Harmonization Acts and Related Information

Harmonization bills are passed in Parliament to ensure that each official language version of federal laws take into account the private law of the provinces and territories, in particular the civil law of Quebec.

To date, three harmonization Acts have been adopted to harmonize federal law with the civil law of Quebec and the common law of other provinces and territories. Parliament has adopted other laws and regulations in recent years to make harmonization amendments.

The fourth harmonization bill was introduced in Parliament in 2022.

The legislative measures taken are the following:

  1. Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1
  2. Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 2
  3. Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 3
  4. Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 4
  5. Other amending Acts and regulations

A) Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1

The Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1, which came into force in 2001, amended 49 Acts, including the Interpretation Act, the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act.

This was the first Act to harmonize federal law with the civil law of the Province of Quebec and to amend certain Acts to ensure that each language version takes into account the common law and the civil law.

Public consultations were held in the fall of 1997 and 1999 prior to the introduction of the bill in Parliament.

B) Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 2

The Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 2 came into force in 2004 and amended 26 Acts. It completed the harmonization of 23 Acts, which were partially harmonized by the Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1, notably the Bank of Canada Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act and the National Energy Board Act.

The consultations on the second series of proposals to harmonize the federal law with the civil law of the Province of Quebec were conducted in January 2003.

C) Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 3

The Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 3, which came into force in 2011, made harmonization changes to 12 Acts, including the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Canada Cooperatives Act and the Expropriation Act.

The consultations on the third series of proposals to harmonize the federal law with the civil law of the Province of Quebec were held in February 2008.

D) Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 4

The Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 4, introduced in 2022, would make harmonization changes to 51 federal statutes that fall under the responsibility of nine federal Departments, including the Bank Act, the Access to Information Act, the Financial Administration Act and the Official Languages Act.

The consultations on the fourth series of proposals to harmonize federal law with the civil law of the Province of Quebec were conducted from February 1st to May 1st, 2017.

E) Other Amending Acts and Regulations

The following are examples of amending Acts and regulations that have been adopted to make harmonization amendments to federal law: