Statutory Instruments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. S-22)

Marginal note:Regulations to be published in Canada Gazette

• 11 (1) Subject to any regulations made pursuant to paragraph 20(c), every regulation shall be published in the Canada Gazette within twenty-three days after copies thereof are registered pursuant to section 6.

• Marginal note:No conviction under unpublished regulation

  (2) No regulation is invalid by reason only that it was not published in the Canada Gazette, but no person shall be convicted of an offence consisting of a contravention of any regulation that at the time of the alleged contravention was not published in the Canada Gazette unless

  • (a) the regulation was exempted from the application of subsection (1) pursuant to paragraph 20(c), or the regulation expressly provides that it shall apply according to its terms before it is published in the Canada Gazette; and

  • (b) it is proved that at the date of the alleged contravention reasonable steps had been taken to bring the purport of the regulation to the notice of those persons likely to be affected by it.

Marginal note:Power to direct or authorize publication in Canada Gazette

12 Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Governor in Council may by regulation direct that any statutory instrument or other document, or any class thereof, be published in the Canada Gazette and the Clerk of the Privy Council, where authorized by regulations made by the Governor in Council, may direct or authorize the publication in the Canada Gazette of any statutory instrument or other document, the publication of which, in his opinion, is in the public interest.

13 [Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 476]

Indexes

Marginal note:Quarterly consolidated index of regulations

• 14 (1) The Clerk of the Privy Council shall prepare and the Queen’s Printer shall publish quarterly a consolidated index of all regulations and amendments to regulations in force at any time after the end of the preceding calendar year, other than any regulation that is exempted from the application of subsection 11(1) as a regulation described in subparagraph 20(c)(iii).

• Marginal note:Quarterly index of documents other than regulations

  (2) The Queen’s Printer shall prepare and publish a quarterly index of all documents, other than regulations, that have been published in the Canada Gazette during the three month period immediately preceding the month in which the index is published.

Revisions and Consolidations of Regulations

Marginal note:Power to request revision or consolidation

• 15 (1) Where the Clerk of the Privy Council, after consultation with the Deputy Minister of Justice, is of the opinion that any particular regulations should be revised or consolidated, he may request the regulation-making authority or any person acting on behalf of such authority to prepare a revision or consolidation of those regulations.

• Marginal note:Failure to comply with request

  (2) Where any authority or person referred to in subsection (1) fails to comply within a reasonable time with a request made pursuant to that subsection, the Governor in Council may, by order, direct that authority or person to comply with the request within such period of time as he may specify in the order.

Judicial Notice of Statutory Instruments

Marginal note:Judicial notice

• 16 (1) A statutory instrument that has been published in the Canada Gazette shall be judicially noticed.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (2) In addition to any other manner of proving the existence or contents of a statutory instrument, evidence of the existence or contents of a statutory instrument may be given by the production of a copy of the Canada Gazette purporting to contain the text of the statutory instrument.

• Marginal note:Deemed publication in Canada Gazette

  (3) For the purposes of this section,

  • (a) if a regulation is included in a copy of the Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978 purporting to be printed by the Queen’s Printer, that regulation is deemed to have been published in the Canada Gazette; and

  • (b) if a regulation is included in a copy of a revision of regulations purporting to be published by the Queen’s Printer, that regulation is deemed to have been published in the Canada Gazette.

Right of Access to Statutory Instruments

Marginal note:Inspection of statutory instruments

17 Subject to any other Act of Parliament and to any regulations made pursuant to paragraph 20(d), any person may, on payment of the fee prescribed therefor, inspect

• (a) any statutory instrument that has been registered by the Clerk of the Privy Council, by attending at the office of the Clerk of the Privy Council or at such other place as may be designated by him and requesting that the statutory instrument be produced for inspection; or

• (b) any statutory instrument that has not been registered by the Clerk of the Privy Council, by attending at the head or central office of the authority that made the statutory instrument or at such other place as may be designated by that authority and requesting that the statutory instrument be produced for inspection.

Marginal note:Copies of statutory instruments

18 Subject to any other Act of Parliament and to any regulations made pursuant to paragraph 20(d), any person may, on payment of the fee prescribed therefor, obtain copies of

• (a) any statutory instrument that has been registered by the Clerk of the Privy Council, by writing to the Clerk of the Privy Council or by attending at the office of the Clerk of the Privy Council or at such other place as may be designated by him and requesting that a copy of the statutory instrument be provided; or

• (b) any statutory instrument that has not been registered by the Clerk of the Privy Council, by writing to the authority that made the statutory instrument or by attending at the head or central office of the authority or at such other place as may be designated by that authority and requesting that a copy of the statutory instrument be provided.

Incorporation by Reference

Marginal note:Power to incorporate documents by reference

• 18.1 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the power to make a regulation includes the power to incorporate in it by reference a document — or a part of a document — as it exists on a particular date or as it is amended from time to time.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) In the case of a document produced by the regulation-making authority, either alone or jointly with a person or body in the federal public administration, the document or part may be incorporated only if it

  • (a) contains only elements that are incidental to or elaborate on the rules set out in the regulation and is incorporated as it exists on a particular date;

  • (b) is reproduced or translated from a document, or part of a document, produced by a person or body other than the regulation-making authority, with any adaptations of form or reference that will facilitate its incorporation in the regulation; or

  • (c) is a regulation.

• Marginal note:Index, rate or number

  (3) The power to make a regulation also includes the power to incorporate by reference an index, rate or number — as it exists on a particular date or as it is varied from time to time — established by Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada or a person or body other than the regulation-making authority.

• Marginal note:Meaning of regulation-making authority

  (4) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), regulation-making authority includes the following:

  • (a) if the regulation-making authority is the Governor in Council or the Treasury Board,

    • (i) the minister who recommends the making of the regulation,

    • (ii) the minister who is accountable to Parliament for the administration of the regulation, and

    • (iii) any person or body — other than Statistics Canada and standards development organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada — for which either of those ministers is accountable to Parliament;

  • (b) if the regulation-making authority is a minister, any person or body — other than Statistics Canada and standards development organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada — for which that minister is accountable to Parliament; and

  • (c) in any other case, any minister who is accountable to Parliament for the regulation-making authority.

Marginal note:Impact of section 18.1

18.2 The powers conferred by section 18.1 are in addition to any power to incorporate by reference that is conferred by the Act under which a regulation is made and that section does not limit such a power.

Marginal note:Accessibility

• 18.3 (1) The regulation-making authority shall ensure that a document, index, rate or number that is incorporated by reference is accessible.

• Marginal note:Governor in Council and Treasury Board regulations

  (2) If the Governor in Council or the Treasury Board is the regulation-making authority, the obligation under subsection (1) rests with the minister who is accountable to Parliament for the administration of the regulation.

Marginal note:No registration or publication

18.4 For greater certainty, a document, index, rate or number that is incorporated by reference in a regulation is not required to be transmitted for registration or published in the Canada Gazette by reason only that it is incorporated by reference.

Marginal note:Proof of incorporated document, index, rate or number

• 18.5 (1) In any proceeding in which a document, index, rate or number — that is incorporated by reference in a regulation — is relevant, a certificate appearing to be issued by or on behalf of the regulation-making authority that includes any of the following statements is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, presumed to be authentic and proof of the matters set out in those statements:

  • (a) a statement that the document attached to the certificate, or the index, rate or number set out in it, is the document, index, rate or number that was incorporated in the regulation on a specified date or during a specified period; or

  • (b) a statement regarding the manner in which the incorporated document, index, rate or number was accessible on that date or during that period.

• Marginal note:Governor in Council and Treasury Board regulations

  (2) If the Governor in Council or the Treasury Board is the regulation-making authority, the certificate may be issued by the minister who is accountable to Parliament for the administration of the regulation.

Marginal note:No finding of guilt or administrative sanction

18.6 A person is not liable to be found guilty of an offence or subjected to an administrative sanction for any contravention in respect of which a document, index, rate or number — that is incorporated by reference in a regulation — is relevant unless, at the time of the alleged contravention, it was accessible as required by section 18.3 or it was otherwise accessible to that person.

Marginal note:Validity of incorporation

18.7 The validity of an incorporation by reference that conforms with section 18.1 and that was made before the day on which that section comes into force is confirmed.