What’s In LawSource

Case Law

Common Law Jurisdictions
Westlaw Canada's mandate is to provide coverage of unreported court decisions from 1986 forward and reported court decisions from 1977, as well as decisions published in Carswell law reports from their inception. You will also find that Westlaw Canada includes an extensive collection of decisions predating 1977 from key courts and law report series. For details of coverage of particular law report series or courts, please refer to the following lists.

Full-text Decisions from Carswell Law Report Series
Coverage of court and tribunal decisions published in Carswell law reports dates back to the inception of these report series. Reporters are listed below along with their abbreviation and start date.

Administrative Law Reports (Admin. L.R.) 1983-
Alberta Law Reports (Alta. L.R.) 1908-33 *
Alberta Law Reports (Alta. L.R.) 1977-
British Columbia Law Reports (B.C.L.R.) 1977-
Business Law Reports (B.L.R.) 1977-
Canada G.S.T. Cases (G.S.T.C.) 1992-
Canada Tax Cases (C.T.C) 1917-
Canadian Bankruptcy Reports (C.B.R.) 1920-
Canadian Cases on Employment Law (C.C.E.L.) 1983-
Canadian Cases on the Law of Insurance (C.C.L.I.) 1983-
Canadian Cases on the Law of Securities (C.C.L.S.) 1994-98 *
Canadian Cases on the Law of Torts (C.C.L.T.) 1976-
Canadian Cases on Pensions and Benefits (C.C.P.B.) 1994-
Canadian Environmental Law Reports (C.E.L.R.) 1987-
Canadian Intellectual Property Reports (C.I.P.R.) 1984-90 *
Carswell's Practice Cases (C.P.C) 1976-2022
Construction Law Reports (C.L.R.) 1983-
Canadian Reports, Appeal Cases (C.R.A.C.) 1871-78; 1912-13 *
Coutlee's Canada Supreme Court Cases (Cout. S.C.) 1875-1906 *
Criminal Reports (C.R.) 1946-
Eastern Law Reporter (E.L.R.) 1906-14 *
Estates and Trusts Reports (E.T.R.) 1977-
Fox Patent Cases (Fox Pat.C.) 1940-71 *
Immigration Law Reporter (Imm.L.R.) 1987-
Maritime Provinces Reports (M.P.R.) 1929-68 *
Motor Vehicle Reports (M.V.R.) 1977-2022
Municipal and Planning Law Reports (M.P.L.R.) 1976-
New Brunswick Reports (N.B.R.) 1867-1929 *
Northwest Territories Reports (N.W.T.R.) 1983-98 *
Nova Scotia Reports (N.S.R.) 1886-1929 *
Ontario Practice Reports (P.R.) 1896-1904 *
Ontario Reports (O.R.) 1935-56
Ontario Weekly Reporter (O.W.R.) 1902-16 *
Personal Property Security Act Cases (P.P.S.A.C.) 1977-
Real Property Reports (R.P.R.) 1977-
Reports of Family Law (R.F.L.) 1971-
Reports of Family Law, Reprint Series (R.F.L. Rep.) 1824-1970 *
Saskatchewan Law Reports (Sask. L.R.) 1916-31 *
Tax Appeal Board Cases (Tax A.B.C.) 1949-71 *
Western Law Reporter (W.L.R.) 1905-16 *
Western Weekly Reports (W.W.R.) 1911-

* Start and end dates are provided for discontinued report series published by Carswell or its licensors.

Full-text Decisions from Canada Law Book Report Series

All cases that were reported in the following Canada Law Book reporters are now available on Westlaw Canada, dating back to the inception of those reporters.

Canadian Criminal Cases (C.C.C.) 1898-

Canadian Patent Reporter (C.P.R.) 1942-
Dominion Law Reports (D.L.R.) 1912-
Labour Arbitration Cases (L.A.C.) 1948-
Land Compensation Reports (L.C.R.) 1971-

Ontario Municipal Board Reports (O.M.T.R., formerly O.M.B.R.) 1972-2022

Full-text Decisions from non-Carswell Law Report Series
Unless otherwise stated, our case law collection covers court decisions appearing in the following reporters back to 1977 and tribunal decisions appearing in these reporters back to 1997.

All court decisions in this collection are reproduced directly from the court files, either precisely as issued by the court or edited by Carswell for transcription and citation errors. All headnotes are written by Carswell. Parallel citations for reported decisions are included where available.

Alberta Labour Relations Board Reports (Alta. L.R.B.R.)
British Columbia Appeal Cases (B.C.A.C.)
Canadian Human Rights Reporter (C.H.R.R.)
Canada Industrial Relations Board (C.I.R.B.)
Canadian Labour Law Cases (C.L.L.C.)
Canadian Labour Relations Board Reports (C.L.R.B.R.)
Canadian Native Law Reporter (C.N.L.R.)
Canadian Rights Reporter (C.R.R.)
Dominion Tax Cases (D.T.C.)
Federal Trial Reports (F.T.R.)
Insurance Law Reporter (I.L.R.)
Manitoba Reports (Man. R.)
New Brunswick Reports (N.B.R.)
National Reporter (N.R.)
Nova Scotia Reports (N.S.R.)
Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island Reports (Nfld. & P.E.I.R.)
Ontario Appeal Cases (O.A.C.)
Ontario Labour Relations Board Reports (O.L.R.B. Rep.)
Ontario Reports (O.R.) 1935-
Saskatchewan Reports (Sask. R.)
Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal Reporter (W.S.I.A.T.R. -- formerly W.C.A.T.R.)
Yukon Reports (Y.R.)
 

 

Full-text Decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada and Privy Council
Coverage includes all decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada since its first decision in 1876, as well as all Privy Council decisions arising out of Canadian courts.


Full-text Decisions from the Federal Courts and Exchequer Court
Coverage includes decisions reported in the Federal Court Reports from 1971 forward (with coverage of reported decisions of the Exchequer Court from 1875 to 1970), decisions unreported in the Federal Court Reports from 1986 and decisions reported in Federal Trial Reports from 1977.

Tribunal Decision Coverage (PDF) 
Case law enhancements
Decisions going onto Westlaw Canada are editorially enhanced by adding the following information:

  • Subject assignment: Carswell's editorial staff assigns one or more of the following broad subject areas to each decision as soon as it is loaded onto Westlaw Canada
    • Churches and Religious Institutions
    • Civil Practice and Procedure
    • Constitutional
    • Contracts
    • Corporate and Commercial
    • Criminal
    • Customs
    • Environmental
    • Estates and Trusts
    • Evidence
    • Family
    • Immigration
    • Insolvency
    • Insurance
    • International
    • Labour and Employment
    • Natural Resources
    • Property
    • Public
    • Restitution
    • Securities
    • Tax
    • Torts
  • Canadian Abridgment topical classification and summary information: Each decision is summarized and organized by legal issue according to the Canadian Abridgment classification.
  • Lists of Authorities: Each decision provides a list of cases, legislation and particular Words or Phrases referenced in the decision
  • Statements of Proceedings and Disposition

Québec

Coverage of Québec cases is as follows:
  • Court of Appeal cases reported by Soquij in Jurisprudence Express from 1977-1996; complete coverage from 1997.
  • Superior Court cases reported by Soquij in Jurisprudence Express from 1977-2002; complete coverage from 2003.
  • Court of Quebec cases reported by Soquij in Jurisprudence Express from 1977-2002; complete coverage from 2003.  

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The Canadian Abridgment Case Law Digests

The Canadian Abridgment Case Digests is a comprehensive collection of over 1,000,000 digests of Canadian case law that is organized by legal issue according to a single taxonomy (The Canadian Abridgment Key Classification System). This collection is exclusive to Carswell, and covers virtually every case reported in Canada since 1803, and every reported or unreported case received from the courts since 1986, with the exception of Quebec civil law cases. New case digests are added to Westlaw Canada every day. Abridgment Digests are written by lawyers and adhere to strict editorial standards.

Abridgment Digests are more than just a general summary of the facts and proceedings in a particular case. They are written on an issue-by-issue basis, and a single judgment may have several case digests; one for each legal issue considered in the case. Standard classification phrases derived from the Abridgment Key Classification System are used to identify the legal issue, and to ensure that all Digests on a particular issue are gathered together. Most Digests also include a brief summary of the facts and ratio of the case. The case citation following the Digest includes the direct appellate history of the case as it pertains to the particular legal issue being digested.


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The Canadian Abridgment eDigests

The Canadian Abridgment eDigests are a weekly current awareness service that is designed to help lawyers and legal researchers keep abreast of the latest developments in case law for a particular topic. The content is derived from case digests that have been written for The Canadian Abridgment Case Digests. The Canadian Abridgment eDigests are available for specific topical areas, and represent a sub-set of all of the cases digested for The Canadian Abridgment, excluding cases that are judged to have little precedential value.

The following topics are currently available:
  • Aboriginal Law
  • Administrative Law
  • Bankruptcy and Insolvency
  • Business Associations
  • Commercial Law
  • Constitutional Law and Human Rights
  • Construction Law
  • Contracts
  • Damages
  • Employment Law
  • Environmental Law
  • Estates and Trusts
  • Evidence
  • Family Law – Atlantic (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador)
  • Family Law – Ontario
  • Family Law- Western (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut)
  • Impaired Driving
  • Insurance
  • Intellectual Property (including Information Technology)
  • Labour Law
  • Motor Vehicles
  • Municipal Law
  • Natural Resources
  • Practice
  • Privacy
  • Professional Responsibility
  • Real property
  • Torts
  • Young Offenders

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Legislation

Statutes
LawSource includes all public statutes from the following jurisdictions, and contains the most recent consolidations, as amended to the present:
  • Federal - English and French
  • Alberta - includes the R.S.A.1980, as amended, and R.S.A. 2000, as amended, consolidations
  • British Columbia
  • Manitoba
  • New Brunswick
  • Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Northwest Territories
  • Nova Scotia
  • Nunavut
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Québec (with the exception of tax related statutes - complete in French and major statutes available in English)
  • Saskatchewan
  • Yukon – includes the R.S.Y. 1985, as amended, and R.S.Y. 2002, as amended, consolidations
Regulations
LawSource contains complete in-force regulations for British Columbia, Ontario, and Federal law. As well, it contains approximately 13,000 of the most frequently consulted regulations relating to any area of law from all Canadian jurisdictions. All the regulations Carswell publishes in its bound series of annotated and consolidated legislation are incorporated, as well as many other regulations that are found in Carswell publications, or have been frequently requested. In addition, LawSource has comprehensive regulations in the following specialty areas: criminal law, family law, securities, insolvency and intellectual property.
 

Regulations are updated daily.

Rules of Practice
Rules of practice are provided for every court in Canada except Québec.


Rules Concordance

A topical concordance to the rules of practice enables you to find equivalent rules in other jurisdictions.

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KeyCite Canada

KeyCite Canada is the citation research service adapted from The Canadian Abridgment’s suite of citator products (Canadian Case Citations, Canadian Statute Citations, Rules Judicially Considered, Regulations Judicially Considered) for Westlaw Canada. Carswell has set the standard for case law citators in Canada since 1951. Carswell’s legislative citator was developed in 1970 and continues to be the premier legislative citator in Canada. You can use KeyCite Canada to note up Canadian cases and legislation.

KeyCite Canada for cases includes the full history of all Canadian reported cases back to 1867, plus judicial treatments of Canadian and foreign cases discussed in Canadian decisions that fall within the following coverage:
  • Selective coverage of reported cases since 1867.
  • Comprehensive coverage of reported cases since 1977.
  • Comprehensive coverage of unreported cases since 1986.
Coverage of Québec cases is as follows:
  • Comprehensive coverage of Québec Court of Appeal cases, with reasons, from July 24, 2017.
  • Selected cases from the Superior Court and Court of Québec from July 24, 2017.

KeyCiteCanada for Statutes includes judicial treatment of Canadian and foreign statutes referenced in Canadian decisions that fall within the following coverage:
  • Selective coverage of reported cases before 1977
  • Comprehensive coverage of reported cases since 1977
  • Comprehensive coverage of unreported cases since 1986.
KeyCite Canada for Rules includes judicial treatment of the Rules of Court of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court, the territories, and each province with the exception of Québec from 1986.

KeyCite Canada for Regulations includes judicial treatment of Canadian and foreign regulations referenced in Canadian decisions from 1997.

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Law Report Articles, Journals and Law Reviews

Carswell Law Report Articles and Case Comments
LawSource contains a collection of all articles and case comments that appear in Carswell print law reports:
  • Administrative Law Reports 1983-
  • Alberta Law Reports 1984-
  • Business Law Reports 1977-
  • Canadian Bankruptcy Reports 1960-
  • Canadian Cases on Employment Law 1984-
  • Canadian Cases on the Law of Insurance 1986-
  • Canadian Cases on the Law of Torts 1978-
  • Canadian Environmental Law Reports 1978-
  • Carswell’s Practice Cases 1982-2022
  • Construction Law Reports 1983-
  • Criminal Reports 1972-
  • Estates and Trusts Reports 1977-
  • Immigration Law Reporter 1987-
  • Motor Vehicle Reports 1979-2022
  • Municipal and Planning Law Reports 1976-
  • Real Property Reports 1979-
  • Reports of Family Law 1971-
Journals and Law Reviews
LawSource contains the following Canadian journals and law reviews:
  • NEW Asper Review of International Business and Trade Law 2001-
  • Banking and Finance Law Review (Canada) 1997-
  • Canadian Criminal Law Review 1998-
  • Canadian Family Law Quarterly 1996-
  • Canadian Journal of Administrative Law & Practice 1997-
  • Canadian Journal of Family Law 1991-
  • Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence 1994-
  • Canadian Journal of Law & Society 1993-
  • Canada-United States Law Journal 1983-
  • Education and Law Journal (Canada) 1995-
  • NEW Indigenous Law Journal 2002-
  • Insolvency Institute of Canada materials 1992-
  • Intellectual Property Journal (Canada) 1997-
  • Journal of Business Valuation (Canada) 1997-
  • Journal of Environmental Law and Practice (Canada) 1997-
  • Journal of International Law and International Relations 2005-
  • NEW Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law 2008-
  • NEW Journal of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers 2009-
  • NEW McGill Journal of Law & Health 2007-
  • McGill Law Journal 1993-
  • National Journal of Constitutional Law (Canada) 1997-
  • Osgoode Hall Law Journal 2000-
  • NEW Ottawa Law Review 2005-
  • Queen's Law Journal 1996-
  • Revue de droit de l’Université de Sherbrooke 2002-
  • Revue juridique Thémis 1999-
  • Saskatchewan Law Review 1993-
  • University of New Brunswick Law Journal 1993-
  • University of Ottawa Law & Technology Journal 2003-
  • University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review 2001-
  • University of Toronto Law Journal 1996-
  • Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues 2004-
  • Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice 1993-
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The Canadian Encyclopedic Digest

The Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (C.E.D.) is a comprehensive statement of Ontario and Western law – provincial, federal and common law – as derived from legislation and case law. More than 225 subject titles on every aspect of Canadian law and practice are included, referencing tens of thousands of case law authorities and statutory provisions. Titles are regularly supplemented and updated. For a complete list of titles, authors, and currency information, please see the Currency Notes for the CED.

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Index to Canadian Legal Literature

ICLL is Canada’s only comprehensive legal bibliography, containing books, articles, government publications, audio-visual materials, continuing legal education materials, case comments and annotations in English and French. ICLL receives contributions from law libraries across Canada. ICLL on Westlaw Canada provides linking from ICLL references to full text of articles and cases, where available on Westlaw Canada. ICLL references are also displayed in KeyCiteCanada results.

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Words & Phrases

Words & Phrases enables users to find judicial interpretations of words and phrases.

It is based on the Words & Phrases Judicially Defined in Canadian Courts and Tribunals component of the Canadian Abridgment, a multivolume collection published in print since 1993. It provides judicial interpretations of both statutory and common law terms from the 1800’s to the present. It includes over 60,000 Canadian interpretations of 30,000 terms, making it by far the largest service of its kind available in Canada in any medium.

All interpretations of a word or phrase appear in a single document, making it easy to browse through several interpretations at one time. (Cross-references appear both in the Result List and on each document to link you to related entries).

Interpretations are organized within the Words & Phrases entry by jurisdiction. Each interpretation contains: the relevant passage from the decision; the subject area; the name, citation, court level and judge(s) of the decision.

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