Section 92(13) of the Constitution Act, 1867, also known as the property and civil rights power, grants the provincial legislatures of Canada the authority to legislate on:
It is one of three key residuary powers in the Constitution Act, 1867, together with the federal power of peace, order and good government and the provincial power over matters of a local or private nature in the province.
Extent
Provincial jurisdiction over property and civil rights embraces all private law transactions, which includes virtually all commercial transactions. Note that "civil rights" in this context does not refer to civil rights in the more modern sense of political liberties. Rather, it refers to private rights enforceable through civil courts. This power is generally balanced against the federal trade and commerce power and criminal law power. With respect to the former, In the Insurance Reference, Viscount Haldane noted that:
It is the most powerful and expansive of the provincial constitutional provisions, and is capable of being applied in general matters and in specific cases, as noted by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council:
The power has even been used to dissolve specific injunctions, such as one issued against the KVP Company in 1948 for discharging noxious effluent into the Spanish River., dissolving an injunction granted in (subsequently upheld in and
Property and civil rights include:
rights arising from contractCitizen's Insurance Co. v. Parsons certain powers to prevent crimeBedard v. Dawson powers to control transactions taking place wholly within the province, even if the products themselves are importedCaloil Inc. v Attorney General of Canada and, generally, regulation of trade and industry within the province,Ward v. Canada (Attorney General), at par. 42 including labour relations and the regulation of professions,Law Society of British Columbia v. Mangat trading in securities,Multiple Access Ltd. v. McCutcheon and manufacturing,Reference re Agricultural Products Marketing Act
By themselves, incidental effects of provincial regulations on a federal sphere of influence do not change their true nature.Attorney General of Quebec v. Kellogg's Co. of Canada Moreover, the fact that a valid provincial regulation may affect an export trade or the cost of doing business is similarly not conclusive of determining whether it is made "in relation to" that power.Carnation Co. v. Quebec Agricultural Marketing Board
If a provincial law affects rights of individuals outside the province:
if it is, in pith and substance, provincial, ancillary effects on the rights of individuals outside the province are irrelevant, but where it is, in pith and substance, legislation in relation to the rights of individuals outside the province, it will be ultra vires the provinceRe Upper Churchill Water Rights Reversion Act
Further reading
References