What are the sources of Canadian law?

Canadian law does not flow from a single document or a single decision-maker. According to the official citizenship study guide, Canada is a constitutional monarchy, a parliamentary democracy and a federal state, and each of those layered identities feeds a distinct stream of legal authority. The most visible and active stream is laws passed by Parliament together with the provincial and territorial legislatures — the statutes that elected representatives debate, vote on and enact, covering matters from taxation and criminal offences to schools, health and the environment.

The second source is English common law, the body of judge-made rules and precedents that Canada inherited from Britain. The third is the civil code of France, brought to Canada through the long French presence on this land — part of the 400 years during which settlers and immigrants have contributed to the country's diversity, richness and identity. The fourth is the unwritten constitution handed down from Great Britain: the customs, conventions and traditions of parliamentary government that shape how power is actually exercised.

These four sources sit underneath, and work alongside, the written Constitution. The Oath of Citizenship binds new Canadians to faithfully observe the laws of Canada, including the Constitution, which recognizes and affirms the Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Underpinning the whole system is a single uniting principle the guide states plainly: Canadians are bound together by a shared commitment to the rule of law and to the institutions of parliamentary government.

Understanding the four sources of Canadian law matters because every right a citizen enjoys and every responsibility a citizen carries traces back to one of them. New citizens swear in the Oath that they will faithfully observe the laws of Canada, and that promise covers all four sources — not just the statute book in Ottawa. The guide stresses that Canadian citizens enjoy many rights but also have responsibilities: they must obey Canada's laws and respect the rights and freedoms of others. The same four-source system is what makes Canada at once a constitutional monarchy, a parliamentary democracy and a federal state, with the rule of law as its foundation. Knowing this is essential for the citizenship test and for daily civic life.