Canada Act
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| Long title | An Act to give effect to a request by the Senate and House of Commons of Canada. |
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| Citation | 1982 c. 11 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | March 29, 1982 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Canada Act 1982 (1982 c. 11) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed at the request of the Canadian federal government to "patriate" Canada's constitution, ending the necessity for the British parliament to be involved to make changes to the Constitution of Canada. The Act also formally ended the "request and consent" provisions of the Statute of Westminster 1931 in relation to Canada, whereby the British parliament had a general power to pass laws extending to Canada at its own request.
Annexed as Schedule B to the Act is the text of the Constitution Act, 1982, in both of Canada's official languages (i.e. English and French). Because of the requirements of official bilingualism, the body of the Canada Act itself is also set out in French in Schedule A to the Act, which is declared by s. 3 to have "the same authority in Canada as the English version thereof".
Canada's political history began with the British North America Act, 1867 (currently officially called the Constitution Act, 1867). This act created the modern state of Canada by combining the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a dominion within the British Empire. From this Canada adopted a Westminster style government with a Parliament of Canada. A Governor General fulfilled the constitutional duties of the British Sovereign on Canadian soil.
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