Legislation

This research guide brings together resources for legislative research. 

The current legislation chart describes where to access legislation for all Canadian jurisdictions, including where to find the full text of statutes, regulations, bills, the gazette, debates, journals/votes/proceedings, and proclamations/orders in council. 

Historic legislation resources are also available, including online and print. 

This guide also includes helpful books, including go to texts on researching legislative intent, parliamentary procedure, and legislative research within the wider context of legal research. 

Legislative has a lot of jargon, so this guide also include a list of helpful definitions and infographics.

This guide describes how to search for annotated legislation, which are practical texts for understanding the development and interpretation of legislation. 

It also include more resources for accessing legislation, including legal research databases. 

Finally, it describes legal citation of legislation, including how to access the McGill Guide and the relevant rules. 

This guide has been created by the Toronto Metropolitan University Library and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License unless otherwise marked.

Date Updated: July 2025