Law Resources: The Basics: Canadian

What is it?

Canadian Law is based on precedence; the decisions made by judges in court or tribunals are based on previous cases. Therefore Canadian Case Law is the written decisions of judges in court or tribunals. It is the law as established by the outcome of former cases. Case law comes from all levels of court in Canada.

Topical Reporters (available in print and online)

How to use it:

Arranged topically by different subject areas of law (ex. Canadian Criminal Cases, Canadian Native Law Reporter, Reports of Family Law, etc.)
Courts send reports to publishers
Good sources of case law on a specific area of law (ex. if you want to see cases on family law topics, see: Reports of Family Law)
Contain head notes: notes that are placed at the head (beginning) of the reported law case summarizing or commenting on the content (N.B. these are copyrighted by the publisher)

How to access it:

Online versions of these titles can be searched using the databases listed on the right.
For print versions of these titles, portions can be requested via Scan and Send service.
For help finding these titles, please email library.services@usask.ca.

Scan request

Territorial Reporters (available in print and online)

How to use it:

Arranged by territory, either nationally or regionally
Good sources of case law by territory
Western Weekly Reports – these cover the Western provinces and the Territories
Dominion Law Reports and National Reporter – cover all of Canada
Supreme Court Reports – these are the “official Canadian” law reports as they are published by the Supreme Court of Canada

How to access it:

Online versions of these titles can be searched using the databases listed on the right.
For print versions of these titles, portions can be requested via Scan and Send service.
For help finding these titles, please email library.services@usask.ca.

Scan request

Provincial Reporters (available in print and online)

How to use it:

Arranged by province (ex. Alberta Reports)
Good sources of case law by province

How to access it:

Online versions of these titles can be searched using the databases listed on the right.
For print versions of these titles, portions can be requested via Scan and Send service.
For help finding these titles, please email library.services@usask.ca.

Scan request

Online Access

CANLII
CanLII provides free access to legal cases, legislation and commentary across all Canadian provinces.
Law Society of Saskatchewan
The Law Society of Saskatchewan provides free access to cases, articles, sentencing ranges, forms and precedents, legislation and ebooks.
WestlawNext Canada
WestlawNext Canada is only accessible to current students and faculty of the College of Law. A registration key and password are required to access this resource.

Lexis+
Lexis+ is available to all current students, faculty and staff of USask. It contains Court Decisions divided by jurisdiction across Canada or by topic.
Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and walk-in users, for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content is not permitted by Canadian and international copyright law.
BestCase
Complete collection of the Dominion Law Reports, Canadian Criminal Cases, Labour Arbitration Cases, Ontario Municipal Board Reports, and Land Compensation Reports, together with
PDF images of the cases as published. It also includes access to reported and unreported decisions from the Superior Court and Court of Appeal.
Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and walk-in users, for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content is not permitted by Canadian and international copyright law.
HeinOnline
Canada Supreme Court Reports in PDF format.
Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and walk-in users, for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content is not permitted by Canadian and international copyright law.
vLexJustis
Canadian Cases - From 1876 to the present day, including cases from the Supreme Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, and appellate courts from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and walk-in users, for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content is not permitted by Canadian and international copyright law.
Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926
The world's most comprehensive full-text collection of documents from Anglo-American trials from 1600-1926, works pertaining to English-speaking jurisdictions such as the United States, Britain, Ireland, and Canada.
Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and walk-in users, for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content is not permitted by Canadian and international copyright law.