Canada Gazette
www.gazette.gc.ca
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Did you know that the
Canada Gazette is the official newspaper of the Government of Canada?
Learn more about the Canada Gazette
- Introduction
- Part I: Notices and Proposed Regulations
- Part II: Official Regulations
- Part III: Acts of Parliament
- General information
Introduction
The Canada Gazette is the official newspaper of the Government of Canada and has been published regularly by the Queen’s Printer since 1841. Published within the Canada Gazette are new statutes and regulations, proposed regulations, decisions of administrative boards and an assortment of government notices. Private sector notices which are required by statute to be published to inform the public also appear in the Canada Gazette.
The Canada Gazette is published pursuant to section 10 of the Statutory Instruments Act, which confers the responsibility for the Canada Gazette to the Queen’s Printer. The Statutory Instruments Regulations regulate the manner in which the Canada Gazette is published, the publication dates and the subscription fees.
The present Queen’s Printer is Mr. François Guimont, Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada. Since 1886, the Queen’s Printer has been an officer named by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada. Responsible for the traditional printing and publishing of the Statutes of Canada, the Canada Gazette and mandatory publications, the Queen’s Printer oversees the printing, publishing and distribution functions of the Government of Canada.
The Canada Gazette, Part I, Part II and Part III, are available in most public libraries. In addition, the Canada Gazette is available in full depository libraries of Canadian government information, both in Canada and abroad. For a listing of these libraries, please consult Depository Services Program’s Web site under Depository Libraries.
To subscribe to the Canada Gazette or to obtain a recent issue, please consult our Subscription Information section. To view electronic copies of the Canada Gazette online, please consult our Recent Publications section.
How does the Canada Gazette serve Canadians?
1. Providing access
Canadians have a right of access to the laws and regulations that govern their daily lives. Due to its legislative content, the Canada Gazette is one of the vehicles that guarantee that right of access.
2. Engaging citizens through the consultation process
The Canada Gazette serves as a vehicle which facilitates the process of engaging the general public in voicing any concerns about the proposed regulations published in Part I. Canadians can actively contribute to the regulatory process by sending their comments or concerns on the subject under consultation to the appropriate department or agency.
3. Assisting the private sector in meeting legal requirements
The private sector is also required to publish certain notices in the Canada Gazette. The Canada Gazette Directorate provides an advisory and publication service to the private sector for legal requirements such as those for the protection of our environment. For example, under the Navigable Waters Protection Act, notices about the building of bridges, roads or buildings which would pass over, through or on a body of water must be published in the Canada Gazette, Part I. Private sector companies such as banks, loan companies and insurance companies are also required to publish in the Canada Gazette.
Part I: Notices and Proposed Regulations
The Canada Gazette consists of three parts. Published every Saturday, the Canada Gazette, Part I, contains public notices, official appointments and proposed regulations from the Government, as well as miscellaneous notices from the private sector that are required to be published by federal statute or by regulations. The Canada Gazette Directorate publishes a quarterly index for Part I.
Part I is often divided into the following six categories:
- Government house – contains notices of orders, decorations, medals and mention in dispatches awarded to Canadians.
- Government notices – contains notices published by federal departments.
- Parliament – contains notices published by the House of Commons, the Commissioner of Canada Elections, the Senate, and the Chief Electoral Officer.
- Commissions – contains notices published by federal agencies, boards and commissions.
- Miscellaneous notices – contains notices published by law firms, private companies, non-profit organizations, individuals as well as municipal and provincial governments.
- Proposed regulations – contains regulations that have not been enacted and that can be commented on.
To find out how to publish in Part I, refer to our Publishing Requirements section.
Through the Canada Gazette, Part I, the Government includes Canadians in the regulatory process. All Canadians have a chance to submit their comments to the relevant government department or agency responsible for the proposed regulations, before they are enacted and then published in Part II. This is called the consultation process. The name and contact information of the person responsible for the proposed regulations is found at the end of each regulatory impact analysis statement that accompanies the proposed regulations. A list of all ongoing consultations regarding proposed regulations can be found in our Consultation section.
Part II: Official Regulations
The Canada Gazette consists of three parts. Published every other Wednesday, the Canada Gazette, Part II, contains all regulations that have been enacted as well as statutory instruments and other documents, such as orders in council, orders and proclamations. Each document has a Statutory Orders and Regulations (SOR) number or a Statutory Instruments (SI) number which serves to identify it within the Canada Gazette. Only federal government departments and agencies publish in Part II. A consolidated index of statutory instruments from January 1, 1955, for Part II, is published quarterly by the Canada Gazette Directorate.
The Privy Council Office coordinates all of the regulations and other documents that are published in Part II and sends the material to the Canada Gazette Directorate for publication.
Consolidated Statutes and Consolidated Regulations
The Department of Justice maintains an online database of consolidated statutes and consolidated regulations. The Consolidated Statutes and Regulations of Canada CD-ROM may be purchased from Government of Canada Publications.
Part III: Acts of Parliament
The Canada Gazette consists of three parts. The Canada Gazette, Part III, which contains public Acts of Parliament, is published as soon as is reasonably possible after the Acts have received Royal Assent. It also contains a list of the proclamations of Canada and orders in council relating to the coming into force of federal acts.
The Department of Justice determines the publication date of each issue of Part III.
Please note that only the official PDF version for Part III is available on our Web site. To access the HTML version of an Act of Parliament, please visit the Department of Justice Canada Web site.
For access to an online listing of public acts (bills), visit the Parliament of Canada Web site. Public acts may also be found through the Department of Justice’s online database of consolidated statutes and consolidated regulations or in the Consolidated Statutes and Regulations of Canada CD-ROM on sale from Government of Canada Publications.
General Information
Official Bilingual PDF Version
The Canada Gazette Publication Order, which came into effect April 1, 2003, gave official status to the electronic PDF format of the Canada Gazette. This status applies to all issues posted in PDF format on the Canada Gazette Web site subsequent to that date. Since April 1, 2003, the PDF version of the Canada Gazette can, as well as the print version, be admissible as evidence in court. All issues published in PDF format prior to April 1, 2003, are not considered official versions.
Bookmarks have been inserted in the navigation bar of the PDF versions so that you may find a specific notice or specific regulations quickly. You may also move through the PDF file using the links to each category that are accessible within the table of contents and the index. In some places, links to Web sites relating to a notice are available. All links are identified by coloured text.
Acrobat Reader 4.1 (or later) is needed to read the PDF version of an issue. This software may be downloaded for free from www.adobe.com/ca/.
All Canada Gazette, Part I and Part II issues are available on our Web site in Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) format, starting from January 1998. To access the HTML version of the most recent Acts of Parliament published in Part III, please visit the Department of Justice Canada Web site. The Department of Justice Web site also maintains an online database of consolidated statutes and consolidated regulations. The version in HTML format is not an official version. Unlike the print and PDF versions, the HTML version is divided into two separate files, one for the English text and one for the French text.
The HTML format is used as an alternate version to extend search capabilities, to allow for alternate methods of reading Web pages, and to make chemical symbols and information contained in tables, graphics, equations, charts, forms and illustrations more accessible.
A list of useful terms and their definitions relating to the Canada Gazette can be found on our Glossary page.