List of Canadian constitutional documents information
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Constitution of Canada
Constitutional history
Bill of Rights (1689)
Act of Settlement (1701)
Treaty of Paris (1763)
Royal Proclamation (1763)
Quebec Act (1774)
Constitutional Act (1791)
Act of Union (1840)
Constitution Act (1867)
Supreme Court Act (1875)
Constitution Act (1886)
British North America Acts (1867–1975)
Statute of Westminster (1931)
Succession to the Throne Act (1937)
Letters Patent (1947)
Canada Act (1982)
Constitution Act, 1982
Succession to the Throne Act, 2013
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The Constitution of Canada is a large number of documents that have been entrenched in the constitution by various means. Regardless of how documents became entrenched, together those documents form the supreme law of Canada; no non-constitutional law may conflict with them, and none of them may be changed without following the amending formula given in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982.
The constitution includes legislation that was specifically written as constitutional documents, statutes that have become entrenched since their original creation, some treaties and royal proclamations, unwritten procedures adopted from the British parliamentary system of government, and unwritten underlying values.
The oldest Canadian constitutional documents were enacted before Confederation, and originated from the English or British government. Those documents were received—along with many subconstitutional laws—into the law of Canada and its provinces by means of section 129 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (then called the British North America Act, 1867). Between Confederation in 1867 and patriation in 1982, the United Kingdom enacted some Canadian constitutional documents by means of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 and the Statute of Westminster, 1931, most notably the British North America Acts. During this time, Canada also passed a small number of constitutional documents for itself. After patriation, all new constitutional documents were passed by the Parliament of Canada and the Legislatures of its provinces.
After patriation, the methods of constitutional entrenchment are:
specific mention as a constitutional document in section 52(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982;
amendments to constitutional documents using the amending formula in Part V the Constitution Act, 1982;
in some cases, reference by an entrenched document;
ruling by a court that a practice is part of Canada's unwritten constitution; or
judicial interpretation of constitutional provisions.
The list of documents for the first two methods is well-established. For the next two, however, there is debate about which documents, or which parts of those documents, are included in the constitution. In some cases, the Supreme Court of Canada has made definitive rulings regarding whether a given documents forms part of the constitution, but in many cases the question is still unclear.
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