Legal Citations – Provincial Regulation Citations (McGill Guide, 2.5.2)

The citation format for provincial regulations differs from province to province.

Some provinces use all four digits to indicate the year, whereas others only use two.
Many provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) and some territories (Yukon and Nunavut) do not publish revised volumes of their regulations.
Some provinces prefer that the year precede the regulation number in the citation, whereas others prefer the opposite.
The simple solution for dealing with the variance between the provinces is to consult the McGill Guide every time.

Chapter 2.6.2 of the McGill Guide deals specifically with provincial and territorial regulations. However, this module will only cover Ontario regulation citations.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Inclusion of the regulation title is optional.

This is because, in practice, regulations are often identified only by their regulation numbers. In fact, many regulations are untitled (or simply titled "General Regulations”).

Revised Ontario Regulation Citations

Revised Ontario regulations are cited to the Revised Regulations of Ontario (RRO). The last consolidation was done in 1990.

A proper revised Ontario regulation citation should include the following:

Title,	If including the title of the regulation, 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 (RRO)	Revised Ontario regulations are cited to the Revised Regulations of Ontario, which is abbreviated to "RRO”.
Year of Revision,	Indicate the year the revision was made. In the case of Ontario, the last revision was done in 1990 and you will most likely be citing to this revision as it is the most recent.
Regulation Number,	Include the regulation number assigned to the regulation in the RRO, abbreviating "Regulation” to "Reg”, then put a comma.
Pinpoint.	Pinpoint the section of the regulation being referred to, abbreviating "section” to "s”, then put a period. Do not include the word "at”.

EXAMPLE:

Title,	Volume (RRO)	Year of Revision,	Regulation Number	Pinpoint.
	RRO	1990,	Reg 261,	s 8.

RRO 1990, Reg 261, s 8.

Unrevised Ontario Regulation Citations

Unrevised Ontario regulations are published in The Ontario Gazette; however, you don't need to cite the Ontario Gazette, but may simply cite the regulation number and year. Those Ontario regulations published since 1990 are considered unrevised.

A proper unrevised Ontario regulation should include the following:

Title,	If you include the title of the regulation, 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.
Jurisdiction	Identify the province or territory (e.g. "Ontario” is abbreviated to "O”).
Regulation Number/	Indicate the regulation number assigned to the regulation, abbreviating "Regulation” to "Reg”. The regulation number is followed by the last two digits of the year and the two are separated using a slash " / ”.
Year,	Include only the last two digits of the year (e.g. for 2007, simply put 07), and put a comma.
Pinpoint.	Pinpoint the section of the regulation being referred to, abbreviating "section” to "s”. Put a period after the pinpoint information. Do not include the word "at”.

EXAMPLE:

Title,	Jurisdiction	Regulation Number/	Year,	Pinpoint.
	O	Reg 231/	07,	s. 2.

O Reg 231/07, s 2.

Previous page – Next Page

Last Updated: 2014-09-09