For a long time in Ontario the only accepted official source of laws and regulations has been the Queen’s Printer.
Although many courts would accept a copy of the legislation from sources like Quicklaw, Westlaw, or CanLII, technically copies from these sources have not been considered “official” under the Legislation Act. If you want a “truly authentic” copy, you had to buy it from a government publication retail location, such as Service Ontario or copy it from the Ontario Gazzatte.
However, there’s finally good news for the e-generation.
On November 30, 2008, the government approved the print-out version of laws downloaded from the e-Laws website (in HTML or MS Word format) as official copies of the law. According to the government news release, Ontario is the first jurisdiction in North America to adopt electronic versions of the law as official.
In addition, an on-screen display of the law from the e-Laws website is considered official. While it may seem silly to point this out, this seemingly minor change is important for lawyers who conduct their legal research online.
For example, I’ve sometimes had to make oral submissions regarding certain laws based on my recollection of online research. Now that the on-screen display and the print-outs are both official sources of law, I can breathe easier in court.
For more information, please visit the e-Laws website, www.e-laws.gov.on.ca.
