). A prime minister (currently Justin Trudeau ) is the head of government , who is invited by the Crown to form a government after securing the confidence of the House of Commons , which is typically determined through the election of enough members of a single political party in a federal election to provide a majority of seats in Parliament, forming
793-415: Is the supreme law in Canada . It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents are an amalgamation of various codified acts , treaties between the Crown and Indigenous Peoples (both historical and modern), uncodified traditions and conventions . Canada is one of the oldest constitutional monarchies in
854-623: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Before the Charter, various statutes protected an assortment of civil rights and obligations but nothing was enshrined in the constitution until 1982. The Charter has thus placed a strong focus upon individual and collective rights of the people of Canada. The enactment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has fundamentally changed much of Canadian constitutional law . The act also codified many previously oral constitutional conventions and made amendment of
915-778: The Canada Act 1982 , a British Act of Parliament which was introduced at the request of a joint address to Queen Elizabeth II by the Senate and House of Commons of Canada. The version of the Canada Act 1982 which is in force in Britain is in English only, but the version of the act in force in Canada is bilingual, English and French. In addition to enacting the Constitution Act, 1982 , the Canada Act 1982 provides that no further British acts of Parliament will apply to Canada as part of its law, finalizing Canada's legislative independence. As noted above, this
976-461: The Commonwealth of Nations , provided that existing Dominions became fully sovereign of the United Kingdom and any new Dominions would be fully sovereign upon the grant of Dominion status. Although listed, Newfoundland never ratified the statute so was still subject to imperial authority when its entire system of government and economy collapsed in the mid-1930s. Canada did ratify the statute but with
1037-466: The King-in-Council . On the advice of the Canadian prime minister, the sovereign appoints a federal viceregal representative —the governor general (currently Mary Simon )—who, since 1947, is permitted to exercise almost all of the monarch's royal prerogative ; though, there are some duties which must be specifically performed by the monarch themselves (such as assent of certain bills). In case of
1098-573: The Public Service of Canada , and the Canadian Armed Forces . One of the main duties of the Crown is to ensure that a democratic government is always in place, which includes the appointment of a prime minister , who heads the Cabinet and directs the activities of the government. Not outlined in any constitutional document, the office exists in long-established convention , which stipulates
1159-502: The Senate ). During its term, the government must retain the confidence of the House of Commons and certain important motions , such as money bills and the speech from the throne , are considered as confidence motions . Laws are formed by the passage of bills through Parliament, which are either sponsored by the government or individual members of Parliament. Once a bill has been approved by both
1220-458: The United Kingdom . Part V of this act established an amending formula for the Canadian constitution, the lack of which (due to more than 50 years of disagreement between the federal and provincial governments) meant Canada's constitutional amendments still required enactment by the British parliament after Statute of Westminster in 1931. The Constitution Act, 1982 was enacted as a schedule to
1281-467: The advice of the King's Privy Council for Canada , referred to as the King-in-Council . However, the Privy Council—consisting mostly of former ministers, chief justices , and other elder statesmen—rarely meets in full. In the construct of constitutional monarchy and responsible government , the advice tendered is typically binding, meaning the monarch reigns but does not rule , with
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#17328447543281342-466: The equality section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms became law. However, the Mulroney government later withdrew financial support for the program in 1992. This was a controversial decision, and was opposed by some people. The government of Jean Chrétien re-established the program in 1994, and the current CCP traces its origins to this period. The government of Stephen Harper abolished
1403-527: The federal public service and federal departments and agencies when used elsewhere. This differs from the United States , where the executive branch is referred to as an administration and the federal government encompasses executive, legislative, and judicial powers, similar to the Canadian Crown . In press releases issued by federal departments, the government has sometimes been referred to as
1464-519: The $ 5.5 million in funding for the program in 2006. This was again a controversial decision, and was strongly criticized by some civic society groups. For a time the CCP stopped accepting new applications for funding, although it honoured pre-existing grants and continued to process requests for reimbursement for these grants. The program was partially restored in June 2008 for the official languages minority component of
1525-462: The 2020s have been controversially framed as amendments to the Constitution Act 1867 . These are Quebec statutes purporting to add sections 90Q and 128Q and a Saskatchewan statute purporting to add section 90S. Because the Senate and House of Commons did not authorise these amendments, they would only have effect if they are amendments to provincial constitutions under the section 45 amending procedure. Constitutional scholars are divided on
1586-419: The Cabinet ruling "in trust" for the monarch. However, the royal prerogative belongs to the Crown and not to any of the ministers, and there are rare exceptions where the monarch may be obliged to act unilaterally to prevent manifestly unconstitutional acts. The stipulations of responsible government require that those who directly advise the Crown on the exercise the royal prerogative be accountable to
1647-456: The Cabinet, which functions as the executive committee of the Privy Council that sets the government's policies and priorities for the country and is chaired by the prime minister. The sovereign appoints the members of Cabinet on the advice of the prime minister who, by convention, are generally selected primarily from the House of Commons (although often include a limited number of members from
1708-494: The Constitution of Canada includes a number of pre-confederation acts and unwritten components as well. The Canadian constitution also includes the fundamental principles of federalism, democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law, and respect for minorities. See list of Canadian constitutional documents for details. The first semblance of a constitution for Canada was the Royal Proclamation of 1763 . The act renamed
1769-818: The Constitution: The existence of unwritten constitutional components was reaffirmed in 1998 by the Supreme Court in Reference re Secession of Quebec . The Constitution is more than a written text. It embraces the entire global system of rules and principles which govern the exercise of constitutional authority. A superficial reading of selected provisions of the written constitutional enactment, without more, may be misleading. In practice, there have been three sources of unwritten constitutional law: Unlike in most federations, Canadian provinces do not have written provincial constitutions. Provincial constitutions are instead
1830-505: The Crown (together in the Cabinet ) and the federal civil service (whom the Cabinet direct); it is alternatively known as His Majesty's Government (French: Gouvernement de Sa Majesté ) and is corporately branded as the Government of Canada . There are over 100 departments and agencies, as well as over 300,000 persons employed in the Government of Canada. These institutions carry out
1891-465: The Crown must select as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons , who, in practice, is typically the leader of the political party that holds more seats than any other party in that chamber (currently the Liberal Party , led by Justin Trudeau ). Should no particular party hold a majority in the House of Commons, the leader of one party—either
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1952-578: The Dominion of Canada as a federation of provinces. Initially, on July 1, 1867, four provinces entered into confederation as "One dominion under the name of Canada": Canada West (former Upper Canada , now Ontario ), Canada East (former Lower Canada , now Quebec ), Nova Scotia , and New Brunswick . Title to the Northwest Territories was transferred by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870, out of which
2013-429: The House of Commons and the Senate, royal assent is required to make the bill become law. The laws are then the responsibility of the government to oversee and enforce. Under Canada's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy , the terms government and Government of Canada refer specifically to the prime minister, Cabinet, and other members of the governing party inside the House of Commons , but typically includes
2074-415: The Supreme Court, must be adopted by unanimous consent of all the provinces in accordance with section 41. In the case of an amendment related to provincial boundaries or the use of an official language within a province alone, the amendment must be passed by the legislatures affected by the amendment (section 43). In the case of an amendment that affects the federal government only, the amendment does not need
2135-420: The approval of the provinces (section 44). The same applies to amendments affecting the provincial government alone (section 45). Canada's constitution has roots going back to the thirteenth century, including England's Magna Carta and the first English Parliament of 1275 . Canada's constitution is composed of several individual statutes. There are three general methods by which a statute becomes entrenched in
2196-444: The constitution in general significantly more difficult. Previously, the Canadian constitution could be formally amended by an act of the British parliament, or by informal agreement between the federal and provincial governments, or even simply by adoption as the custom of an oral convention or performance that shows precedential but unwritten tradition. Since the act, textual amendments must now conform to certain specified provisions in
2257-415: The conventional stipulations of a constitutional monarchy, the sovereign's direct participation in any of these areas of governance is limited. The term Government of Canada , or more formally, His Majesty's Government refers to the activities of the King-in-Council . The day-to-day operation and activities of the Government of Canada are performed by the federal departments and agencies , staffed by
2318-613: The current prime minister's government (e.g. the Trudeau Government ). This terminology has been commonly employed in the media. In late 2010, an informal instruction from the Office of the Prime Minister urged government departments to consistently use, in all department communications, such phrasing (i.e., Harper Government , at the time), in place of Government of Canada . The same Cabinet earlier directed its press department to use
2379-612: The desired change would require an amendment to any documents that form part of the Constitution of Canada, it would require the consent of the Senate and House of Commons under section 43. This was done, for example, by the Constitution Amendment, 1998 , when Newfoundland asked the federal government to amend the Terms of Union of Newfoundland to allow it to end denominational quotas for religion classes. A small number of statutes within provincial constitutions cannot be amended by
2440-466: The elected House of Commons and the day-to-day operation of government is guided only by a sub-group of the Privy Council made up of individuals who hold seats in Parliament, known as the Cabinet . The monarch and governor general typically follow the near-binding advice of their ministers. The royal prerogative, however, belongs to the Crown and not to any of the ministers, who only rule "in trust" for
2501-487: The federal legislature. The general formula set out in section 38(1), known as the "7/50 formula", requires: (a) assent from both the House of Commons and the Senate; (b) the approval of two-thirds of the provincial legislatures (at least seven provinces) representing at least 50 per cent of the population of the provinces (effectively, this would include at least Quebec or Ontario, as they are the most populous provinces). This formula specifically applies to amendments related to
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2562-444: The government from creating unconstitutional laws. Instead of the usual parliamentary procedure, which includes the monarch's formal royal assent for enacting legislation, amendments to any of the acts that collectively form the constitution must be done in accordance with Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982 , which provides for five different amending formulae. Amendments can be brought forward under section 46(1) by any province or
2623-448: The governor general's absence or incapacitation, the administrator of Canada performs the Crown's most basic functions. As part of the royal prerogative, the royal sign-manual gives authority to letters patent and orders-in-Council . Much of the royal prerogative is only exercised in-council, meaning on the advice of the King's Privy Council for Canada ( ministers of the Crown formed in Cabinet in conventional practice); within
2684-634: The grievances listed in the United States Declaration of Independence ). Significantly, the Quebec Act also replaced French criminal law with the English common law system; but the French civil law system was retained for non-criminal matters. The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the American War of Independence and sent a wave of British loyalist refugees northward to Quebec and Nova Scotia. In 1784,
2745-537: The legislature, and another governing procedure in the legislature. Two provinces have explicitly listed such acts as being part of their provincial constitution; see Constitution of Quebec and Constitution Act (British Columbia) . However, these acts do not, generally, supersede other legislation and do not require special procedures to amend, and so they function as regular statutes rather than constitutional statutes. A small number of non-constitutional provincial laws do supersede all other provincial legislation, as
2806-400: The monarch and who must relinquish the Crown's power back to it upon losing the confidence of the commons, whereupon a new government, which can hold the lower chamber 's confidence, is installed by the governor general. The royal and vice-royal figures may unilaterally use these powers in exceptional constitutional crisis situations (an exercise of the reserve powers ), thereby allowing
2867-458: The monarch to make sure "that the government conducts itself in compliance with the constitution." Politicians can sometimes try to use to their favour to obscure the complexity of the relationship between the monarch, viceroy, ministers, and Parliament, as well as the public's general unfamiliarity with such. Constitution of Canada [REDACTED] Canada portal The Constitution of Canada ( French : Constitution du Canada )
2928-513: The northeasterly portion of the former French province of New France as Province of Quebec, roughly coextensive with the southern third of contemporary Quebec. The proclamation, which established an appointed colonial government, was the constitution of Quebec until 1774 when the British parliament passed the Quebec Act , which expanded the province's boundaries to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers (one of
2989-403: The party with the most seats or one supported by other parties—will be called by the governor general to form a minority government . Once sworn in, the prime minister holds office until their resignation or removal by the governor general, after either a motion of no confidence or defeat in a general election . The executive is defined in the Constitution Act, 1867 as the Crown acting on
3050-430: The phrase Canada's New Government . Canada is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the role of the reigning sovereign is both legal and practical, but not political. The monarch is vested with all powers of state and sits at the centre of a construct in which the power of the whole is shared by multiple institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority. The executive is thus formally referred to as
3111-465: The primary document of Canadian Confederation . With the patriation of the Constitution in 1982, this Act was renamed Constitution Act, 1867 . In recent years, the 1867 document has mainly served as the basis on which the division of powers between the provinces and the federal government is analyzed. Endorsed by all provincial governments except that of Quebec, this was the formal Act of Parliament that effected Canada's full legislative independence from
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#17328447543283172-480: The program, under the name Language Rights Support Program . As of February 2017, the Court Challenges Program has been reinstated with an annual budget of $ 5 million. Since then up to May 2022, the program has received 115 applications for the official languages rights branch and 292 for the human rights branch. Of those, the CCP funded 74 and 127 respectively. The information as to which cases are funded
3233-459: The programs and enforce the laws established by the Parliament of Canada . The federal government's organization and structure was established at Confederation , through the Constitution Act, 1867 , wherein the Canadian Crown acts as the core, or "the most basic building block", of its Westminster-style parliamentary democracy . The monarch, King Charles III is head of state and
3294-450: The proportionate representation in Parliament, powers, selection, and composition of the Senate, the Supreme Court and the addition of provinces or territories. The other amendment formulae are for particular cases as provided by the act. An amendment related to the Office of the King , the use of either official language (subject to section 43), the amending formula itself, or the composition of
3355-533: The province of Manitoba (the first to be established by the Parliament of Canada) was created. British Columbia joined Confederation in 1871, followed by Prince Edward Island in 1873. The Yukon Territory was created by Parliament in 1898, followed by Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905 (all out of parts of the Northwest Territories). Newfoundland , Britain's oldest colony in the Americas and by then also
3416-508: The two provinces were divided: Nova Scotia was split into Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island (rejoined to Nova Scotia in 1820), Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick, while Quebec was split into Lower Canada (southern Quebec) and Upper Canada (southern through lower northern Ontario). The winter of 1837–38 saw rebellion in both Canadas, contributing to their re-union as the Province of Canada in 1841. The British North America Act, 1867 established
3477-544: The validity of an amendment to a provincial constitution framed as an addition to part of the Constitution of Canada. In 1983, Peter Greyson, an art student, entered Ottawa's National Archives (known today as Library and Archives Canada ) and poured red paint mixed with glue over a copy of the proclamation of the 1982 constitutional amendment. He said he was displeased with the federal government's decision to allow United States missile testing in Canada and had wanted to "graphically illustrate to Canadians" how wrong he believed
3538-472: The world. The Canadian constitution includes core written documents and provisions that are constitutionally entrenched , take precedence over all other laws and place substantive limits on government action; these include the Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act, 1867) and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . The Constitution Act , 1867 provides for
3599-402: The written portion of the Canadian constitution. This was an Act of the British parliament, originally called the British North America Act, 1867 . It outlined Canada's system of government, which combines Britain's Westminster model of parliamentary government with the division of sovereignty ( federalism ). Although it is the first of 20 British North America Acts , it is the most famous as
3660-532: Was achieved in 1982 when the British parliament, with the request and assent of the Canadian parliament, passed the Canada Act 1982 , which included in its schedules the Constitution Act, 1982 . The United Kingdom thus renounced any remaining responsibility for, or jurisdiction over, Canada. In a formal ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed the Constitution Act, 1982 into law on April 17, 1982. The Constitution Act, 1982 , includes
3721-488: Was affirmed in each colony's Terms of Union , which now form part of Canada's Constitution. The remaining three provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta) were created by federal statute. Their constitutional structures are described in those statutes, which now form part of Canada's Constitution. All provinces have enacted legislation that establishes other rules for the structure of government. For example, every province (and territory) has an act governing elections to
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