List of documents from the constitutional history of Canada
Encyclopedia
This is a list of significant documents related to the history of the Constitution of Canada, some of which constitute part of the Constitution itself. (see List of Canadian constitutional documents for a list of documents that make up the Constitution).
Pre-Confederation
- Articles of Capitulation of QuebecArticles of Capitulation of QuebecThe Articles of Capitulation of Quebec were agreed upon between Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas-Roch de Ramezay, King's Lieutenant, Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, and General George Townshend on behalf the French and British crowns during the Seven Years' War...
(September 18, 1759) - Articles of Capitulation of MontrealArticles of Capitulation of MontrealThe Articles of Capitulation of Montreal were agreed upon between the Governor General of New France, Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, and Major-General Jeffrey Amherst on behalf of the French and British crowns...
(September 8, 1760) - Treaty of Paris (1763)Treaty of Paris (1763)The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
(February 10, 1763) - British Royal Proclamation of 1763 (October 7, 1763)
- Instructions to Governor Murray
- Instructions to Governor Carleton
- Quebec ActQuebec ActThe Quebec Act of 1774 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain setting procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec...
(June 22, 1774) - United States Declaration of IndependenceUnited States Declaration of IndependenceThe Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
(July 4, 1776) - French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the CitizenDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the CitizenThe Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid...
(August 26, 1789) - Constitutional Act of 1791Constitutional Act of 1791The Constitutional Act of 1791, formally The Clergy Endowments Act, 1791 , is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain...
(June 10, 1791) - Ninety-Two ResolutionsNinety-Two ResolutionsThe Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the Parti patriote of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony....
(February 21, 1834) - Report of the Royal Commission for the Investigation of all Grievances Affecting His Majesty's Subjects of Lower Canada (1837)
- Lord John Russell's Ten Resolutions (March 6, 1837)
- Declaration of Independence of Lower CanadaDeclaration of Independence of Lower CanadaThe Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada was written in French by the patriot rebel Robert Nelson on February 22, 1838, while in exile in the United States, after the first rebellion of 1837....
(February 22, 1838) - Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839)Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839)The Report on the Affairs of British North America, commonly known as The Durham Report, is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire....
(February, 1839) - Act of Union (1840) (February 10, 1841)
- British North America Act 1867 (July 1, 1867)
Confederation
- Manitoba ActManitoba ActThe Manitoba Act, originally titled An Act to amend and continue the Act 32 and 33 Victoria, chapter 3; and to establish and provide for the Government of the Province of Manitoba, is an act of the Parliament of Canada that is defined by the Constitution Act, 1982 as forming a part of the...
(1870) - Francoeur motion (1918)
- Statute of WestminsterStatute of Westminster 1931The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Passed on 11 December 1931, the Act established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom...
(1931) - Report of the Rowell-Dafoe-Sirois Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations (1940)
- Letters PatentLetters patentLetters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
(1947) - Report of the Tremblay Royal Commission of Inquiry on Constitutional Problems (1953)
- Report of the Laurendeau-Dunton Royal Commission on Bilingualism and BiculturalismRoyal Commission on Bilingualism and BiculturalismThe Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was a Canadian royal commission established on 19 July 1963, by the government of Prime Minister Lester B...
(1963) - Official Languages ActOfficial Languages ActOfficial Language Act or Official Languages Act may refer to:* the Official Languages Act passed in Canada to enshrine official bilingualism* the Official Language Act passed in Quebec to ensure that French retained its primary status...
(1969) - Victoria CharterVictoria CharterThe Victoria Charter was a set of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada in 1971. This document represented a failed attempt on the part of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to patriate the Constitution, add rights and freedoms to it and entrench English and French as Canada's official...
(1971) - Report of the Gendron Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in QuebecCommission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in QuebecThe Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec was established under the Union Nationale government of Jean-Jacques Bertrand on December 9, 1968.- Background :...
(1972) - Charter of the French LanguageCharter of the French LanguageThe Charter of the French Language , also known as Bill 101 and Loi 101, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada defining French, the language of the majority of the population, as the only official language of Quebec, and framing fundamental language rights for everyone in the province...
(1977) - Report of The Pépin Robarts Commission - Task Force on Canadian Unity (1978)
- Sovereignty-Association Act (1980)
- Canada Act 1982Canada Act 1982The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed at the request of the Canadian federal government to "patriate" Canada's constitution, ending the necessity for the country to request certain types of amendment to the Constitution of Canada to be made by the...
(1982) - Meech Lake AccordMeech Lake AccordThe Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
(1989) - Beaudoin-Edwards committee report (June 20, 1991)
- Report of the Bélanger-Campeau Commission on the Political and Constitutional Future of Québec (March 27, 1991)
- Allaire ReportAllaire ReportThe Allaire Report was a report written by the constitutional reform committee of the Liberal Party of Quebec, chaired by lawyer and politician Jean Allaire, recommending a significant transfer of powers from Canada's federal government to the Government of Quebec...
(January 28, 1991) - Report of the Parliamentary Committee to Examine Matters Relating to the Accession of Québec to Sovereignty (1992)
- Charlottetown AccordCharlottetown AccordThe Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
(1992) - Act Respecting the Future of QuebecAct Respecting the Future of QuebecThe Act Respecting the Future of Quebec was a bill proposed to the Quebec National Assembly by Premier Jacques Parizeau and his Parti Québécois government in 1995...
(1995) - 1997 Calgary Accord
- Reference re Secession of QuebecReference re Secession of QuebecReference re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217 was an opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the legality, under both Canadian and international law, of a unilateral secession of Quebec from Canada....
(1998) - Clarity ActClarity ActThe Clarity Act is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Government of Canada would enter into negotiations that might lead to secession following such a vote by one of the provinces. The Clarity Bill was tabled for first reading in the...
(1998) - Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State (1999)