CanLII (The Canadian Legal Information Institute) is a freely available database powered and supported by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. Content focuses on Canadian primary law sources that include:
You can also search CanLII for secondary law sources or legal commentary using CanLII Connects (case summaries and commentaries) and CanLII Docs (books, journals, articles, reports and research papers). Please note that this isn't an exhaustive database (there are other subscription databases with quite a bit more content and value added features), but CanLII is a great start that is accessible to all Canadians.
Once you click on the case, take a look at the following:
Tip: How to cite this: R v Campeau, 2016 ABCA 378
In text: (R v Campeau, 2016 ABCA 378 at para 3).
Why am I seeing stuff with square brackets and different acronyms?
Example: R. v. Morelli, 2010 SCC 8, [2010] 1 SCR 253, 316 DLR (4th) 1
For the purposes of your writing, citing the neutral citation in McGill citation style is the most important. Often legal researchers use two citations (neutral, official reporter or parallel citation) when citing case law in their work. It is best practice to cite the version in which you consulted.
If you have a burning desire to know what a legal acronym stands for, you can check using the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
Lexum is a software company that designs products such as legal information databases and collaborates with the Supreme Court of Canada as well as the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to publish Canadian case law. You can use either the SCC website or the SCC Lexum database search to search for your case. Both pathways will link to the same case as published in the Supreme Court Reporter (SCR) with the SCR headnote.
Lexum does allow you to create an account (through Lexbox) that will allow you to save your searches in CanLII and in SCC Cases. Lexum also has a pretty robust current awareness feature, where you can receive email, JSON or RSS alerts on a specific case or a specific saved query.
Much like CanLII there are multiple ways to search for a case using their advanced search tool.
The Supreme Court of Canada website contains a lot of information useful to the public about essentially anything related to the SCC (you can read about current SCC judges, case law, legislation, rules of court, media releases etc. etc.)
Like CanLII, you can search for cases by the style of cause, citation, or number. When the case comes up in a search, pay attention to some value added features...they can provide additional value that will be helpful to this course! Click on the case number link provided in the heading box.
By clicking on the Case Information link, you can then find resources available to your case, such as factums, leave to appeals, memoranda, and if it is a recent decision, you can even stream a recording.
summaries etc.
Things you can do in Library Search
Finding too much?
Finding too little?
For better searching, think of multiple ways to describe your topic
The following are good resources that provide examples of citing Canadian Law using McGill citation style
Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (print copy in library)
Queen's University Legal Citation Guide
University of British Columbia's Legal Citation Guide