Search help

Quick search

Use this search bar to conduct a search by default in Consolidated Statutes and Regulations – English – In force only.

Basic search

Click on the magnifying glass, without entering text in the search bar, to display the basic search form in the main content column.

Advanced search

Click on this option to display the advanced search form in the main content column.

Consolidated Statutes

Click on this option to display a list of all statutes published in the Compilation of Québec Laws and Regulations (CQLR) in the main content column.

Consolidated Regulations

Click on this option to display a list of all regulations published in the Compilation of Québec Laws and Regulations (CQLR) in the main content column.

The “Additional Information” section in the vertical navigation bar contains the following options:

Québec Official Publisher

A presentation of the Québec Official Publisher.

What’s new?

The most recent additions and updates made to the LégisQuébec website.

Information note

The most recent information note concerning consolidated statutes and regulations. Information notes published during the year in progress and in previous years can be viewed in PDF format.

Policy of the Minister of Justice

The most recent version of the Policy of the Minister of Justice.

Laws: Amendments

Table of amendments made to consolidated statutes.

Laws: Provisions that are not in force

Table of consolidated statutes' provisions that are not in force.

Laws: Provisions brought into force

Table of consolidated statutes' provisions brought into force.

Annual Statutes: PDF versions since 1996

Description and hyperlink to annual statutes published on the Publications du Québec website in PDF format.

Regulations: Amendments

Description of the publication Tableau des modifications et Index sommaire (available in French only) and hyperlinks to purchase the print version or to subscribe to the digital version.

Annual Regulations: PDF versions since 1996

Description and hyperlinks to the Gazette officielle du Québec (Part 1 and Part 2).

Legislation

Body of legislation in which the search is to be conducted. Users can search:

• Statutes only
• Regulations only
• Statutes and regulations

Type of legislation

The user must also specify the type of legislation in which to conduct the search: “Consolidated” or “Annual”.

Consolidated legislation comprises the most recent versions of statutes and regulations, such as they are published in the Compilation of Québec Laws and Regulations (CQLR).

Annual legislation comprises statutes and regulations in their original version, that is, such as they were passed (in the case of statutes) or enacted (in the case of regulations).

Search language

The user must click “English” or “French” to indicate whether to conduct the search in English-language or French-language documents.

Note that certain regulations are published in French only when they are enacted, and therefore, the English-language document is cross-referenced with the French-language document.

In force only

The “In force only” option is selected by default so that searches are only conducted in legislation that is in force. Legislation that has been repealed or replaced is therefore excluded.

To search all legislation, past and present, the user must deselect the “In force only” option.

Search terms

This field is used to conduct keyword searches in all the components of legislative documents, including titles.

Title

This field is used to conduct keyword searches only in the titles of legislative documents.

Keyword searches

Enter the keyword(s) in the “Search terms” or “Title” search bar(s).

Type of search

Click on the drop-down menu on the right-hand side of the search bar to select the desired search option. Four are available:

• All words
  • This option will identify legislative documents that contain all of the specified keywords. It is the equivalent of using the Boolean search operator “AND”.
• Any word
  • This option will identify legislative documents that contain one or more of the specified keywords. It is the equivalent of using the Boolean search operator “OR”.
• Boolean
  • This option allows users to enter keywords with Boolean search operators and wildcard characters.
• Exact phrase
  • This option will identify legislative documents that contain all of the specified keywords in the same order. It is the equivalent of using quotation marks (“ ”) in a Boolean search.

After selecting all of the desired options, click on the “Search” button at the bottom of the form to execute the search.

This option is selected by default to include variations in the gender (applicable to French-language texts) and in the number of the word(s) entered in the search bar.

The masculine or feminine equivalent of a given word–such as “infirmier” and “infirmière”–will therefore be considered a relevant result by the search engine. The singular or plural equivalent of a given word–such as “animal” and “animals”–will also be considered a relevant result.

To limit searches strictly to the keywords entered in the search bar, simply deactivate this option.

Searches can be limited to one or several specific legislative documents by indicating their alphanumeric designation in the corresponding field. Multiple alphanumeric entries must be separated by a semicolon followed by a space.

This option is only available when conducting searches in consolidated statutes and regulations.

Users can apply this criterion to specify the effective date of the legislative documents they wish to include in the search (“point in time” search).

In the case of statutes, it is possible to go back as far as April 1, 1999, with certain exceptions:

Civil Code and its Implementation Act (CCQ 1991, CCQ 1992): January 1, 1994
Taxation Act (I-3) : March 1, 2006

In the case of regulations, it is possible to go back as far as September 1, 2012.

This option is only available when conducting searches in annual statutes and regulations.

Using the drop-down menu, users can specify the year(s) of assent or enactment of the legislative documents in which to conduct the search.

This option is only available when conducting searches in consolidated statutes and regulations. The “No limit” option is selected by default.

It allows users to limit the search to one or several components of legislative documents, which can be selected in the drop-down menu.

Definitions

Particular type of component found at the beginning of a legislative document that presents the definitions to be used to interpret its content.

End notes

Component added by the ministère de la Justice, Service de refonte des lois et règlements. They are found especially in regulations, at the very end of the document, and generally pertain to transitional provisions.

Headings

Includes all headings found in a comprehensive table of contents that are used to structure a legislative document (chapters, divisions, etc.). Note that the title of a document is a separate component.

Main heading

An extended component of the document title that comprises all text from the title to the first heading, article or section inclusively, depending on how the document is structured.

In addition to the title itself, other elements that will be included in the search are the contents of notes, notices of indexation, the title of the enabling statute (in the case of regulations), etc.

Preamble

Uncommon component that is found after the main heading and before the first heading, article or section, depending on how the document is structured. It generally contains a series of paragraphs that begin with “Whereas” or “As”.

The OR search operator makes it possible to identify components that contain one, the other or all of the terms that it links together.

Example: A search for “contract OR agreement” will identify the components that contain the term “contract”, those that contain the term “agreement” and those that contain both “contract” and “agreement”.

The AND search operator makes it possible to identify components that contain each of the terms that it links together.

Example: A search for “contract AND maintenance” will only identify the components that contain both “contract” and “maintenance”.

The NOT search operator makes it possible to identify components that contain the term immediately before the search operator but not the term that follows.

Example: A search for “filtration NOT plant” will only identify the components that contain the term “filtration” when it is not followed by the term “plant”. Components containing the term “filtration plant” will therefore be excluded.

The proximity search operator, which is a percentage sign (%), makes it possible to identify components that contain the two desired terms in any order as long as they appear next to each other in the same sentence.

Example: A search for “web % site” will identify the components that contain the words “web site” and those that contain the words “site web”.

A notion of distance can also be added between the two desired terms. The addition of a number after the % search operator makes it possible to identify components that contain the two desired terms in any order when they appear in the same sentence within the maximum interval of words indicated by the number.

Example: A search for “fresh %5 water” will identify the components that contain the terms “fresh” and “water” in any order and that are within a maximum distance of five words of each other.

The truncation search operator, which is an exclamation mark (!), makes it possible to identify components that contain the two desired terms when they appear side by side in the same order and sentence.

Example: A search for “civil ! union” will only identify the components that contain the term “civil union”. Components containing only the word “civil” or only the word “union” will not be included in the results.

Note: This type of search generates the same results as one conducted using quotation marks (see below).

A notion of distance can also be added between the two desired terms. The addition of a number after the ! search operator makes it possible to identify components that contain the two desired terms in the specified order when they appear in the same sentence within the maximum interval of words indicated by the number.

Example: A search for “fresh !5 water” will identify the components in which the term “water” is found after the term “fresh” within a maximum distance of five words of each other.

The PAR search operator makes it possible to identify components that contain the desired terms in the same paragraph and in any order.

Example: A search for “mountain PAR lake” will identify the components in which the terms “lake” and “mountain” appear in the same paragraph. If the two terms appear in different paragraphs within the same component, that component will not be included in the search results.

Note: If the two words appear in a component that does not contain any paragraphs, that component will be included in the search results.

The PHR search operator makes it possible to identify components that contain the desired terms in the same sentence and in any order.

Example: A search for “fresh PHR water” will identify the components in which the terms “water” and “fresh” appear in the same sentence. If the two terms appear in different sentences within the same component, that component will not be included in the search results.

Quotation marks (“ ”) make it possible to identify components that contain the desired expression exactly as it is entered in the search bar.

Example: A search for “health and social services” will identify the components that contain this exact expression. Components containing only one or two words or just a portion of the expression will not be included in the search results.

Parentheses “( )” can be used to combine and prioritize multiple search operators.

Parentheses must be used to bypass the AND search operator, which, by its very nature, is always prioritized in a search.

Example: In a search for “contract” OR “agreement” AND “green spaces”, the components that contain both “agreement” and “green spaces” will be included in the search results, along with those that contain “contract”. However, components that contain “contract” and “green spaces” will be excluded from the search results.

Moreover, the search results will be the same if parentheses are placed on each side of the terms linked by AND, i.e. “contract OR (agreement AND green spaces)”, given that the AND search operator is always prioritized.

However, when parentheses are placed on each side of the terms linked by the OR search operator, it is now OR that will be prioritized in the search, which will have a significant impact on the results.

Therefore, a search for “(contract OR agreement) AND “green spaces” will identify the components that contain “contract” and “green spaces” as well as components that contain “agreement” and “green spaces”.

The question mark glyph, “?”, can only be used to replace a single character either at the beginning, middle or end of a word. Note that more than one question mark can be inserted in the same word, which is particularly useful if the user is unsure of the exact spelling.

Example: A search for “ste?l” will identify the components that contain the word “steel” and “steal”.

Note: The question mark replaces an existing character. It cannot be used to search for both the singular and plural form of a given word. Hence, a search for “grant?” will only identify those components that contain the word “grants” in the plural.

The asterisk glyph, “*”, can be used to replace several characters at a time either at the beginning, middle or end of a word. It will replace anywhere from zero to multiple characters in a given word.

Example: A search for “minist*” will identify the components that contain the words “minister”, “ministerial”, “ministry”, “ministrative”, and so on.

Note: More than one asterisk can be used to search for both the singular and plural form of a given word as well as terms that share the same root. Hence, a search for “*constit*” will identify components that contain the words “constitution” and “constitutions” as well as those that contain the words “anticonstitutional”, “constitutional”, “reconstituted”, and so on.

The LégisQuébec search engine does not take into account capital letters or diacritic marks, i.e. accents, cedillas, etc.

For example, a search for “Ville” will identify all instances of the words “Ville”, “ville” and “VILLE” in the search results.

Therefore, a search for the word “résumé” will also identify all instances of the word “resume” in the search results.

Each document in the LégisQuébec database is saved in the form of small, individual units. Among these units, there is one called a component, which, as discussed earlier, can refer to the title of a document, its headings, sections, schedules, and so on.

When a search is conducted, each component is scanned for the desired terms according to the criteria, operators, etc. specified in the query.

Accordingly, a search using the AND search operator will only generate results if the terms linked by the operator are found in the same component. If the terms are in the same document but in different component, the search engine will not identify any of those component as a relevant result.

By default, search results are displayed according to the statute or regulation in which they are found. Users can click on “Statutes” or “Regulations” to prioritize one body of legislation over the other.

The search results are presented in list form in three columns. The first column contains a sequential number that runs from 1 to the total number of statutes or regulations in which matches are found, the second column indicates the alphanumeric designation of the legislative document containing the match and the third column displays the full title of the legislative document.

At the end of each title, a number appears in parentheses to indicate the number of components (headings, sections, schedules, etc.) in the document that contain at least one instance of the desired term.

The results in the “Alphanumeric” and “Title” columns can be displayed in ascending order or in descending order by clicking on these column captions.

To display search results according to the context in which they are found, click on “Context” in the rectangular box summarizing the results. Excerpts containing the desired term will be displayed below the title of each document identified in the search. The term in question will be highlighted, and preceded and followed by a few words.

Users can then assess the pertinence of the search results without having to open each document one by one.

Moreover, an icon will be located on the right of the title of each document. Users can click on this icon to display a new page that presents a summary of the search criteria, the title of the document and each of the components in which the desired term appears. The page is designed this way to facilitate printing results, which is why there is a “Print” button at the top left-hand corner of the page.

The icon also appears at the top right-hand corner of the main content column accompanied by the mention “Show all results in context”.

Clicking on this icon generates the same information as the other icon, except it will be applied to all of the search results. It is a fast and efficient way to preserve your search results.

When the “Search results” page is displayed, the content of the vertical navigation bar is slightly different.

It will still contain the following elements:

• Quick search bar
• Hyperlink to the basic search menu
• Hyperlink to the advanced search menu

A portion of the vertical navigation bar, however, is masked, and some of the previously available options and information are not immediately accessible. Simply click on the “Display menu” button to show all options and information.

The parameters and criteria specified for the most recent search will be displayed in the vertical navigation bar. It is not presented in exactly the same order as when the search menu is displayed in the main content column, but can serve as cues or to conduct another similar search (basic or advanced).

Lastly, the “Results per page” option at the bottom of the vertical navigation bar makes it possible to specify the number of results displayed on each page. Users can choose from “10, 25, 50 or All”.

Note that in order to print all search results in a single operation, it is necessary to select “All”.

The following header is located below the navigation bar.

The date on which the legislative document was last updated is indicated on the right-hand side of the header. Given that the LégisQuébec database also contains former versions of legislative documents, it is important to pay particular attention to this information.

To consult text in either publication language, simply click on the number of the section in question. A new window will open and the corresponding text will be highlighted in light blue.

Note that only the language in the document itself will change. The interface of the LégisQuébec website will remain the same. To change the interface language, click on the language option at the top right-hand corner of the horizontal navigation bar.

Text that is shaded in grey indicates that it is not yet in force. The mention “Not in force” also generally precedes the text.

Because of the nature of certain textual elements that are found in legislative documents, such as complex tables, maps, images, etc., these elements cannot be displayed in the main content column. A hyperlink to a PDF document containing the element in question will therefore be included.

The mention “PDF document” will be indicated in blue where the element should appear. Simply click on the hyperlink to open the PDF file in a new window.

Note that such textual elements will not print automatically along with other text in the LégisQuébec interface. Users must therefore remember to print these documents separately.

The integral version of legislative documents can be consulted via the “PDF” button in the navigation bar. These files display all textual elements exactly as they should appear in the document.

When consulting former versions of sections, three buttons are available in the navigation bar:

	To return to the full document that contains the section in question.
	To display all versions of the section in question.
	To hide all versions of the section in question.

The available versions will be listed in reverse chronological order and preceded by the date it came into force.

The date that the legislation came into force is indicated in the bar just above each version. Click on the date to display or hide a given version.

In addition to the in force date, the “Show full text at this date” button is sometimes displayed. This button is available in cases where the in force date of consolidated statutes is on or after April 1, 1999, or if the in force date of consolidated regulations is on or after September 1, 2012.

This option makes it possible to consult the complete version of a legislative document that was into force prior to the current version.