Law Reform Resources

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British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI)
In British Columbia and most other jurisdictions in Canada, health care assistants (HCAs) perform the vast majority of day-to-day, hands-on, paid health and personal care provided to older people, adults living with disabilities, and people with complex health needs. Their practice, however, remains unregulated and unlicensed. This report provides a foundation for B.C. to consider law reform surrounding the province’s approach to Health Care Assistant oversight and health professional regulation more broadly.
British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI)
In British Columbia, provincial legislation has created a legal framework for local control of land use and planning which enables local jurisdictions to adopt large-scale official community plans and targeted zoning bylaws with input from the public. This paper traces the origins and development of the legislation, as well as the purposes of public hearings, and sets out arguments evaluating the pros and cons of the current legal framework.
Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI)
The Wills and Succession Act governs the creation of wills in Alberta. The Act does not address electronic wills leading to a lack of clarity. This report makes recommendations for both the the creation of electronic wills and governance of electronic formalities.
Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI)
The Dower Act protects a spouse if the couple’s home is solely owned by the other spouse; it protects the non-owner spouse from losing their home. This report recommends replacing the Act with new legislation that would reduce administrative burdens, increase efficiency, and strengthen protections.
Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan (LRCS)
The Saskatchewan Sale of Goods Act is based off an 1893 statute that does not reflect the economic structures and realities of current-day Canada. The Act was also not designed to be a complete code of sale of goods law, and instead left much to the common law of contract. This Consultation Report presents options and seeks input on how to update Saskatchewan’s legislation to accord with modern commercial systems.
Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan (LRCS)
In 2019, the Law Commission of Ontario released a report which included 47 recommendations to improve class actions in Ontario. The LRCS identified a number of these recommendations that could be applicable to The Class Actions Act (CAA) of Saskatchewan. Through consultation with various stakeholders, the LRCS made limited recommendations for class action reform, ultimately concluding there is not consensus that major changes to the CAA are needed.
Manitoba Law Reform Commission (MLRC)
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) have been frequently employed in recent years to silence victims of misconduct, in particular sexual misconduct, in exchange for money. After extensive consultations, this report considers the implications of enacting NDA legislation in Manitoba and puts forth a number of recommendations on possible law reform options.
Manitoba Law Reform Commission (MLRC)
In Manitoba, children have a statutory duty to provide financial support to their dependent parents in certain circumstances. This obligation is known as “parents’ maintenance” and is set out in The Parents’ Maintenance Act. In this report, the MLRC considers whether the province should repeal or modernize the legislation. MLRC concludes the Act is irrelevant, obsolete, and unsuitable for modern use and as such recommends its repeal.
Law Commission of Ontario (LCO)
This report shares findings from a series of engagements between the LCO and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities across Ontario, along with many who provide health services in those communities. The project considers how the law shapes the rights, choices, and quality of life for persons who are dying and those who support them.
Law Commission of Ontario (LCO)
This report considers how to ensure legal accountability when governments and public agencies use AI to make or assist decision-making in the civil and administrative justice systems. This report is the latest in a series of LCO papers considering the use of AI in the Canadian justice system.
Institut Québécois de réforme du droit et de la Justice (IQRDJ)
In 2019, the ministère de la sécurité publique (MSP) asked the Montreal police service to carry out a pilot project inquiring into whether body cameras were a useful tool for Québec police. The IQRDJ was mandated to evaluate certain aspects of this project, including: the amount of social support for the use of body cameras by police; the operationalization of body cameras and how they fit into the practices of police officers; and the impact of body cameras on police-citizen relations. This report contains the results of that research.
Institut Québécois de réforme du droit et de la Justice (IQRDJ)
This report sets out the exceptional procedural regimes likely to allow judicial, pre-judicial, or hybrid treatment of disputes arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research forming the content of the report surveyed existing measures as well as comparative exceptional measures put in place during unusual social events.
Access to Justice & Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is the only jurisdiction in Canada that lacks parentage legislation. This report makes recommendations on how Nova Scotian law should identify a child’s parents when the child is conceived via assisted reproduction or in the context of surrogacy. The report aims to bring the law in line with modern realities of family creation.
Access to Justice & Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia
This report seeks to establish an operational definition of “Access to Justice” for Nova Scotia. It surveys the literature on what the term has meant historically and in the present day, and takes a comparative look at how the concept is operationalized in different Canadian jurisdictions, as well as for different marginalized communities.
International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR)
This report examines the implications of pre-charge vs. post-charge screening and the differing Crown screening evidentiary thresholds in Canada. It makes recommendations for reform with the goal of enhancing justice efficiencies and access to the criminal justice system.
International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR)
This report outlines key needs identified in balancing open courts with the rights of victims of crime and vulnerable witnesses in virtual courts in particular, and makes recommendations to address those needs. The report focuses on two key areas: virtual access to hearings involving testimony, and virtual testimony of victims and vulnerable witnesses.
Royal Society of Canada (RSC)
The International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy recommend that States commit to adopting a human rights-based approach to drug policy through a set of foundational human rights principles and obligations arising from human rights standards and from the human rights of particular groups. This report finds that Canada must adopt stronger and more specific commitments for a human rights-based, people-centered and public health approach. This approach must commit to the removal of criminal penalties for simple possession and a comprehensive health-based approach to drug regulation.
Royal Society of Canada (RSC)
At the time of this report’s release, the federal government is in the process of developing a new Safe Long-Term Care Act which would implement LTC standards. This report surveys where Canada’s LTC reform stands now and makes recommendations based on Canada and other countries’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Law Reform Sources
Selected Canadian and Comparative Sources on Law Reform
- Gosse, Richard (1969). Some Thoughts on the Growth of Law Reform Agencies, Western Ontario Law Review, Vol. 8, pp. 11-32.
- Barnes, John (1975). The Law Reform Commission of Canada, Dalhousie Law Journal, Vol. 2, Issue 1, pp. 62-90.
- Macdonald, Roderick A. (1997). Recommissioning Law Reform, Alberta Law Review, Vol. 35, Issue 4, pp. 831-879.
- Macdonald, Roderick A. (2000). Law Reform and Its Agencies, Canadian Bar Review, Vol. 79, Issue 1, pp. 99-118.
- Murphy, Gavin (2004). The Rise, Decline and Current Status of Canada's Law Reform Agencies, Commonwealth Law Bulletin, Vol. 30, pp. 900-921.
- Burrows, Andrew (2004). Some Reflections on Law Reform in England and Canada, Canadian Business Law Journal, Vol. 39, Issue 3, pp. 320-335.
- Opeskin, Brian; Weisbrot, David (eds.) (2005). The Promise of Law Reform, Federation Press.
- Macdonald, Roderick A. (2007). Jamais deux sans trois...Once Reform, Twice Commission, Thrice Low, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 22, Issue 2, pp. 117-144.
- Des Rosiers, Nathalie (2007). In Memoriam: La Commission du Droit du Canada/The Law Commission of Canada, 1997-2006, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 22, Issue 2, pp. 145-176.
- Coper, Michael (2008). Law Reform and Legal Education: Uniting Separate Worlds, University of Toledo Law Review, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 233-249.
- Hughes, Patricia (2010). Reflecting on the Law Commission of Ontario's Approach and Method: Multidisciplinarity, Analytical Lenses and Consultation, York Centre for Public Policy & Law, 7.
- Okello, Johnson Okoth (2012). The Changing Face of Law Reform: Challenges and Prospects in the 21st Century, International Journal of Legislative Drafting and Law Reform, Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp. 35-48.
- Macdonald, Roderick A. (2014) Law Reform for Dummies (3rd Edition), Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Vol. 51, Issue 3, pp. 859-888.
- Moore, Marcus (2018). The Past, Present and Future of Law Reform in Canada, Theory and Practice of Legislation, Vol. 6, Issue 2, pp. 225-262.
- Noreau, Pierre; Sénéchal, Yan; Roberge, Jean-François (2020). Réformes du droit et de la justice, Revue Juridique Thémis, vol. 54, no 1.
- Paquet, Hélène (2022). Les mots et les maux des réformes de la justice civile, Cahiers de droit, vol. 63, no 1, pp. 237-269.
- Mickan, Bella; Puntillo, Michaela (2022). The Past, Present and Future of Law Reform in South Australia: Paving the Way Forward, Adelaide Law Review, Vol. 43, Issue 1, pp. 77-103.
- Lee, James (2023). ‘Not Time to Make a Change’? Reviewing the Rhetoric of Law Reform, Current Legal Problems, Vol. 76, Issue 1, pp. 129-172.
- Law Commission of England and Wales (2023). Inside Modern Law Reform.
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