Welcome to PrimaryDocuments.ca
PrimaryDocuments now has over 4,500 documents.
NEWS
For the moment our advanced search engine functions are not working, but the main search is still functional. We hope to fix the situation soon. If you are having any trouble finding a document, please contact us at pd@theccf.ca. We’re always happy to help!
NEW Section Reports:
Report: The Power of Disallowance, Section 90 of the Constitution Act, 1867
REPORT: Unwritten Principles: Minority Rights, Analysis of Minority Rights in Constitution Act, 1867
BECOME AN EDITOR
You are invited to sign up free to become editors of our site. You will then have the ability to edit or add content. You can do so by clicking on the tab on the top right of the screen or by clicking HERE.
You are also invited to try our new search engine. Our advanced search engine allows users to search and sort by Section of the Constitution and by Speaker, in addition to by date, author, keyword, etc.
PUBLICATIONS
We are proud to announce the second publication in our book series Canada’s Primary Constitutional Documents: The Confederation Debates in the Province of Canada (CCF, 2022)
Click Here to Download the Three-Volume Set
About the Confederation Debates: Included in this three-volume set, for the first time in one location, is the complete record of all the debates on Confederation that took place in the parliament of the Province of Canada in the period between the drafting of the Quebec Resolutions in October 1864 and the coming-into-force of the new constitution in 1867.Historically, the term “Confederation Debates” has been used to describe only a subset of these debates which took place in February and March, 1865. The present volume includes, in addition, debates from the summer of 1865 and from 1866 that are necessary for a full understanding of the development of the British North America Act.
NEW COLLECTIONS
For the debates surrounding the creation of the Emergencies Act, please visit our collection HERE.In light of Quebec’s attempt to change its constitution we have created two Reports:
REPORT: Language Rights, Section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867
We have also published a new report on Indigenous Rights, Section 25 of the Constitution Act, 1982 HERE.
About Us
We seek to be the most complete word-searchable electronic repository of documents relating to the Canadian constitution.
Our aim is to make it possible for anyone —whether student, teacher, lawyer, or judge— to easily access the entire documentary record of what Canada’s leaders—as well as reasonable, well-informed Canadians—were thinking when they adopted the constitutional provisions that govern us today. Only by knowing this, can present-day Canadians know the meaning of our constitutional law.
You can see the documents in our collection, arranged either by Dates or by Keywords, in the corresponding section of the navigation bar.