The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Before 1982, legislation such as the Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960 and the Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977 was enacted to protect individual rights and freedoms. Several provinces had also enacted human rights legislation to protect civil liberties.

These statutes, however, held little precedence over other laws and were always subject to repeal. Entrenching the Charter of Rights and Freedoms within the constitution of Canada made it part of the country's supreme law, thus overriding all other statutes inconsistent with the individual rights and liberties it enshrined. The Charter provided a new legal foundation from which the courts could interpret the constitutionality of laws enacted by Parliament and the provincial legislatures.

The Charter is divided into several parts that define the various rights and freedoms Canadians enjoy. In addition to fundamental freedoms, the Charter guarantees equality rights; mobility rights, such as the right of citizens to live or seek work anywhere in Canada; democratic rights, such as the right to vote; and legal rights, such as the right to life, liberty and security and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms also has a directive to preserve and enhance the multicultural heritage of Canadians. As such, the Charter enshrines the two official languages of Canada, English and French, as well as the rights of Aboriginal peoples.

These rights and freedoms, however, are not absolute and are subject to reasonable limits, prescribed by law, and justified in a free and democratic society. Parliament or the legislature of a province may also expressly declare that an act or provision shall operate notwithstanding the provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a principle commonly known as the 'notwithstanding clause.'

The Constitution Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms further affirm that Canada is a bilingual, multicultural and democratic nation in which every citizen is guaranteed certain rights and liberties consistently applied across the land. Through these shared notions of justice and fairness expressed in our collection of laws, Canada's legal mosaic emerges as a reflection of its diversity.