APA 7th Edition is an American publication and does not contain any examples or direction on citing and referencing Canadian law. The following has been adapted using both APA 7th's guidelines on what to include in a citation and reference as well as the McGill guide, the standard text for citing Canadian legal material. If using this page, be sure to speak with your instructor first about their requirements and preferences. In accordance with APA, provide a retrieval URL whenever possible. However, if you have retrieved your source from a database like QuickLaw or LawSource, you do not need to include a URL.
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As with any reference, if the information is not available (e.g. the series number), do not include it in the reference. When the name of the court is included in the title of reporter, do not include the court name. See examples below.
When a decision has been rendered, the courts typically assign a neutral citation to the case. The neutral citation consists of the year of decision, court identifier, and decision number.
Reference Formula
Case Name, Year of decision Abbreviated court name Decision number. URL if available.
Example
Pazmandi vs. Canada, 2020 FC 1094.
Reference Formula
Case Name. (Year of decision), Volume Title of reporter (Series number) First page number (Abbreviated name of the court). URL if available.
Example
R v Latimer. (1995), 126 DLR (4th) 203 (Sask CA).
Statutes are published either at the end of the parliamentary session or, periodically, in a collection with all other statutes in something called the Revised Statutes.
The last time the Revised Statutes of Canada was published was in 1985. They are referred to as RSC 1985. The statutes are collected alphabetically, which is indicated in the way the reference presents the chapter number.
Reference Formula
Statute Name, RSC 1985, c chapter Letter-chapter number. URL if available.
Examples
Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46.
Copyright Act, RSC 1985, c C-42. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/index.html
Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985, c L-2. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/index.html
Statues which came into effect after 1985 are referred to as the Statutes of Canada or “SC”. They are not published alphabetically, so the chapter number does not indicate a letter.
Statute Name, SC Year, c. chapter number. URL if available
Examples
Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement Act, SC 2008, c. 2. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/2008_2/
Canada Emergency Student Benefit Act, SC 2020, c. 7.
When referencing a provincial statute, look to see when those statues were last revised. The last time the Revised Statues of Ontario was published was in 1990. They are referred to as RSO 1990. Other provinces use different abbreviations.
Reference Formula
Statute Name, RSO 1990, c chapter letter-chapter number. URL if available
Example
Marriage Act, RSO 1990, c. M-3. https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-m3/latest/rso-1990-c-m3.html
Below is the formula for Statues of Ontario (abbreviated to SO). Please use the appropriate abbreviation if referencing another province’s statutes.
Reference Formula
Statute Name, SO Year, c chapter letter-chapter number. URL if available
Example
Child Care and Early Years Act, SO 2014, c. 11.
Reference Formula
Bill Name, Title of Bill, Parliament session, number of Parliament, Year. URL if available
Example
C-12, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, 2nd session, 41st parliament, 2015. https://www.parl.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&billId=6286620
Reference Formula
Bill Name, Title of Bill, Parliament session, number of Parliament, Province, Year. URL if available
Example
Bill 124, Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 1st session, 42nd parliament, Ontario, 2019. https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-1/bill-124
Similar to Statutes, Regulations are periodically consolidated. These are referred to as the Consolidated Regulations of Canada (CRC).
Federal Regulations were last consolidated in 1978 and therefore, any Regulation in effect up until that time should be referenced as a Consolidated Federal Regulation.
Reference Formula
Name of Regulation, CRC, c chapter number. URL if available
Examples
Narcotic Control Regulations, CRC, c. 1041.
Territorial Lands Act Exclusion Order, CRC, c. 1526. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._1526/index.html
Regulations that came into effect after 1978 are referred to as Statutory Orders and Regulations (SOR) and require additional information.
Reference Formula
Name of Regulation (Optional), SOR/Last two digits of year-number of the regulation. URL if available
Examples
Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, SOR/86-304. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-86-304/index.html
Federal Child Support Regulations, SOR/97-175.
Each province has its own abbreviation for their consolidated regulations. In Ontario, consolidated regulations are called Revised Regulations of Ontario, or RRO 1990. 1990 is the last time that regulations of Ontario were consolidated. If you’re using a consolidated regulation from another province, double-check the abbreviation and year of consolidation.
Reference Formula
RRO 1990, Regulation #
Examples
RRO 1990, Reg 14
Each province is annotated differently; Ontario is signified with an “O”. If you’re using a regulation from another province, double-check the abbreviation.
Reference Formula
O Reg Number/Year
Examples
O Reg 855/93
O Reg 45/91
Legal in-text citations do not require page numbers; however, as per APA 7th guidelines, you are free to include them if you think it will help your reader better locate your source information.