Law - B.C. Regulations

Regulations:

• are considered primary sources of law (along with statutes)
• are referred to as delegated or subordinate legislation
• have the same binding legal effect as statutes
• unlike statutes, are not made by the Provincial Legislature
  • are made by persons or bodies to whom the Legislature has delegated the authority to make them
    e.g. the Lieutenant Governor in Council (Cabinet), a Minister or an Administrative Agency may have this delegated power

Enabling Statute

• authority to make regulations must be expressly stated in a statute, called an enabling statute
• while enabling statute tends to state general principles and rules, the regulations made pursuant to the act "flesh out" the details necessary for the administration of the statute

A new or amending regulation comes into force on the date that it is deposited with the Registrar, unless a different date is stated in the regulation, pursuant to the Regulations Act, RSBC 1996, c 402, s 4.