Revised statutes and limited revision statutes of British Columbia
Last revised February 13, 2025

Statute revisions in BC are made under the Statutes Revision Act. Revisions allow for the consolidation of amendments, simplification of numbering and updating of style and language without making any substantive changes to the law. Under the Statutes Revision Act, revisions can be either general or limited.

General revisions of BC Statutes

The current general revision is RSBC 1996 and reflects the public acts of British Columbia as they stood on December 31, 1996. A general revision is a full revision of all public acts and any other acts considered advisable. To date, there have been 10 general revisions in BC, done in 1871, 1888, 1897, 1911, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1979 and 1996. 

Limited revisions

In 1992, the Statutes Revision Act was changed to allow a new process: limited revisions. A limited revision can be done on all or part of any one Act. Like a general revision, it consolidates amendments, simplifies numbering and updates language and style without changing the legal effect of the law. With the implementation of limited revisions of statutes, it is not as likely that there will be another full, general revision of all BC statutes.

Section 7(2) of the Statute Revision Act states that when a limited revision comes into force, the Acts or provisions it replaces are repealed to the extent that they are incorporated in the limited revision. A limited revision may also make minor amendments to other Acts.

Section 8(1) states that a revision does not operate as new law but has effect and must be interpreted as a consolidation of the law contained in the Acts and provisions replaced by the revision.

Revised statutes and legislative intent

When preparing any revision, certain changes to acts may be made without going through the usual legislative process.  Therefore, no bill is introduced into the legislature and there is no debate. Allowable changes are set out in section 2 of the Statute Revision Act.

Coming into force

Both general and limited revisions are brought into force by regulation.

Citing a limited revision statute

On March 14, 2013 section 43 of the Interpretation Act and sections 4-6 of the Statute Revision Act were amended to clarify how BC acts should be properly cited after a limited revision.
As per section 6(2) of the Statute Revision Act, a limited revision may be published as a Revised Statute of British Columbia for that year in the annual statute volume.

The following is a list of acts that have undergone limited revision since the date of the last 1996 general revision:

Public Acts:

 

Private Acts: 

  • Union of British Columbia Municipalities Act, RSBC 2006, c.1 (in force June 23, 2006; BC Regulation 191/2006) *Please note that between June 23, 2006 and March 13, 2013, this act was cited as SBC 2006, c. 18.
  • Vancouver Foundation Act, RSBC 2000, c.1 (in force October 1, 2000; BC Regulation 332/2000) *Please note that between October 1, 2000 and March 13, 2013, this act was cited as SBC 2000, c. 32.
  • Victoria Foundation Act, RSBC 2000, c.2 (in force October 1, 2000; BC Regulation 331/2000) *Please note that between October 1, 2000 and March 13, 2013, this act was cited as SBC 2000, c. 33.

Content reviewed February 13, 2025

 

References