British North America Acts


The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom dealing with the government of Canada, which was known as "British North America" until 1867. The first and most important Act of the series, the British North America Act 1867 (now the Constitution Act, 1867), was passed in 1867, and created the self-governing dominion of Canada. Canada and the other British dominions achieved full legislative sovereignty with the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, but prior to the Canada Act 1982 the British North America Acts were excluded from the operation of the Statute of Westminster and could only be amended by the British Parliament. This long delay was in large part due to the inability to create a constitutional amendment procedure which was acceptable to all of the provinces, particularly Quebec.