Revisions and Consolidations: There’s a Difference?

In our last post we explained how to manually craft point-in-time consolidations and highlighted one of the main tools we use: Revised Statutes.

Consolidated legislation can be crafted by the consolidator using the ‘cut and paste’ method  and it is also what you see on government web sites such as e-Laws and Justice Laws. A consolidation of a statute refers to the updating of a statute to discern what that statute or provision looked like at a point-in-time.

Now, what’s the difference between a consolidation and a revision? In this blog post we will highlight what statute revisions are by answering the questions below. But first!  A little history.

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Great Library Reopening

The Great Library will reopen on Monday, November 1. We’re looking forward to welcoming you back to the library space. While we’ve all had to navigate new challenges with virtual research and digital delivery, we know that many of you like to do your own research.

The library will re-open to the public and to Law Society licensees. For the most part, we’ll be returning to operations as they were before the pandemic. However, we have some pandemic-related changes to our operations:

  • You will only be able to access the Great Library by entering through the Law Society of Ontario entrance on the east side of Osgoode Hall. There will be no entry from the courthouse.
  • Visitors to the Great Library will need to check in and out and follow Law Society of Ontario requirements for vaccinations and contact tracing. This includes wearing a mask at all times in the Great Library.
  • We will only be able to accommodate 19 researchers at a time so be aware that, if we are at capacity, you may need to wait to enter. The designated seating will ensure social distancing.
  • Our conference rooms will not be available for use.

We are also making some permanent service changes. These include:

  • the library will no longer have evening and weekend hours. We will be open Monday to Friday, 9 to 5pm. Please plan your visit accordingly as we will ask all researchers to leave the library at 5pm.
  • please bring a debit or credit card if you will need to purchase photocopies. We will no longer be accepting cash.

I appreciate everyone’s patience over the past 18+ months. I know some of you have been champing at the bit to have access to our extensive print collection and to do your research directly. We’re looking forward to continuing to support you.

House of Bills: An Update of Ontario Bills


Last week, the Ontario legislature convened after the Progressive Conservatives prorogued the 1st Session of the 42nd Parliament on September 3, 2021. The Legislature’s return after prorogation marks the commencement of a new Session of Parliament.1 The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario delivered the Speech from the Throne to open the 2nd Session of the 42nd Parliament of Ontario on October 4th, 2021.

This also marks the return of our weekly House of Bills updates, in which we report on the activity of public bills as they move through the Legislature. We identify those bills that were active, the date(s) of the activity, as well as the stage(s) that the bills reached. Each update will report on the previous sitting week’s activity and will occur on the Monday proceeding (or the Tuesday, depending on holiday hours😉).

And with that, here is our first update of the new session, covering activity from sitting week of October 4-7:

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