Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.6 North America: Coordinated by Geneviève Saumier, 67 Canada: Canadian Perspectives on the Hague Principles

Abstract

This chapter examines Canadian perspectives on the Hague Principles. Canada is a federal state, with legislative competence over constitutionally designated fields divided between the federal and provincial level. Although private international law is not a listed field of competence, all three areas of private international law—jurisdiction, choice of law, and enforcement of foreign judgments—fall within the provincial competences over civil procedure or private law. The general provincial competence over choice of law means that each of the ten Canadian provinces could, theoretically, develop distinct regimes. In reality, however, the division is apparent only between Quebec and the other nine provinces. Indeed, Quebec is the only province within Canada to have a comprehensive codification of its private international law, which was adopted as part of the new Civil Code of Quebec in 1991. There is, therefore, a sharp contrast regarding the level of detail associated with the applicable regime in Quebec versus the rest of the country. Despite this, it remains accurate to say that, throughout Canada, the rules governing choice of law in contract, in particular party autonomy, are largely congruent with the Hague Principles.