Legal Citations – Federal Regulations (McGill Guide, 2.5.1)

Revised Federal Regulation Citations

The revised volumes of federal regulations are titled the Consolidated Regulations of Canada (CRC).

A proper citation for a revised federal regulation should include the following:

Title,
  • Italicize the official short title of the regulation, then put a comma. If there is no official short title, use the title as it appears at the beginning of the regulation.
Volume (CRC),
  • Revised federal regulations are cited to the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, which is abbreviated to "CRC”. Put a comma after the volume.
Chapter,
  • Indicate the chapter number assigned to the regulation in the CRC, abbreviating "chapter” to "c”. Put a comma after the chapter number.
Pinpoint
  • Pinpoint the section number being referred to, abbreviating "section” to "s” and followed by a period, unless you are including the year. Do not use the word "at”.
(Year).
  • You do not need to include the year when citing revised federal regulations because it is assumed to be to the latest consolidation, which was in 1978. If, however, you are citing to an older revision, then be sure to indicate the year in parentheses, followed by a period.

EXAMPLE:

Title, Volume, Chapter, Pinpoint (Year).
Annuities Agents Pension Regulations, CRC, c 319, s 5.  

Annuities Agents Pension Regulations, CRC, c 319, s 5.

Unrevised Federal Regulation Citations

The unrevised federal regulations are bound in annual volumes titled Statutory Orders and Regulations (SOR).

Unlike the revised federal regulations, you must indicate the year of the SOR volume to which you are citing.

A proper unrevised federal regulation citation should include the following:

Title (optional),
  • Indicating the title for unrevised federal statutes is optional. Italicize the official short title of the regulation, followed by a comma. If there is no official short title, use the title as it appears at the beginning of the regulation. The title is optional, so if there is no title (as occasionally happens with regulations), proceed to the SOR volume info.
Volume (SOR)/
  • Unrevised federal regulations are cited to the Statutory Orders and Regulations, which is abbreviated to "SOR”. The volume is followed by a slash " / ”.
Year-Regulation Number,
  • Together, the year and regulation number function like a chapter number. With this information, the reader is pointed to the correct volume of the SOR. For years prior to 2000, only include the last two digits (e.g. instead of 1989, use 89). For years including and following the year 2000, include all four digits (e.g. 2001). Separate the year and regulation number with a dash "-" (e.g. 2004-56).
Pinpoint.
  • Pinpoint the section number being referred to, abbreviating "section” to "s”. Do not use the word "at”.

EXAMPLE:

Title, Volume/ Year-Regulation Number, Pinpoint.
Asbestos Products Regulations (optional), SOR/ 2007-260, s 2.

Asbestos Products Regulations, SOR/2007-260, s 2.