SSM1070H5: Sustainability Law and Policy (Winter 2022)

The Library offers two databases to research Canadian legislation and case law:

• Lexis Advance Quicklaw
• WestlawNext Canada

Both offer similar coverage of statutes and case law.  They differ largely in their search interfaces and in the secondary research sources they offer.  You will likely only need to use one of these databases if you require primary sources only.  However, considering using both to highlight different commentary and analyses that is unique to each database.

Scroll down to see a list of open (free) resources you can also use to research Canadian legislation law and relevant treaties.

Lexis Advance Quicklaw is a leading Canadian commercial legal database that includes Canadian federal, provincial and territorial legislation.

WestlawNext Canada is another important source of both Canadian legislation and case law for SSM1070.  It is a competitor product to Quicklaw - most large law firms in Canada will subscribe to one or the other.

Please note that the Library does NOT subscribe to all modules available on the WestlawNext platform.  The Library's subscription does, however, include the LawSource module, which will contain most of the legal content you need for your assignments.  LawSource is listed under the 'My Subscriptions' tab found on the right-hand side of the home screen.  You may also want to use the 'Browse Legal Topics'  option found on the home screen to find case law, digests, annotations, legal memos and other kinds of content related to a topic, e.g. environmental law.

If you are not familiar with WestlawNext, please watch the video below to learn how to browse and search for legislation and to find citing references.

To browse and locate consolidated Canadian and provincial/territorial statutes, rules and regulations:

• Click on the 'LawSource' link under 'My Subscriptions'
• Drill down into the options listed under 'Primary Sources' to located the desired text

To find case law that references a specific statute, rule or regulation:

• Select the 'Find and KeyCite by Name' tab at the top of the 'Browse' box
• Select the 'Find and KeyCite a Statute or Regulation' or 'Find and KeyCite a Rule by Name' option
• Enter the name of the legislation and jurisdiction into the search boxes - you can use operators such as AND or OR to search on one or more keywords
• Click on the orange 'Search' button at the top to find relevant cases
• You will a list of results with your search translated into a search string in the search box
• Click on the desired legislation and select the 'Citing references' tab above the document to view relevant cases

To learn more about searching and working with legislation and case law in WestlawNext, please consult the materials on the left of this page.