Am I permitted to copy government documents?
Answer
Federal Government Documents: The Canadian federal government makes a clear statement allowing reproduction, in whole or in part, of any Government of Canada work without permission, as long as it is for personal or public non-commercial use. You must indicate the title of the work, credit the author organization, and acknowledge the government's copyright. The recent Supreme Court rulings also allow copying for educational purposes. This applies to all federal government documents, whether print or electronic. See Industry Canada's page on Copyright Permission.
Nova Scotia Provincial Government Documents: Nova Scotia does not have an overall statement regarding Crown copyright. However, similar to Canadian federal documents, the Supreme Court rulings allow copying for educational purposes. You must indicate the title of the work, credit the author organization, and acknowledge the government's copyright.
Other Provincial and Territorial Government Documents: In general, provinces allow legislative material to be copied for non-commercial use as long as you acknowledge the Crown copyright. Additionally, some provinces allow website material, including all documents, images, etc., to be reproduced without permission for non-commercial use, as long as you acknowledge the Crown copyright; while other provinces may require a permission request form. If you intend to alter the material you need to request permission. You can find the guidelines for copying on the copyright information page(s) for each province or territory.
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Northwest Territories
- Nunavut
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
- Saskatchewan
- Yukon
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