Bill S-6: Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 4

On February 24, 2026, the Government Representative in the Senate, Senator Pierre Moreau, introduced a bill with the intent to facilitate access to justice for all Canadians by continuing to harmonize federal laws in both civil law and common law legal traditions, in English and in French.

As part of the process known as harmonization, the bill ensures that each official language version of federal laws takes into account the private law of the provinces and territories, in particular the civil law of Québec.

This fourth bill in a series of harmonization bills amends 51 federal statutes that fall under the responsibility of nine federal Departments.

Parliament adopted the first three harmonization bills in 2001, 2004 and 2011.

More than 75% of the world’s economies belong to either a common law or a civil law tradition. Internationally, Canada is a leader in bijural and bilingual legislation.