Constitution Act of 1982

The Constitution Act, 1982 (Schedule B of the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Canada Act 1982) is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The act was introduced as part of Canada's process of patriating the constitution, introducing several amendments to the British North America Act, 1867, and changing the latter's name in Canada to the Constitution Act, 1867.

This process was necessary because after the Statute of Westminster, 1931, Canada decided to allow the British Parliament to temporarily retain the power to amend Canada's constitution, on request from the Parliament of Canada. In 1982, the Parliament of Canada requested that the Parliament of Great Britain remove that authority from the UK. The passing of the UK's Canada Act, 1982 in March 1982 confirmed the Patriation of the Constitution. This UK Act replaced the British North America Act, transferring to Canada the power of amending its own Constitution.

On April 17, 1982, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau signed Canada's Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982. The proclamation confirmed that Canada had formally assumed authority over its constitution, the final step to full sovereignty. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms forms the first thirty-five sections (counting Section 16.1 and not counting Section 35) of the Constitution Act, 1982.

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