Interpretation Act

This Act may be cited as the Interpretation Act.

In this Act,

Act means an Act of Parliament; (loi)

enact includes to issue, make or establish; (Version anglaise seulement)

enactment means an Act or regulation or any portion of an Act or regulation; (texte)

public officer includes any person in the federal public administration who is authorized by or under an enactment to do or enforce the doing of an act or thing or to exercise a power, or on whom a duty is imposed by or under an enactment; (fonctionnaire public)

regulation includes an order, regulation, rule, rule of court, form, tariff of costs or fees, letters patent, commission, warrant, proclamation, by-law, resolution or other instrument issued, made or established

in the execution of a power conferred by or under the authority of an Act, or

by or under the authority of the Governor in Council; (règlement)

repeal includes revoke or cancel. (Version anglaise seulement)

For the purposes of this Act, an enactment that has been replaced is repealed and an enactment that has expired, lapsed or otherwise ceased to have effect is deemed to have been repealed.

Every provision of this Act applies, unless a contrary intention appears, to every enactment, whether enacted before or after the commencement of this Act.

The provisions of this Act apply to the interpretation of this Act.

Nothing in this Act excludes the application to an enactment of a rule of construction applicable to that enactment and not inconsistent with this Act.

The enacting clause of an Act may be in the following form: “Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:”.

The enacting clause of an Act shall follow the preamble, if any, and the various provisions within the purview or body of the Act shall follow in a concise and enunciative form.

The Clerk of the Parliaments shall endorse on every Act, immediately after its title, the day, month and year when the Act was assented to in Her Majesty’s name and the endorsement shall be a part of the Act.

If no date of commencement is provided for in an Act, the date of commencement of that Act is the date of assent to the Act.

Where an Act contains a provision that the Act or any portion thereof is to come into force on a day later than the date of assent to the Act, that provision is deemed to have come into force on the date of assent to the Act.

Where an Act provides that certain provisions thereof are to come or are deemed to have come into force on a day other than the date of assent to the Act, the remaining provisions of the Act are deemed to have come into force on the date of assent to the Act.

Where an enactment is expressed to come into force on a particular day, it shall be construed as coming into force on the expiration of the previous day, and where an enactment is expressed to expire, lapse or otherwise cease to have effect on a particular day, it shall be construed as ceasing to have effect on the commencement of the following day.

Every enactment that is not expressed to come into force on a particular day shall be construed as coming into force

in the case of an Act, on the expiration of the day immediately before the day the Act was assented to in Her Majesty’s name; and

in the case of a regulation, on the expiration of the day immediately before the day the regulation was registered pursuant to section 6 of the Statutory Instruments Act or, if the regulation is of a class that is exempted from the application of subsection 5(1) of that Act, on the expiration of the day immediately before the day the regulation was made.

Judicial notice shall be taken of a day for the coming into force of an enactment that is fixed by a regulation that has been published in the Canada Gazette.

Where an enactment is not in force and it contains provisions conferring power to make regulations or do any other thing, that power may, for the purpose of making the enactment effective on its commencement, be exercised at any time before its commencement, but a regulation so made or a thing so done has no effect until the commencement of the enactment, except in so far as may be necessary to make the enactment effective on its commencement.

Every enactment applies to the whole of Canada, unless a contrary intention is expressed in the enactment.

Where an enactment that does not apply to the whole of Canada is amended, no provision in the amending enactment applies to any part of Canada to which the amended enactment does not apply, unless it is provided in the amending enactment that it applies to that part of Canada or to the whole of Canada.

Every enactment that applies in respect of exploring or exploiting, conserving or managing natural resources, whether living or non-living, applies, in addition to its application to Canada, to the exclusive economic zone of Canada, unless a contrary intention is expressed in the enactment.

Every enactment that applies in respect of exploring or exploiting natural resources that are applies, in addition to its application to Canada, to the continental shelf of Canada, unless a contrary intention is expressed in the enactment.

mineral or other non-living resources of the seabed or subsoil, or

living organisms belonging to sedentary species, that is to say, organisms that, at the harvestable stage, either are immobile on or under the seabed or are unable to move except in constant physical contact with the seabed or subsoil

Every Act now in force enacted prior to December 11, 1931 that expressly or by necessary or reasonable implication was intended, as to the whole or any part thereof, to have extra-territorial operation shall be construed as if, at the date of its enactment, the Parliament of Canada had full power to make laws having extra-territorial operation as provided by the Statute of Westminster, 1931.

Both the common law and the civil law are equally authoritative and recognized sources of the law of property and civil rights in Canada and, unless otherwise provided by law, if in interpreting an enactment it is necessary to refer to a province’s rules, principles or concepts forming part of the law of property and civil rights, reference must be made to the rules, principles and concepts in force in the province at the time the enactment is being applied.

Unless otherwise provided by law, when an enactment contains both civil law and common law terminology, or terminology that has a different meaning in the civil law and the common law, the civil law terminology or meaning is to be adopted in the Province of Quebec and the common law terminology or meaning is to be adopted in the other provinces.

Every enactment is to be construed as upholding the Aboriginal and treaty rights of Indigenous peoples recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and not as abrogating or derogating from them.

For the purposes of subsection (1), Indigenous peoples has the meaning assigned by the definition aboriginal peoples of Canada in subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982.

No provision in a private Act affects the rights of any person, except as therein mentioned or referred to.

The law shall be considered as always speaking, and where a matter or thing is expressed in the present tense, it shall be applied to the circumstances as they arise, so that effect may be given to the enactment according to its true spirit, intent and meaning.

The expression “shall” is to be construed as imperative and the expression “may” as permissive.

Every enactment is deemed remedial, and shall be given such fair, large and liberal construction and interpretation as best ensures the attainment of its objects.

The preamble of an enactment shall be read as a part of the enactment intended to assist in explaining its purport and object.

Marginal notes and references to former enactments that appear after the end of a section or other division in an enactment form no part of the enactment, but are inserted for convenience of reference only.

Definitions or rules of interpretation in an enactment apply to all the provisions of the enactment, including the provisions that contain those definitions or rules of interpretation.

Where an enactment contains an interpretation section or provision, it shall be read and construed

as being applicable only if a contrary intention does not appear; and

as being applicable to all other enactments relating to the same subject-matter unless a contrary intention appears.

Where an enactment confers power to make regulations, expressions used in the regulations have the same respective meanings as in the enactment conferring the power.

No enactment is binding on Her Majesty or affects Her Majesty or Her Majesty’s rights or prerogatives in any manner, except as mentioned or referred to in the enactment.

Where an enactment authorizes the issue of a proclamation, the proclamation shall be understood to be a proclamation of the Governor in Council.

Where the Governor General is authorized to issue a proclamation, the proclamation shall be understood to be a proclamation issued under an order of the Governor in Council, but it is not necessary to mention in the proclamation that it is issued under such an order.

A proclamation that is issued under an order of the Governor in Council may purport to have been issued on the day of the order or on any subsequent day and, if so, takes effect on that day.

[Repealed, 1992, c. 1, s. 88]

Where, by an enactment or by a rule of the Senate or House of Commons, evidence under oath is authorized or required to be taken, or an oath is authorized or directed to be made, taken or administered, the oath may be administered, and a certificate of its having been made, taken or administered may be given by

any person authorized by the enactment or rule to take the evidence; or

a judge of any court, a notary public, a justice of the peace or a commissioner for taking affidavits, having authority or jurisdiction within the place where the oath is administered.

Where power is conferred on a justice of the peace to administer an oath or solemn affirmation or to take an affidavit or declaration, the power may be exercised by a notary public or a commissioner for taking oaths.

Where an Act requires a report or other document to be laid before Parliament and, in compliance with the Act, a particular report or document has been laid before Parliament at a session thereof, nothing in the Act shall be construed as requiring the same report or document to be laid before Parliament at any subsequent session.

Words establishing a corporation shall be construed

as vesting in the corporation power to sue and be sued, to contract and be contracted with by its corporate name, to have a common seal and to alter or change it at pleasure, to have perpetual succession, to acquire and hold personal property for the purposes for which the corporation is established and to alienate that property at pleasure;

in the case of a corporation having a name consisting of an English and a French form or a combined English and French form, as vesting in the corporation power to use either the English or the French form of its name or both forms and to show on its seal both the English and French forms of its name or have two seals, one showing the English and the other showing the French form of its name;

as vesting in a majority of the members of the corporation the power to bind the others by their acts; and

as exempting from personal liability for its debts, obligations or acts individual members of the corporation who do not contravene the provisions of the enactment establishing the corporation.

Where an enactment establishes a corporation and in each of the English and French versions of the enactment the name of the corporation is in the form only of the language of that version, the name of the corporation shall consist of the form of its name in each of the versions of the enactment.

No corporation is deemed to be authorized to carry on the business of banking unless that power is expressly conferred on it by the enactment establishing the corporation.

Where an enactment requires or authorizes more than two persons to do an act or thing, a majority of them may do it.

Where an enactment establishes a board, court, commission or other body consisting of three or more members, in this section called an “association”,

at a meeting of the association, a number of members of the association equal to, constitutes a quorum;

if the number of members provided for by the enactment is a fixed number, at least one-half of the number of members, and

if the number of members provided for by the enactment is not a fixed number but is within a range having a maximum or minimum, at least one-half of the number of members in office if that number is within the range,

an act or thing done by a majority of the members of the association present at a meeting, if the members present constitute a quorum, is deemed to have been done by the association; and

a vacancy in the membership of the association does not invalidate the constitution of the association or impair the right of the members in office to act, if the number of members in office is not less than a quorum.

Every public officer appointed by or under the authority of an enactment or otherwise is deemed to have been appointed to hold office during pleasure only, unless it is otherwise expressed in the enactment, commission or instrument of appointment.

Where an appointment is made by instrument under the Great Seal, the instrument may purport to have been issued on or after the day its issue was authorized, and the day on which it so purports to have been issued is deemed to be the day on which the appointment takes effect.

Where there is authority in an enactment to appoint a person to a position or to engage the services of a person, otherwise than by instrument under the Great Seal, the instrument of appointment or engagement may be expressed to be effective on or after the day on which that person commenced the performance of the duties of the position or commenced the performance of the services, and the day on which it is so expressed to be effective, unless that day is more than sixty days before the day on which the instrument is issued, is deemed to be the day on which the appointment or engagement takes effect.

Where a person is appointed to an office, the appointing authority may fix, vary or terminate that person’s remuneration.

Where a person is appointed to an office effective on a specified day, or where the appointment of a person is terminated effective on a specified day, the appointment or termination is deemed to have been effected immediately on the expiration of the previous day.

Words authorizing the appointment of a public officer to hold office during pleasure include, in the discretion of the authority in whom the power of appointment is vested, the power to

terminate the appointment or remove or suspend the public officer;

re-appoint or reinstate the public officer; and

appoint another person in the stead of, or to act in the stead of, the public officer.

Words directing or empowering a minister of the Crown to do an act or thing, regardless of whether the act or thing is administrative, legislative or judicial, or otherwise applying to that minister as the holder of the office, include

a minister acting for that minister or, if the office is vacant, a minister designated to act in the office by or under the authority of an order in council;

the successors of that minister in the office;

his or their deputy; and

notwithstanding paragraph (c), a person appointed to serve, in the department or ministry of state over which the minister presides, in a capacity appropriate to the doing of the act or thing, or to the words so applying.

Nothing in paragraph (2)(c) or (d) shall be construed as authorizing the exercise of any authority conferred on a minister to make a regulation as defined in the Statutory Instruments Act.

Words directing or empowering any public officer, other than a minister of the Crown, to do any act or thing, or otherwise applying to the public officer by his name of office, include his successors in the office and his or their deputy.

Where a power is conferred or a duty imposed on the holder of an office, the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed by the person for the time being charged with the execution of the powers and duties of the office.

Where an enactment provides that a document is evidence of a fact without anything in the context to indicate that the document is conclusive evidence, then, in any judicial proceedings, the document is admissible in evidence and the fact is deemed to be established in the absence of any evidence to the contrary.

Every copy of an enactment having printed thereon what purports to be the name or title of the Queen’s Printer and Controller of Stationery or the Queen’s Printer is deemed to be a copy purporting to be printed by the Queen’s Printer for Canada.

Where the time limited for the doing of a thing expires or falls on a holiday, the thing may be done on the day next following that is not a holiday.

Where there is a reference to a number of clear days or “at least” a number of days between two events, in calculating that number of days the days on which the events happen are excluded.

Where there is a reference to a number of days, not expressed to be clear days, between two events, in calculating that number of days the day on which the first event happens is excluded and the day on which the second event happens is included.

Where a time is expressed to begin or end at, on or with a specified day, or to continue to or until a specified day, the time includes that day.

Where a time is expressed to begin after or to be from a specified day, the time does not include that day.

Where anything is to be done within a time after, from, of or before a specified day, the time does not include that day.

Where there is a reference to a period of time consisting of a number of months after or before a specified day, the period is calculated by

counting forward or backward from the specified day the number of months, without including the month in which that day falls;

excluding the specified day; and

including in the last month counted under paragraph (a) the day that has the same calendar number as the specified day or, if that month has no day with that number, the last day of that month.

Where there is a reference to time expressed as a specified time of the day, the time is taken to mean standard time.

A person is deemed not to have attained a specified number of years of age until the commencement of the anniversary, of the same number, of the day of that person’s birth.

Where anything is required or authorized to be done by or before a judge, provincial court judge, justice of the peace or any functionary or officer, it shall be done by or before one whose jurisdiction or powers extend to the place where the thing is to be done.

Where power is given to a person, officer or functionary to do or enforce the doing of any act or thing, all such powers as are necessary to enable the person, officer or functionary to do or enforce the doing of the act or thing are deemed to be also given.

Where a power is conferred or a duty imposed, the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed from time to time as occasion requires.

Where a power is conferred to make regulations, the power shall be construed as including a power, exercisable in the same manner and subject to the same consent and conditions, if any, to repeal, amend or vary the regulations and make others.

Where a form is prescribed, deviations from that form, not affecting the substance or calculated to mislead, do not invalidate the form used.

Words importing female persons include male persons and corporations and words importing male persons include female persons and corporations.

Words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular.

Where a word is defined, other parts of speech and grammatical forms of the same word have corresponding meanings.

Where an enactment creates an offence,

the offence is deemed to be an indictable offence if the enactment provides that the offender may be prosecuted for the offence by indictment;

the offence is deemed to be one for which the offender is punishable on summary conviction if there is nothing in the context to indicate that the offence is an indictable offence; and

if the offence is one for which the offender may be prosecuted by indictment or for which the offender is punishable on summary conviction, no person shall be considered to have been convicted of an indictable offence by reason only of having been convicted of the offence on summary conviction.

All the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to indictable offences apply to indictable offences created by an enactment, and all the provisions of that Code relating to summary conviction offences apply to all other offences created by an enactment, except to the extent that the enactment otherwise provides.

In a commission, proclamation, warrant or other document relating to criminal law or procedure in criminal matters,

a reference to an offence for which the offender may be prosecuted by indictment shall be construed as a reference to an indictable offence; and

a reference to any other offence shall be construed as a reference to an offence for which the offender is punishable on summary conviction.

Any person who may issue a warrant to arrest or apprehend a person under any Act of Parliament, other than the Criminal Code, has the same powers, subject to the same terms and conditions, as a judge or justice has under the Criminal Code

to authorize the entry into a dwelling-house described in the warrant for the purpose of arresting or apprehending the person, if the person issuing the warrant is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person is or will be present in the dwelling-house; and

to authorize the entry into the dwelling-house without prior announcement if the requirement of subsection 529.4(1) of the Criminal Code is met.

In every enactment,

Act, in respect of an Act of a legislature, includes a law of the Legislature of Yukon, of the Northwest Territories or for Nunavut; (loi provinciale)

bank means a bank listed in Schedule I or II to the Bank Act; (banque)

British Commonwealth or British Commonwealth of Nations has the same meaning as Commonwealth; (Commonwealth, Commonwealth britannique, Commonwealth des nations ou Commonwealth des nations britanniques)

broadcasting means any radiocommunication in which the transmissions are intended for direct reception by the general public; (radiodiffusion)

Canada, for greater certainty, includes the internal waters of Canada and the territorial sea of Canada; (Canada)

Canadian waters includes the territorial sea of Canada and the internal waters of Canada; (eaux canadiennes)

Clerk of the Privy Council or Clerk of the Queen’s Privy Council means the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet; (greffier du Conseil privé ou greffier du Conseil privé de la Reine)

commencement, when used with reference to an enactment, means the time at which the enactment comes into force; (Version anglaise seulement)

Commonwealth or Commonwealth of Nations means the association of countries named in the schedule; (Commonwealth, Commonwealth britannique, Commonwealth des nations ou Commonwealth des nations britanniques)

Commonwealth and Dependent Territories means the several Commonwealth countries and their colonies, possessions, dependencies, protectorates, protected states, condominiums and trust territories; (Commonwealth et dépendances)

contiguous zone,

in relation to Canada, means the contiguous zone of Canada as determined under the Oceans Act, and

in relation to any other state, means the contiguous zone of the other state as determined in accordance with international law and the domestic laws of that other state; (zone contiguë)

continental shelf,

in relation to Canada, means the continental shelf of Canada as determined under the Oceans Act, and

in relation to any other state, means the continental shelf of the other state as determined in accordance with international law and the domestic laws of that other state; (plateau continental)

contravene includes fail to comply with; (contravention)

corporation does not include a partnership that is considered to be a separate legal entity under provincial law; (personne morale)

county includes two or more counties united for purposes to which the enactment relates; (comté)

county court[Repealed, 1990, c. 17, s. 26]

diplomatic or consular officer includes an ambassador, envoy, minister, chargé d’affaires, counsellor, secretary, attaché, consul-general, consul, vice-consul, pro-consul, consular agent, acting consul-general, acting consul, acting vice-consul, acting consular agent, high commissioner, permanent delegate, adviser, acting high commissioner, and acting permanent delegate; (agent diplomatique ou consulaire)

exclusive economic zone,

in relation to Canada, means the exclusive economic zone of Canada as determined under the Oceans Act and includes the seabed and subsoil below that zone, and

in relation to any other state, means the exclusive economic zone of the other state as determined in accordance with international law and the domestic laws of that other state; (zone économique exclusive)

Federal Court[Repealed, 2002, c. 8, s. 151]

Federal Court — Appeal Division or Federal Court of Appeal[Repealed, 2002, c. 8, s. 151]

Federal Court — Trial Division[Repealed, 2002, c. 8, s. 151]

Governor, Governor General or Governor of Canada means the Governor General of Canada or other chief executive officer or administrator carrying on the Government of Canada on behalf and in the name of the Sovereign, by whatever title that officer is designated; (gouverneur, gouverneur du Canada ou gouverneur général)

Governor General in Council or Governor in Council means the Governor General of Canada acting by and with the advice of, or by and with the advice and consent of, or in conjunction with the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada; (gouverneur en conseil ou gouverneur général en conseil)

Great Seal means the Great Seal of Canada; (grand sceau)

Her Majesty, His Majesty, the Queen, the King or the Crown means the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her or His other Realms and Territories, and Head of the Commonwealth; (Sa Majesté, la Reine, le Roi ou la Couronne)

Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories or His Majesty’s Realms and Territories means all realms and territories under the sovereignty of Her or His Majesty; (royaumes et territoires de Sa Majesté)

herein used in any section shall be understood to relate to the whole enactment, and not to that section only; (Version anglaise seulement)

holiday means any of the following days, namely, Sunday; New Year’s Day; Good Friday; Easter Monday; Christmas Day; the birthday or the day fixed by proclamation for the celebration of the birthday of the reigning Sovereign; Victoria Day; Canada Day; the first Monday in September, designated Labour Day; National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is observed on September 30; Remembrance Day; any day appointed by proclamation to be observed as a day of general prayer or mourning or day of public rejoicing or thanksgiving; and any of the following additional days, namely,

in any province, any day appointed by proclamation of the lieutenant governor of the province to be observed as a public holiday or as a day of general prayer or mourning or day of public rejoicing or thanksgiving within the province, and any day that is a non-juridical day by virtue of an Act of the legislature of the province, and

in any city, town, municipality or other organized district, any day appointed to be observed as a civic holiday by resolution of the council or other authority charged with the administration of the civic or municipal affairs of the city, town, municipality or district; (jour férié)

internal waters,

in relation to Canada, means the internal waters of Canada as determined under the Oceans Act and includes the airspace above and the bed and subsoil below those waters, and

in relation to any other state, means the waters on the landward side of the baselines of the territorial sea of the other state; (eaux intérieures)

legislative assembly, legislative council or legislature[Repealed, 2014, c. 2, s. 14]

legislative assembly or legislature includes the Lieutenant Governor in Council and the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, as constituted before September 1, 1905, and the Legislature of Yukon, of the Northwest Territories or for Nunavut; (législature ou assemblée législative)