Canadian Court Search Portals

Official court portals. Each returns different data - use the descriptions to find the right one.

CA
CanLII - Canadian Legal Information Institute
Official Free
Returns: published decisions from all Canadian courts and tribunals. Search by keyword, citation, or party name. Excludes case filings, motions, and scheduling. CanLII is the primary free source for Canadian case law. It covers federal and all provincial courts.
🌐 www.canlii.org
CA
Supreme Court of Canada
Official Free
Returns: decisions, leave applications, and case information for Canada's highest court. Only covers cases that reach the Supreme Court.
🌐 www.scc-csc.ca
CA
Federal Court of Canada
Official Free
Returns: decisions and case information for federal matters - immigration, intellectual property, admiralty, federal tax disputes.
🌐 www.fct-cf.gc.ca
CA
Tax Court of Canada
Official Free
Returns: decisions on income tax, GST/HST, employment insurance, and CPP disputes.
🌐 www.tcc-cci.gc.ca
CA
BC Court Services Online (CSO)
Official Free
Returns: civil case filings, court documents, hearing schedules for BC courts. Unique in Canada - no other province offers this level of online case access. Registration required.
🌐 justice.gov.bc.ca
CA
Parole Board of Canada - Decision Registry
Official Free
Returns: parole review decisions searchable by offender name.
🌐 www.canada.ca

What Each System Returns in Detail

CanLII: Published Decisions Only

CanLII is the Canadian equivalent of a case law database - not a case management portal. It returns published written decisions from every level of Canadian court, plus tribunal rulings. It does not return: individual case filings, motions, affidavits, hearing schedules, or case status. If a case was decided without a written judgment (common in lower courts), it won't appear on CanLII.

Provincial Courts: The Access Gap

In the U.S., county court clerk portals let you search every filing in any case. Canadian provincial courts generally do not offer this level of online access. British Columbia is the exception - Court Services Online allows searching civil case filings. For most other provinces, accessing case-level details requires visiting the courthouse registry office.

Quebec: Different Legal System

Quebec operates under civil law (based on the Civil Code of Quebec) rather than common law. Court structures and record access rules differ from other provinces. Quebec courts publish decisions through SOQUIJ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Use the databases listed on this page. Each Canada government office maintains its own records separately. There is no single database for all Canadian public records.

Start with the strategy box at the top of this page. It tells you which Canada databases to search and in what order. Don't guess which system to use - each record type has its own office and database.

Many Canada government databases are free. Some charge fees for certified copies or detailed searches. Every source on this page is verified and links directly to an official portal.

Only in British Columbia. Court Services Online provides civil case filing access - unique in Canada. For all other provinces, case-level details require a courthouse visit. Published decisions are on CanLII.

CanLII shows published written decisions. A U.S. county court search shows every filing - charges, motions, hearing schedules, dispositions. CanLII is a case law database, not a case management portal. For Canadian case-level details, you generally need to visit the courthouse.

No. Quebec operates under civil law, not common law. Court structures differ. Quebec publishes decisions through SOQUIJ rather than directly through CanLII (though many Quebec decisions also appear on CanLII).

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