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The Charter’s inclusion in the Constitution means that any law found to violate basic freedoms and individual and minority rights becomes invalid. The Charter came into force — with numerous amendments — on April 17, 1982. Since then, the Supreme Court of Canada has rendered hundreds of decisions related to charter rights.
- Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms – Section 1
- Fundamental Freedoms – Section 2
- Democratic Rights – Sections 3 to 5
- Mobility Rights – Section 6
- Legal Rights – Sections 7 to 14
- Equality Rights – Section 15
- Official Languages of Canada – Sections 16 to 22
- Minority Language Educational Rights – Section 23
- Enforcement – Section 24
- General – Sections 25 to 31
1. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. The Charter protects those basic rights and freedoms of all Canadians that are considered essential to preserving Canada as a free and...
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: 1. freedom of conscience and religion; 2. freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; 3. freedom of peaceful assembly; and 4. freedom of association. Under section 2of the Charter, Canadians are free to follow the religion of...
Mobility of citizens
6. (1) Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.
Rights to move and gain livelihood
1. (2) Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status of a permanent resident of Canada has the right: 1. to move to and take up residence in any province; and 2. to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province.
Limitation
1. (3) The rights specified in subsection (2) are subject to: 1. any laws or practices of general application in force in a province other than those that discriminate among persons primarily on the basis of province of present or previous residence; and 2. any laws providing for reasonable residency requirements as a qualification for the receipt of publicly provided social services.
Equality before and under law and equal protection and benefit of law
15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
Affirmative action programs
1. (2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability. Section 15 of the Charter makes it clear that every individual in Canada – regardless of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, colour, sex, age or physical or mental disability – is to b...
Language of instruction
23. (1) Citizens of Canada: 1. whose first language learned and still understood is that of the English or French linguistic minority population of the province in which they reside; or 2. who have received their primary school instruction in Canada in English or French and reside in a province where the language in which they received that instruction is the language of the English or French linguistic minority population of the province, have the right to have their children receive primary...
Continuity of language instruction
1. (2) Citizens of Canada of whom any child has received or is receiving primary or secondary school instruction in English or French in Canada, have the right to have all their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in the same language.
Application where numbers warrant
1. (3) The right of citizens of Canada under subsections (1) and (2) to have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in the language of the English or French linguistic minority population of a province: 1. applies whenever in the province the number of children of citizens who have such a right is sufficient to warrant the provision to them out of public funds of minority language instruction; and 2. includes, where the number of those children so warrants, the right...
Enforcement of guaranteed rights and freedoms
24. (1) Anyone whose rights or freedoms, as guaranteed by this Charter, have been infringed or denied may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances.
Exclusion of evidence bringing administration of justice into disrepute
1. (2) Where, in proceedings under subsection (1), a court concludes that evidence was obtained in a manner that infringed or denied any rights or freedoms guaranteed by this Charter, the evidence shall be excluded if it is established that, having regard to all the circumstances, the admission of it in the proceedings would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Section 24 discusses the involvement of the court if an individual’s Charter rights have been denied. Anyone who belie...
- Written Constitution. The written Constitution is Canada’s supreme law. It overrides any laws that are inconsistent with it. The Constitution of Canada includes the British North America Act, 1867; the Statute of Westminster, 1931 (to the extent that it applies to Canada); the Constitution Act, 1982; any amendments to these acts; and the acts and orders that brought new provinces and territories into the Canadian federation.
- Constitution Act, 1867. The British North America Act (now called the Constitution Act, 1867) merged three British colonies — the Province of Canada (present-day Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — into a new federation called Canada, with its capital in Ottawa.
- Parliament and the Legislatures. The federal Parliament is composed of the monarch and two houses: the Senate and the House of Commons. There are now 105 members of the Senate: 24 each for Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes (10 for Nova Scotia, 10 for New Brunswick, 4 for Prince Edward Island); 24 for the West (six each for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba); six for Newfoundland and Labrador; and one each for Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
- Other Constitutional Statutes. Also part of the written Constitution are the acts and orders that admit new provinces and territories. These include: the Manitoba Act, 1870; the Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory Order (1870); the British Columbia Terms of Union (1871); the Prince Edward Island Terms of Union (1873); the Adjacent Territories Order (1880); the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889; the Alberta Act (1905); the Saskatchewan Act (1905); the Newfoundland Act (1949); and the Constitution Act, 1999 (Nunavut).
The Constitution was "patriated" from the United Kingdom in 1982. When Canada was created, it was a self-governing British colony. The British North America Act, 1867, codified many constitutional rules for Canada, but major changes to the Constitution could only be made by the United Kingdom Parliament. In 1982, the Charter was enacted as part ...
The Constitution Act, 1982 gives special protections to Indian treaties, which means those have the force of constitutional law as well. What separates a normal law from a constitutional law? Well, Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982 contains a list of subjects which can only be changed using the constitutional amending formula .
It is designed to unify Canadians around a set of principles that embody those rights. The Charter was proclaimed in force by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada on April 17, 1982, as part of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Charter was preceded by the Canadian Bill of Rights, enacted in 1960, which was a federal statute rather than a constitutional ...
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Mar 15, 2022 · Constitution Act, 1867. The British North America Act (BNA Act) created the Dominion of Canada. The Act was passed by the British Parliament. It came into effect on 1 July 1867. The Act is the founding document of Canada’s Constitution. It outlines how governments in Canada are to be structured.
