OSCOLA (Canadian variant)
OSCOLA and Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation
Canadian law students use the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (the McGill Guide) - footnotes-based, with cases cited as Party v Party, year, citation, jurisdiction. OSCOLA is occasionally accepted in comparative or international law papers but is not the Canadian default.
Canadian law schools require the McGill Guide. Use OSCOLA only when explicitly permitted in an international-law context.
Footnote
1 R v Jordan, 2016 SCC 27 at para 5, [2016] 1 SCR 631.
Footnote (legislation)
2 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 7, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11.
Quick rules
- 1.Footnotes, not endnotes or in-text citations.
- 2.Cases cited as 'R v Jordan, 2016 SCC 27' - neutral citation preferred when available.
- 3.Statutes cited by full title, jurisdiction, year, chapter, and section.
- 4.Pinpoint references use 'at para X' or 'at p X'.
FAQ
McGill Guide or OSCOLA?
McGill Guide is the Canadian standard - OSCOLA is the UK equivalent and not interchangeable.