Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which laws are on BC Laws ?
2. How current is the data on BC Laws.ca ?
3. What is a consolidation ?
4. Is there a user guide available for the Table of Legislative Changes ?
5. How do I find the law I need ?
6. What does the green underlined text in some of the Acts signify ?
7. What is the "official" version of B.C. Statutes and Regulations ?
8. What do the dates at the top of an Act refer to ?
9. What do the dates at the top of a regulation refer to ?
10. What does repeal mean? What does spent mean ?
11. How can I find out if an Act has been repealed ?
12. How can I find out if a regulation has been repealed ?
13. How can I find out which provisions in an Act have been amended ?
14. How can I find out which Acts have been enacted or affected during a legislative session ?
15. Where can I find the wording of an Act prior to an amendment ?
16. Where can I find the wording of a Regulation prior to an amendment ?
17. Are government forms available on BC Laws ?
18. Are statutes and regulations protected by copyright ?
19. Can I print legislation from the website ?
20. How do I print an unofficial copy of a document ?
21. Can I purchase print copies of legislation ?
22. What other legislative material is available in print format ?
23. How do I obtain other government of British Columbia publications ?
24. Which browser is the site best viewed with ?
25. How can I create a bookmark link to an Act or regulation, and ensure the link will remain active ?
26. I am unable to view the site, what should I do ?
27. What is the Queen’s Printer ?
28. What is Crown Publications, Queen’s Printer ?

1. Which laws are on BC Laws ?

• On BC Laws you will find every public Act, and every regulation of general public interest, currently in force in the province of British Columbia, including new and recently amended laws that have yet to be published in official print formats. This current consolidation is an unofficial version of B.C. Statutes and Regulations.
• See Questions 18 and 19 for copyright information.
• See alsoQuestions 3, 5 and 6.
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2. How current is the data on BC Laws.ca ?

• BC Laws is updated continually as new laws and provisions come into force.
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3. What is a consolidation ?

• A consolidated Act or regulation is one in which the substance of any amendments has been blended into the original.
• A "consolidation" refers to a collection of consolidated Acts or regulations that have been enacted or amended during a given time period, and are then published. The published consolidations are identified by a cut-off date and a consolidation number, also referred to as an amendment number (statutes) or instalment number (regulations).
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4. Is there a user guide available for the Table of Legislative Changes ?

• The 3rd edition Table of Legislative Changes user guide is available here
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5. How do I find the law I need ?

• The laws are listed alphabetically by Act name. Regulations are listed under the Act that authorizes them. Click on the letters of the alphabet to browse through the Acts. Click on the Act title to open the folder. Click on the document title to view the document. To return to the list of statutes or the BC Laws home page, use the browser "back" arrow or click on the breadcrumb navigation links at the top of the page, e.g. "BC Laws Home > Statutes and Regulations>.
• Quick Search:To perform a quick search of all laws in the statutes and regulations collection, enter a search term in the search field; then, click on the search button (or hit the "Enter" key on your keyboard). To restrict a search to the Acts listed under a particular letter of the alphabet, select the collection, e.g. "B" collection, and perform a quick search. To restrict a search to the documents listed under a particular Act (e.g. Act, Point in Time, Table of Legislative Changes, or Regulations), select the Act folder and perform a quick search. To search the regulations under the Act, select the regulations folder and perform a quick search.
• Advanced Searches:To perform an advanced search, click on the Advancedsearch button and select from the following search options: Advanced, Booleanor Fieldsearch. The advanced searches can be performed on the entire collection or on the level currently selected, e.g. "letter B collection" level.
  
  The Fieldsearch can be performed on documents published in XML format and allow you to narrow your search to specific areas of a document, e.g. search by chapter number. XML collections include: Statutes and Regulations, Table of Legislative Changes, Historical Tables, Supplements, and Point in Time tables.
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6. What does the green underlined text in some of the Acts signify ?

• Recent amendments to an Act are shown in green underlined text to make it easy to find what has changed. When the current consolidation reaches its cut-off date and is archived, a new consolidation is published in regular text format with all the amendments from the previous consolidation blended in. Any subsequent amendments are shown in green underlined text.
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7. What is the "official" version of B.C. Statutes and Regulations ?

• The official version refers to the official print versions of the statutes and regulations published by the King's Printer under the authority of the King's Printer Act and the Regulations Act. Official versions are published in these formats:
• Annual Bound Statutes:a hardcover publication containing all new public and private Acts and Amendment Acts that have come into force during the calendar year.
• Statute consolidations:a looseleaf publication printed on watermarked paper, containing all new public Acts and amendments enacted during a legislative session.
• Regulation consolidations:a looseleaf publication printed on watermarked paper approximately every four months, containing new regulations and amendments enacted during the four-month period.
• Individual consolidated statutes and regulations:printed on watermarked paper, with any amendments blended into the original.
• All official versions may be relied upon for legal and other purposes. They are available from Crown Publications, King's Printer at www.crownpub.bc.ca
• See alsoQuestion 3 and 21.
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8. What do the dates at the top of an Act refer to ?

• The "Assented to" date at the top of some public Acts (usually those enacted after the latest Revision) refers to the date of Royal Assent. Unless an Act contains a stated effective date, or a provision requiring that it be brought into force by regulation, it comes into force on the day Royal Assent is given.
• The year of enactment appears below the Act title; for instance, S.B.C. 2003 (Statutes of British Columbia) or R.S.B.C. 1996 (Revised Statutes of British Columbia).
• For more information please refer to Legislation Made Easy, 3rd Edition.
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9. What do the dates at the top of a regulation refer to ?

• The deposit date at the top of most regulations indicates the date the regulation was filed with the Registrar of Regulations. Unless there is a stated "effective date" below the deposit date, the regulation comes into force on the date of deposit.
• In regulations that have been amended since the previous consolidation was published, there is a note under the regulation title in this format: [includes amendments up to B.C. Reg. 304/2008, October 31, 2008]; which provides the number of the most recent amending regulation and the effective date for the amendment.
• For more information please refer to Legislation Made Easy, 3rd Edition.
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10. What does repeal mean? What does spent mean ?

• When laws are repealed they are no longer in force and cease to be the law. Statutes and Regulations can be repealed; repealed and replaced by another statute or regulation with a different title; or renamed. They can also have built-in expiry provisions, or be enacted for a specific period, after which they are considered to be spent without the need for repeal. If the Act under which a regulation is authorized is no longer in force then the regulation expires, unless a replacement Act with similar authority takes its place.
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11. How can I find out if an Act has been repealed ?

• Check the Table of Legislative changes pertaining to the act in question. Check the Point in Time table for the full text of a repealed Act (from September 6. 2000 to present).
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12. How can I find out if a regulation has been repealed ?

• For a complete collection of repealed, expired or spent regulations (from August 1, 2003 onwards), see the "Defunct Regulations" Currently this is only available on QP LegalEze.
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13. How can I find out which provisions in an Act have been amended ?

• On BC Laws, a Table of Legislative Changes (TLC) accompanies Acts which have been amended. The TLC lists all amendments made to an individual Act by section, including citations and the date on which an amendment comes into force. The TLC is found in the Act folder. A cumulative Table of Legislative Changes is published in the Annual Bound Statutes.
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14. How can I find out which Acts have been enacted or affected during a legislative session ?

• The Consolidated Provisions in Force(PIF) is an alphabetical listing of all statutes enacted, amended, or repealed , from the 1997 session of the Legislation Assembly to the 2011 sessions.
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15. Where can I find the wording of an Act prior to an amendment ?

• The Point in Time tables for amended Acts, keep track of the original wording of an Act prior to amendment or repeal (covers changes made from September 6, 2000 to the present).
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16. Where can I find the wording of a Regulation prior to an amendment ?

• The Point in Time tables for amended regulations, keep track of the original wording of a Regulation prior to amendment (covers changes made from September 19, 2009 to the present).
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17. Are government forms available on BC Laws ?

• BC Laws contains only those forms that comprise part of a regulation. If a regulation contains forms, they will usually be found at the end of the regulation. You must print out the forms to use them. They cannot be filled in or submitted online.
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18. Are statutes and regulations protected by copyright?

• In support of the British Columbia government's Open Data Policy, BC Laws delivers expanded content and open access to the data published on the site. All documents on BC Laws are now published under a permissible license, which allows commercial and non-commercial access to, and use of, the legislative materials on the site (please check the license hereas some restrictions apply).
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19. Can I print legislation from the website ?

• Yes, you can make copies of legislation, in whole or in part, as per the Open Data license.
• see also question 18.
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20. How do I print an unofficial copy of a document?

• Open the document and use the browser print functions to print the document.
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21. Can I purchase print copies of legislation ?

• All print versions of statutes and regulations are available from Crown Publications, King's Printer at www.crownpub.bc.ca
• OFFICIAL PRINT VERSIONS
• Annual Bound Statutes:Buckram Bound hardcover. After the end of each calendar year, the King's Printer publishes an official hardcover version of all new Acts and Amendment Acts, both public and private, that were enacted during the year. In the case of private Acts, the hardcover edition is likely the final publication, since most private Acts are rarely consolidated or revised.
• The hardcover version includes: all public and private Acts and Amendment Acts that have come into force during a calendar year; cumulative Tables of Legislative Changes; and cross-referencing for Bill numbers and Chapter numbers.
• Statute Consolidations:Printed on looseleaf watermarked paper. After the end of each legislative session (usually twice per year), all new public Acts and amendments to existing Acts are published by the King's Printer in looseleaf format on watermarked paper. The consolidation is assigned an "amendment" number and cut-off date for publication. Often referred to as "the looseleaf", the consolidated statutes are formatted for insertion into the binder volumes of the most recent Statute Revision, so that the statutes may be kept up-to-date.
• The Statute Consolidations include: all new public Acts and amendments to existing Acts that are in force at the cut-off date, with amendments blended into the original text (consolidated); and Tables of Legislative Changes.
• Individual consolidated Acts:Printed on watermarked paper. Includes: the entire Act with any amendments blended in; Supplement (if applicable); and a Table of Legislative Changes which includes details of any amendments that come into force after publication of the consolidated Act.
• Regulation Consolidations:Printed on looseleaf watermarked paper. Every four months, approximately, new regulations of general public interest and amendments to existing regulations are published by the King's Printer in looseleaf format on watermarked paper. Any amendments are blended into the original text (consolidated). The publication is formatted for insertion into the binder volumes of the Consolidated Regulations of British Columbia.
• The Regulation Consolidations include: all new regulations of general public interest and amendments to existing regulations that are in force at the consolidation cut-off date; historical notes to keep track of changes; and a statute-regulation title concordance for determining which Act has authority for the regulation.
• Individual consolidated regulations:Printed on watermarked paper. Includes: the entire regulation with any amendments blended in; historical notes; plus details of any amendments that come into force after publication of the consolidated regulation.
• OTHER PUBLICATIONSUnder the Regulations Act, regulations must be published in Part II of The British Columbia Gazette, which is published in print format every two weeks, and is available from Crown Publications, King's Printer. The Gazette is also published online at QP LegalEze.
• All print publications can be purchased from Crown Publications, King's Printer at www.crownpub.bc.ca; Telephone: 1 800 663-6105 or 250 387-6409.
• See alsoQuestion 7.
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22. What other legislative material is available in print format ?

• Bills, The B.C. Gazette Part I and II, Hansard and various code books are all available from Crown Publications, King's Printer at www.crownpub.bc.ca; Telephone: 1 800 663-6105 or 250 387-6409.
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23. How do I obtain other government of British Columbia publications?

• Many government publications are available from the Crown Publications, Queen’s Printer online bookstore at www.crownpub.bc.ca; Telephone: 1 800 663-6105 or 250 387-6409.
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24. Which browser is the site best viewed with?

• BC Laws is best viewed with Firefox version 8 or higher; Internet Explorer version 8 or higher, Chrome version 33 or higher, and Safari version 5 or higher.
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25. How can I create a bookmark link to an Act or regulation, and ensure the link will remain active ?

• Start by opening the document you wish to bookmark. Use the browser's "Bookmark" or "Favourites" feature to add the document to your bookmarks. When you use the bookmark to open a statute or regulation on BC Laws, if the content has been updated with amendments, the page will automatically be refreshed.to include the amendments.
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26. I am unable to view the site, what should I do ?

• You can try the following to ensure the cookies are enabled on your browser:
• Internet Explorer version 8+
1. From the menu bar select Tools, and choose Internet Options from the drop down menu.
2. In the Internet Options dialogue, click on the Privacytab.
3. In the Privacy page, click on the Advancedbutton.
4. In the Advanced Privacy Settings dialogue, in the Cookies section, check the "Override automatic cookie handling" box, and check the "Always accept session cookies" box. Click on the OKbutton.
5. Restart Internet Explorer.
• Firefox 28.0+
1. From the menu bar select Tools, and choose Optionsfrom the drop down menu.
2. In the Options dialogue, select the “Privacy” options.
   
   In the “History” section, after “Firefox will”, select Remember historyfrom the menu. Click on the OKbutton.
3. Restart Firefox.
• Chrome version 33+ All cookies are allowed by default in Chrome. To adjust this setting:
1. Click on Chrome menu icon on the browser toolbar.
2. Select Settings.
3. Click Show advanced settings.
4. In the “Privacy” section, click the Content settingsbutton.
5. In the “Cookies” section, you can change the cookies settings. Make sure "Allow local data to be set" is selected to allow both first-party and third-party cookies. If you only want to accept first-party cookies, select the "Block third-party cookies and site data" checkbox.
6. Restart Chrome.
• Safari version 5+
1. From the menu bar select Safari.
2. Select Preferences, and then click Privacy.
3. In the “Block cookies” section, select Never.
4. Close the dialogue
5. Restart Safari.
• If you still cannot view the site, please contact Crown Publications;
• Telephone: 1 800 663-6105 or 250 387-6409;
• Email: BC.Laws@gov.bc.ca
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27. What is the Queen’s Printer?

• The King's Printer was established in 1859 to serve as printer of government publications for the territory that has since become the province of British Columbia. Today, the King's Printer continues to publish the official versions of B.C. Statutes and Regulations, and related publications such as The B.C. Gazette. The King's Printer also provides publishing, distribution and printing services to government ministries, the public sector and publicly-funded authors and agencies. Popular electronic publications published by the King's Printer include the BC Laws website, and British Columbia Building Code.
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28. What is Crown Publications, King's Printer ?

• Crown Publications, King's Printer is the provincial government online bookstore for British Columbia. Crown Publications(formerly Crown Publications, Inc.) provides public access to many print and electronic publications from the B.C. Government, public sector organizations and publicly-funded authors and agencies. Crown Publicationsis also the official distributor of the British Columbia Statutes and Regulations, The B.C. Gazette and other legislative materials, including some federal publications.
• Publications are available through the online bookstore, at www.crownpub.bc.ca, Telephone: 1 800 663-6105 or 250 387-6409.
• Sources:; Legislation Made Easy, 3rd Edition, 2010; Legislative Assembly website at www.leg.bc.ca; and e-Laws Ontario at www.e-laws.gov.on.ca.
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• View the BC Laws User Manual here.
• This user guide provides an overview on navigating and searching features.