MR 84-7E

WHEN DO ACTS COME INTO FORCE?

Prepared by:
Jacques Rousseau, Peter Niemczak
Law and Government Division
30 March 1984
Revised 8 July 1990

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

   A. The Effective Date of Acts

   B. The Procedure

WHEN DO ACTS COME INTO FORCE?

INTRODUCTION

A distinction must first be made between a bill and an Act. A bill which has been passed by the Senate and the House of Commons remains a bill until it receives Royal Assent. Thus a bill becomes an Act when it is assented to, although this does not mean that the legislation comes into force automatically. Acts may come into force in various ways and each Act must be examined to determine which commencement mechanism applies.

   A. The Effective Date of Acts

If an Act does not contain a provision specifying the date of commencement, the Interpretation Act stipulates that in such instances, the Act comes into force on the day it is assented to.(1)

An Act may contain a provision: (a) fixing the date it becomes effective; b) stating that it comes into force on the day it is assented to; c) stating that it comes into force pursuant to an order issued by the Governor in Council.

   B. The Procedure

As an example, we will use the date of coming into force of the Forgiveness of Debts (Sub-Saharan Africa) Act.(2) This Act stipulates that it comes into force upon order of The Governor in Council.(3) In accordance with an order issued by the Governor in Council on 8 March 1990, the Forgiveness of Debts (Sub-Saharan Africa) Act came into force on 25 March 1990.

The following sets out in chronological order how the process works:

1) Bill C-10, the Forgiveness of Debts (Sub-Saharan Africa) Act: a) adopted by the House of Commons on 6 October 1989, the day on which it was given third reading; b) adopted by the Senate on 14 December 1989, the day on which it was given third reading.

2) Bill C-10 was given Royal Assent on 15 December 1989 and became an Act.

3) The Forgiveness of Debts (Sub-Saharan Africa) Act, was published in Part III of the Canada Gazette, pursuant to the Statutory Instruments Regulations.(4)

4) The Act came into force on 25 March 1990, pursuant to an order issued by the Governor in Council on 8 March 1990.

5) The order was recorded by the Clerk of the Privy Council, pursuant to section 6(b) of the Statutory Instruments Act(5) and published in Part II of the Canada Gazette,(6) pursuant to section 11(3)(c) of the Statutory Instruments Regulations. The recording and publication of an order issued by the Governor in Council have no bearing on the coming into force of an Act.

(1) R.S.C. 1985, c. I-21, section 5(1) states:

The Clerk of the Parliaments shall endorse on every Act, immediately after its title, the day, month and year when the Act was assented to in Her Majesty’s name and the endorsement shall be part of the Act.

(2) S.C. 1989 c. 25.

(3) Section 4: This Act shall come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.

(4) The public Acts of each session of the Parliament of Canada shall be published in Part III of the Canada Gazette.

(5) R.S.C. 1985, c. –S-22, as amended.

(6) The Canada Gazette Part I contains notices of a general character, proclamations and various other statutory notices. Part II contains all "regulations" as defined in the Statutory Instruments Act, orders of the Governor in Council and certain other statutory instruments. The purpose of Part III is to publish public Acts as soon as possible following Royal Assent.