Law - Legal Citation Guide

Generally, when citing cases, provide references to two sources, if there are two. Provide references to just one source, or more than two sources, if you have been instructed to do so.

To determine which sources to use, use the following guidelines, in the priority given. However, consider your audience, including potential future audiences. After the neutral citation, if there is one, choose sources that your readers will be able to find as readily as possible, and that suit your intended audience. For example, if writing a paper related to family law, you may wish to use citations from the Reports of Family Law (RFL) rather than a mixture of other reporters simply to adhere to a set of guidelines.

• Neutral citation
• Printed reporter
• Official Reporter.  There are two currently being published (FCR and SCR).  Prior to 2004, the Federal Court Reports were abbreviated as FC.  The Exchequer Court reports (Ex CR) are no longer published.
• Semi-Official Reporter.  These are published by or for a Law Society (e.g., AR, BCR, OR).
• Unofficial Reporter.  To provide the greatest accessibility to readers, select the broadest to the most specific coverage:
• General reporters (e.g., Dominion Law Reports) before subject reporters (e.g., Reports of Family Law)
• Broad geographic areas (e.g., Western Weekly Reports) before smaller areas (e.g., British Columbia Law Reports)
• Readily available reporters (e.g., Canadian Criminal Cases) before others (e.g., Newfoundland & PEI Reports)
• Electronic service
• Judicial district, docket number, and court (for unreported and unpublished cases)

General format:
Case Name, neutral citation, reporter, parallel citation + jurisdiction and other citation elements if relevant. 

See below for further details on specific citation elements, including pinpoint references, judges, and jurisdiction.   

Examples (applying the general guidelines from the General section above):

Neutral citation only is available:

R v Baldini, 2012 BCCA 206.

• Do not add the jurisdiction because all neutral citations include this information. Baldini is the 206th judgment from the British Columbia Court of Appeal in 2012. 
• To refer the reader to particular paragraphs in the judgment, add a pinpoint reference:
  R v Baldini, 2012 BCCA 206 at paras 56-65.

Neutral citation and print reporter are available:

Kerr v Baranow, 2011 SCC 10, [2011] 1 SCR 269.

• To refer the reader to particular paragraphs in the judgment, use references to the neutral citation. Once courts began using neutral citations, they also numbered paragraphs which are used consistently, regardless of whether the case is found online or in a print reporter. For example:
  Kerr v Baranow, 2011 SCC 10 at paras 12-29, 36-39, [2011] 1 SCR 269.

No neutral citation is available (use two print reporters):

Frame v Smith, [1987] 2 SCR 99, 42 DLR (4th) 81.

• Do not add the jurisdiction because it is implied by the name of the reporter. The Supreme Court Reports only publishes cases from the Supreme Court of Canada.
• If including the name of the judge is important, add it at the end:
  Frame v Smith, [1987] 2 SCR 99, 42 DLR (4th) 81, Dickson CJC.
  Frame v Smith, [1987] 2 SCR 99, 42 DLR (4th) 81, Wilson J, dissenting.

One print reporter only is available (use electronic service):

McLean v Pilon (1978), 7 BCLR 99, 1978 CanLII 237 (SC).

• The CanLII reference may look like a neutral citation, but it is simply an identifier used by the online service.
• This case is from British Columbia because it is published in the BCLRs, but without adding a reference to the Supreme Court (SC), the reader would not know the court level.
• To refer the reader to particular page in a reporter, add a pinpoint reference:
  McLean v Pilon (1978), 7 BCLR 99 at 102, 1978 CanLII 237 (SC). The case begins on page 99 of volume 7 of the British Columbia Law Reports and we are referring the reader to page 102.

 
Unpublished judgments available online:

Hareid v Holstad, 1995 CanLII 3083 (BCSC).

Kovinsky v Detroit and Windsor Subway Co, [1930] OJ No 196 (QL) (SCAD). 

This case is summarized in Ontario Weekly Notes (38 OWN 170) but the full text is only available on Quicklaw. The citation is a Quicklaw (QL) identifier only. OJ stands for Ontario Judgments. Quicklaw has similar databases for each of the provinces (AJ, BCJ, MJ, etc.). Canadian readers would readily recognize the citation as being a case found on Quicklaw and so adding (QL) is superfluous.  However, for readers outside of Canada, this piece of information may be helpful.

Wahn v United Keno Hill Mines Ltd, 1999 CarswellOnt 1424 (WL Can) (Sup Ct).

The full text of this case can be found on WestlawNext Canada. Canadian readers would readily recognize the citation as being a case found on WestlawNext Canada and so adding (WL Can) is superfluous. However, for readers outside of Canada, this piece of information may be helpful.

 
Unpublished and not available online:

David v Evans (26 January 1995), Toronto 91-CQ-5100 (Ont Gen Div).

The case name is the abbreviated title, or style of cause, of a decision. The case name is derived from the style of cause, which includes the full names of the parties and their roles in the proceeding. The case name provides a concise way of referring to a case for all purposes and for all time.

Generally, you will be using information provided to you. Use the case name provided by print law reporters. Where a case name is not provided, use the following guidelines and consult the Case Naming Guidelines if more detail is required. These Guidelines were adopted by the Canadian Judicial Council on May 7, 2009. Effectively, all reported cases and all cases found online since 2009 have properly formatted case names.

Example from the Supreme Court Reports ([1985] 1 SCR 87):

The parties are listed as:  Karen King Appellant; and George Low and Barbara Jean Low Respondents.

The following shortened version is also provided:  King v. Low.

When citing this case, use the case name formatted as follows:  King v Low

Example from the Dominion Law Reports (343 DLR (4th) 1):         

The parties are listed as:  Momentous.ca Corporation, Rapidz Sports and Entertainment Inc., Rapidz Baseball Club Inc. and Zip.ca Inc. (Appellants) and Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball Ltd., Inside the Park LLC, Greg Lockard, Dan Moushon, Bruce Murdoch, City of Ottawa and Miles Wolff (Respondents)

The following shortened version is also provided:  Momentous.ca Corp. v. Canadian American Assn. of Professional Baseball Ltd.

When citing this case, use the case name formatted as follows: Momentous.ca Corp v Canadian American Assn of Professional Baseball Ltd

 

General Rules

The following general rules apply to all case names:

• Always italicize the names of the parties.
• Separate the names of the parties by a v  for versus (against) in English and c  for contra in French.
• Use surnames only.
• Use only the name of the first person if there are two or more people listed.
• Omit periods except if they are integral to a company name, for example.
• Capitalize all words except prepositions, conjunctions, and procedural phases (except if they occur first – e.g., In re Kryspin).
• Omit articles such as The, Le, L’, etc. unless referring to the name of an object, such as a ship.

Example:
Antares Shipping Corporation (Plaintiff) Appellant; and The Ship “Capricorn” (also known as the Ship “Alliance”), Portland Shipping Company Inc. and Delmar Shipping Limited (Defendants) Respondents

Cite as:
Antares Shipping Corp v The Ship “Capricorn”

 

Specific Rules

If you have to create a case name, specific rules for particular circumstances follow. Use these rules only if a print reporter does not provide a case name or if the case is published online prior to 2009.

 

 

Undisclosed Names

In cases involving young offenders, and in certain other situations, initials are used in place of a surname. Use the initials as provided.

Examples:  

• R v PDT   
• JSIB v WLV

 

Person Acting for Others

When a person named in a style of cause is acting in a representative or official capacity for someone else, use only the name of the person being represented.

Example:  Between: Evelyn Lorraine Smoliak (Plaintiff) And: Clint James Smart, an infant by his Guardian Ad Litem, Holly C. Saxelby and Carman Dion Kane (Defendants).

Cite as:  Smoliak v Smart

 

Estate of a Deceased Person

Use the name of the estate and not the executors or administrators. If no plaintiff or defendant is included, use the name of the estate, modified by Re.

Examples:  

• Harshenin Estate v Bayoff
• Zalopsky Estate (Re)

 

Corporations, Partnerships, and other Organizations

Do not change the name of organization and do not abbreviate words that are spelled out in the style of cause. Omit definite articles such as “The” unless they cannot be segregated from the full name. Omit narrative descriptions of corporate status.

Examples:  

• FMC Technologies Company does not change.
• Federated Insurance Company of Canada does not change.
• Ted Leroy Trucking Ltd does not change. For individuals, we omit first names from citations. Here, “Ted” is a first name, but it is part of the company name so must be included.
• Campney & Murphy, A Partnership does not change.
• The Banker and the Bandit Ltd  does not change.  It is not possible to omit “The”.
• Welco Management Limited Partnership, Carrying on Business under the Firm-Name of Canpar Industries changes to:  Welco Management Limited Partnership (Canpar Industries)
• Molson Sports and Entertainment, a division of Molson Canada changes to:  Molson Sports and Entertainment.

 

Municipality

Use the common geographical name of a place, without abbreviations. Modify the place name with its descriptive designation, except for provinces and countries.

Examples:    

• Aberdeen v Langley (Township)
• Redfearn v Elkford (District)
• Parkland (County) v Neuman
• Charlottetown (City) v Prince Edward Island
• British Columbia v Forrest
• Petro-Canada v Canada
• United States v Leon

 

Government Body

Use the name of the government body, modified by the name of the subsidiary body.

Examples:    

• Pfizer v Canada (Attorney General)
• British Columbia (Assessment) v McMinn
• Canada (National Revenue) v. Sifto Canada Corp
• Gaji v Toronto (Police Service).  Do not include positions such as Chief of Police if they are being used in their official capacity. 

 

The Crown in Civil Cases

Use the common geographical name and omit references to the Crown, Her Majesty the Queen, etc.

Example:

• Use Canada rather than Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada
• Use Alberta rather than The Crown in right of Alberta

 

The Crown in Criminal Cases

Use R, which stands for Rex (The King) or Regina (The Queen), rather than the full name provided in the judgment.

Examples:  

• Use R v Seifi rather than Between Her Majesty the Queen and Ex-Private S. Seifi, Accused
• Use R v McLean rather than William McLean Appellant and His Majesty the King Respondent

 

Variations in Case Name

Sub nom is short for sub nomine, which means ‘under the name.’ Sometimes the same case is reported under different names in different law reports, or will be given a different name at different stages. Use the case name given in the reporter being cited. If both reporters are being cited, introduce the case using the phrase ‘sub nom.’ 

Example: 

Brantford (City) v Montour, 2013 ONCA 560, 367 DLR (4th) 200, (sub nom Detlor v Brantford (City)) 310 OAC 360. 

 

Other Situations

You will find examples of other case naming situations in the Canadian Citation Committee’s Case Naming Guidelines, and other citation guides listed on the Home tab of this Legal Citation Guide. 

The year of the decision must always directly follow the case name. If the year of the decision is not indicated in the first listed reference, then you must add it in parentheses after the case name.

Examples:

Cinar Corp v Robinson, 2012 SCC 25. 

• Neutral citations always include the year of the decision so it would be redundant to cite as follows: Cinar Corp v Robinson (2012), 2012 SCC 25.

Lipson v Canada, 2009 SCC 1, 301 DLR (4th) 34, [2009] 1 CTC 314. 

• The first reference is a neutral citation so no date in parentheses is needed after the case name. No date is needed for the DLR reference because the year of the decision directly follows the case name. If you were just referring to the DLRs, you would need to add the date as follows: Lipson v Canada (2009), 301 DLR (4th) 34. Any dates in brackets (e.g., [2009]) must be included as part of a reference because dates in brackets are part of the volume designation.

Kirzner v R (1977), [1978] 2 SCR 487. 

• This case was decided in 1977 but not published in the Supreme Court Reports until the second volume of 1978.

Lavoie v R, [1977] 1 SCR 193. 

• Like the Kirzner example above, this case was decided in 1977. We do not add the year of the decision in parentheses after the case name because it is the same as the volume designation year.

Canadian courts, and many administrative tribunals, adopted a unique identification system for cases in the late 1990s. The implementation dates vary by province and court or tribunal. Alberta was an early adopter in 1998, with the Ontario Superior Court participating in 2010. Specific implementation dates and abbreviations can be found in the Canadian Citation Committee document “A Neutral Citation Standard for Case Law.”

Neutral citations are the preferred citation and are issued by the court or tribunal; you cannot create a neutral citation.

Neutral citation format:  Case Name, year | court/tribunal | decision number | pinpoint if applicable, other source if available.

Example when only the neutral citation is available:  R v Baldini, 2012 BCCA 206 at paras 56-65.

Example when neutral citation and print reporter are available:  Kerr v Baranow, 2011 SCC 10, [2011] 1 SCR 269.

Be careful not to confuse a database identifier (e.g., 1993 CanLII 1150 (BCCA)) with a neutral citation.

Year, Volume and Series of Reporter

Most law reporters are published as volumes in a series. With the volume number and the series number, you can easily find the volume you need. You don’t need to know the year in which the case was decided.

Abbreviate the series designation as 2d for second series, 3d for third series, 4th for fourth series, NS for new series, etc. If there is no series designation, it is the first series.

Examples:

• 23 DLR 1
• 43 DLR (2d) 82
• 37 CCC (3d) 449
• 15 CR (NS) 125

A few law reporters publish one or more volumes each year and restart the numbering of the volumes each year. In these cases, the year is integral to the volume designation and is always put in brackets. You will need both the date in brackets and the volume number, if any, to find the volume you need.

Examples:

• [2011] 1 SCR 65
• [1983] 2 SCR 493
• [1919] AC 59

Reporter

Most law reporters provide an abbreviation that should be used. If this information is not given, use the Law Report Abbreviations tab from the sidebar or top menu. If you are providing two sources for a case, and the case has been reported in several law report series, you should follow the guidelines in the General section above.

Page

Indicate the first page of the decision after the abbreviation for the reporter.

Only cite to an electronic service if there is no neutral citation and there is no, or only one, print reporter. Refer to the section above on Citing Cases for further details. 

Citation Format:

Case Name, print reporter citation, database identifier, + jurisdiction and other citation elements if relevant

The most common abbreviations for electronic case law services in Canada include: CanLII, QL for LexisNexis Quicklaw, and WL Can for WestlawNext Canada. For cases from the United States, use the abbreviations Lexis and WL. Use CanLII references where possible because this source will be freely available to anyone. 

Examples:  

One print reporter only is available:

McLean v Pilon (1978), 7 BCLR 99, 1978 CanLII 237 (SC). 

• This case is available in the British Columbia Law Reports and online via CanLII. Include the court level (SC) because this information is not available elsewhere in the citation. 

Unpublished judgments:

Henwood v Henwood, 1993 CanLII 2852 (NWT SC).  

• This case is not available in a print law reporter but is available via CanLII. The jurisdiction and court level are needed because this information is not available elsewhere in the citation.

R v Hekob, [1978] AJ no 227 (QL) (CA). 

• This case is not available in a print law reporter or on CanLII. Provide the Quicklaw (QL) identifier. AJ stands for Alberta Judgments. Canadian readers would readily recognize the citation as being a case found on Quicklaw and so adding (QL) is superfluous. However, for readers outside of Canada, this piece of information may be helpful. Include the court level (CA) because this information is not available elsewhere in the citation.

A case is considered unreported if it has no neutral citation and has not been published in a print reporter or electronic service.

Format:
Style of Cause (date), judicial district | docket number (jurisdiction and court).

Example:
David v Evans (26 January 1995), Toronto 91-CQ-5100 (Ont Gen Div).

If you wish to refer to a particular passage in a case, you will need to let the reader know where to find it. For older cases, you will need to refer to the page number in a printed law report. Newer cases use paragraph numbers, both in the print law reports and in online versions of the same case. Be careful when using databases such as Quicklaw or Westlaw – especially for older cases; these databases often use their own paragraph numbering systems, which would not be helpful unless the reader was using the same database as you.

Examples with a neutral citation:  

• R v Chiang, 2012 BCCA 85 at para 19.
• R v Chiang, 2012 BCCA 85 at paras 1-7.
• R v Chiang, 2012 BCCA 85 at paras 13, 15.

Examples from a print reporter:  

• Cory v Marsh (1993), 77 BCLR (2d) 248 at 253. The case begins on page 248 and we are referring the reader to page 253.
• Cory v Marsh (1993), 77 BCLR (2d) 248 at 253-55.

Example with parallel citations:

• R v Morgentaler, [1988] 1 SCR 30, 37 CCC (3d) 449 [Morgentaler cited to SCR]. The information in brackets lets the reader know that the next time you refer to this case you will use a shortened case name and pinpoint references will be to the page numbers in the SCRs. If this was the first footnote in your paper, a future footnote may look like this: Morgentaler, supra note 1 at 45. The reader would be directed to footnote 1 for full information and would know that 45 referred to page 45 in the first volume of the SCRs published in 1988.
• R v Morgentaler, [1988] 1 SCR 30 at 45, 37 CCC (3d) 449 [Morgentaler cited to SCR].  If you wish to include a pinpoint reference the first time you cite this case, do so after the official reporter.  It is not necessary to provide pinpoint references for parallel citations.  If this is your only reference to this case, you should delete the information in brackets.

You must always let the reader know the jurisdiction and court in which the case was decided. If this information is not obvious from elsewhere in the citation, you must include it in parentheses.

Jurisdiction:  Use standard abbreviations for jurisdictions, not postal code symbols. Current provinces use the following abbreviations:  Alta, BC, Man, NB, NL (formerly Nfld), NWT, NS, Ont, PEI, Que, Sask, YT. Source: Natural Resources Canada. Nunavut has no official abbreviation yet, but is sometimes shortened to Nu or Nvt.  

Court:  Commonly used abbreviations for Canadian courts include the following.

CA                   Court of Appeal

Ct J                  Court of Justice

• (Gen Div)       General Division

   FC                   Federal Court

• FCA                Federal Court of Appeal
• FCTD              Federal Court Trial Division

H Ct J               High Court of Justice

Prov Ct            Provincial Court

• (Crim Div)       Criminal Division
• (Fam Div)        Family Division
• (Sm Cl Div)      Small Claims Division

QB                   Court of Queen’s Bench

SCC                 Supreme Court of Canada

SC                   Supreme Court

Sm Cl Ct          Small Claims Court

Sup Ct             Superior Court

TCC                Tax Court of Canada

Terr Ct            Territorial Court

Do not leave any spaces if you are using all upper case letters (e.g., BCCA). If the abbreviations include both upper and lower case letters, you will need to leave spaces where appropriate (e.g., PEISC (Fam Div), BC Prov Ct (Sm Cl Div)). 

If a case was decided in chambers, include that information (e.g., Re Canadian Petcetera Limited Partnership, 2009 BCCA 255 (in Chambers)). 

Examples:  

R v Baldini, 2012 BCCA 206 at paras 56-65.

• The neutral citation indicates that the case is from the British Columbia Court of Appeal so you do not need to add this information again in parentheses.

Stroub v Kazakoff (1977), 2 BCLR 262 (SC).

• Since this case is published in the British Columbia Law Reports, you know the jurisdiction; however, you must let the reader know that it is from the Supreme Court (SC).

Re D and S, 1980 CanLII 1128 (Ont Div Ct).

• You need to indicate both the jurisdiction and court because this information is not found in the CanLII database identifier.

Betts v Sanderson Estate (1989), 53 DLR (4th) 675, [1989] 2 WWR 113, 31 BCLR (2d) 1, 44 CCLT 97 (BCCA).

• This case has several parallel citations. The reference to the British Columbia Law Reports (BCLR) lets one know that the case is from British Columbia, however, this information is in the third citation to the case. If the jurisdiction and court are not obvious from the first reference to the case, you should include both at the end of all of the references, as shown in this example.

If it is relevant to the point you are making, you may add the name of the judge to the footnote, along with an indication for dissenting opinions.

Use the last name of the judge followed by the abbreviation for the office (e.g., CJC for Chief Justice of Canada, CJA for Chief Justice of Appeal, JA for Justice of Appeal, J for Justice, JJ for Justices).

Examples:    

• Re D and S, 1980 CanLII 1128 (Ont Div Ct), Pennell J.
• Re D and S, 1980 CanLII 1128 (Ont Div Ct) at para 6, Pennell J.  
• Novic v Novic, [1983] 1 SCR 696, McIntyre J, dissenting.

At times, it will be important to let the reader know the full history of a case. Even though it is called “history,” it refers to what happened earlier and later to a particular case. For example, if you are discussing a case from the British Columbia Court of Appeal, you may want to let the reader know where to find the trial level decision as well as that the case went to the Supreme Court of Canada. Further, you will want to let the reader know if the Court of Appeal decision is affirming/reversing the earlier decision and whether the Court of Appeal decision was affirmed/reversed by the Supreme Court of Canada.

There are three possible ways to sequence a case history; use the most appropriate format given your circumstances.

Prior History

Use prior history if you are discussing the decision of the highest court the case has reached and want to refer to the lower court decisions. Signal the treatment by aff’g for affirming or rev’g for reversing.

Note that the punctuation after the treatment is important. If the citation following the signal used (e.g., rev’g, aff’g) refers to a law report series that uses a year designation (see the Printed Reporters section above), do not add a comma. If the citation following the signal used does not indicate the year of the decision, you must add the year of the decision in parentheses, followed by a comma. The following two examples should make this clear.

Examples:  

•  Deglman v Guaranty Trust Co of Canada, [1954] SCR 725, rev’g [1953] OWN 665 (CA). This citation indicates that the 1954 Supreme Court of Canada decision is reversing the 1953 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

• Denman v Clover Bar Coal Co (1913), 48 SCR 318, aff’g (1911), 17 WLR 702 (Alta SC (TD)). This citation indicates that the 1913 Supreme Court of Canada decision is affirming the 1911 decision of the Alberta Supreme Court Trial Division.

 

Subsequent History

Use subsequent history if you are discussing the decision of a case that has since gone to a higher court level. Signal the treatment by aff’d for affirmed or rev’d for reversed. The signals always refer back to the earliest decision cited.

Note that the punctuation after the treatment is important. See explanation in the Prior History section above.

Examples:  

• Denman v Clover Bar Coal Co (1911), 17 WLR 702 (Alta SC (TD)), aff’d (1913), 48 SCR 318. This citation indicates that the 1911 decision of the Alberta Supreme Court Trial Division was affirmed by the 1913 Supreme Court of Canada decision.

• Demarco Oil & Gas v 309506 Alberta Ltd (1991), 122 AR 372 (Master), rev’d (1992), 126 AR 265 (QB), rev’d (1993), 135 AR 233 (CA). This citation would be read as the 1991 decision of the Master in Chambers of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench was reversed by the 1992 decision of the Court of Queen’s Bench, and the 1991 Master’s decision was also reversed by the Court of Appeal. At the end of the day, both the Court of Queen’s Bench and the Court of Appeal agreed; the decision of the Master was reversed.

Prior and Subsequent History

Use prior and subsequent history if you are discussing an appeal that was later appealed. Follow all of the rules for prior and subsequent history above. Remember that each treatment signal refers back to the first case cited.

Example:  

• Dayco (Canada) Ltd v CAW (1990), 73 DLR (4th) 718 (Ont CA), aff’g (1986), 23 LAC (3d) 7 (Ont Arb Bd), rev’g (1987) 42 DLR (4th) 456 (Ont Div Ct), aff’d [1993] 2 SCR 230. Here, you are discussing the 1990 Ontario Court of Appeal decision and you want to let the reader know that this decision is affirming the decision made by the Arbitration Board, while reversing the decision of the Divisional Court. The Supreme Court of Canada later affirmed the Court of Appeal decision. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada agreed with the Arbitration Board. CAW’s victory at the Divisional Court was short lived!

Leave to Appeal

If a case has been appealed and the case has yet to be heard, or will not be heard, you would generally want to let the reader know. Append this information to the case citation.

Format:
Citation of decision for which leave is requested, court and decision if available, citation to the decision if available.

Examples:  

• Trace Foundation v Chossudovsky, 2011 QCCA 2325, leave to appeal to SCC refused, 2012 CanLII 29810.
• Deep v MD Management (2004), 3 BCLR (4th) 33 (Ont Sup Ct), leave to appeal to Div Ct granted, 3 BCLR (4th) 294.

Decisions in Printed Reporters

 

Use the same citation rules as for cases above. If the administrative body is not clear from the name of the print reporter, include it in parentheses as you would for identifying the jurisdiction and court for cases. Use the abbreviation that the administrative body uses; if there is no abbreviation, spell out the name in full.

Examples:  

• Bakhtiyari v BCIT (No 4), 2006 BCHRT 591, 58 CHRR 490. The neutral citation before the printed reporter indicates that this is a decision of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. 

• Re Pony Sporting Goods Ltd (1982), 4 OSC Bull 357B. Because the decision is published in the Ontario Securities Commission Bulletin, we know that this is a decision of the OSC.

• Re Saunders Aircraft Corp and United Automobile Workers, Local 1840 (1973), 5 LAC (2d) 10 (Manitoba Labour Board).

 

Online Decisions

Many decisions are available on commercial databases such as CanLII and LexisNexis Quicklaw (QL). Cite to these as for cases (see Electronic Services above).

Example:  

• Bakhtiyari v BCIT (No 4), 2006 BCHRT 591.

If you find the decision on the administrative board website, use the following format:

Style of Cause (date), decision number if available, online: name of board <URL for decision>

Example: 

• Helen’s Grill Ltd (12 March 2012), online: BC Property Assessment Appeal Board <http://decisions.assessmentappeal.bc.ca/Decisions/Dfull/dec_2011-09-00032_20120004.asp>.

You may wish to let the reader know that you are not simply referring to a case, but to a particular aspect of that case. This could be a factum, oral argument, evidence, etc. The particular document or other aspect of the case should be added parenthetically.

Examples:  

• Paszkowski v Canada (1998), 141 FTR 149 (Factum of the Respondent at para 18).

• Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (“Access Copyright”) v York University (8 April 2013), Toronto T-578-13 (FCTD) (Statement of Claim) <http://www.scribd.com/doc/134926954/AC-v-York-Statment-of-Claim-T-578-13-Doc1>.