British North America Act

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British North America Act, the act of Parliament of the United Kingdom by which in 1867 three British colonies in North America—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada—were united as “one Dominion under the name of Canada” and by which provision was made that the other colonies and territories of British North America might be admitted. It also divided the province of Canada into the provinces of Quebec and Ontario and provided them with constitutions. The act served as Canada’s “constitution” until 1982, when it was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867, and became the basis of Canada’s Constitution Act of 1982, by which the British Parliament’s authority was transferred to the independent Canadian Parliament.

The British North America Act conferred on the new dominion a constitution “similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom.” The executive government was vested in Queen Victoria and her successors. These two provisions meant that Canada would have parliamentary and cabinet government. The legislature was to consist of a Senate, its members appointed for life from the regions of Canada, and a House of Commons elected from the provinces on the principle of representation by population. The act provided that criminal law should be federal and civil law provincial. The federal government was to appoint all senior judges, the provinces to administer the laws and maintain the courts. The act also authorized establishment of a Supreme Court of Canada.

The allocation of powers between the federal and provincial governments was done by sections 91 and 92 of the act. By the former, the federal legislature was given power to legislate for “the peace, order and good government of Canada,” and “for greater certainty” 29 subjects of exclusive federal jurisdiction were listed. The act also gave the federal government the right to disallow any provincial act within two years of its passage. The provinces might levy direct taxation only, whereas the dominion might use any mode of taxation. The act thus provided for a union in which the federal government had general and overriding powers, while the provinces had particular and restricted ones.

The course of judicial interpretation in the Judicial Committee of the imperial Privy Council nevertheless transformed the character of the federal constitution under the act by greatly reducing the powers of the federal government and correspondingly increasing those of the provinces. The act provided no process of amendment. Amendments were made by the imperial Parliament in London at the request of the Parliament of Canada.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.