Federal / Canada-wide
A starting point for questions that apply across Canada, or when you are not sure which province or territory's law matters. The chat explains general rules. It is not a lawyer and it does not represent you.
What this covers
- Criminal law, and what usually happens after the police charge someone.
- Immigration, citizenship, and coming to Canada.
- Divorce, and the point where a province or territory still sets the family rules.
- Jobs at banks, airlines, railways, and the federal public service.
- Federal benefits, and when a province or territory runs its own program.
- A problem that may depend on where in Canada you live. The answer should say when to pick that place.
Federal law and provincial law
Parliament makes criminal law, immigration law, and many other rules that apply in every province and territory.
Housing, most jobs, driving, wills, and consumer sales are usually set by the province or territory. Pick that place in the chat when the question is about life there.
Family questions can mix federal rules about divorce with provincial or territorial rules. Benefits can be federal, provincial, or territorial.
If a statute, case, or link cannot be verified, the answer says so. Read the wording on the Justice Laws website, and on the official site for the province or territory, before you rely on it.
Official text: Justice Laws website.
The chat is general information for anyone in Canada, not a lawyer. It will say when a rule is federal and when a province or territory's own law matters. If it cannot verify a statute, case, or link, it says that instead of guessing.