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🧠 3-Month Self-Paced Study Plan: Learn the Canadian Legal System (30 min/day)
📅 Time Commitment: 30 minutes per day
🧑🎓 Goal: Understand the structure, principles, and real-world functioning of Canadian law
🧰 Resources Used:
- Justice Canada
- CanLII
- Coursera: Indigenous Canada
- TheCourt.ca
- Slaw.ca
- YouTube - Supreme Court of Canada Hearings
- Recommended books (see end)
📘 Month 1: Foundations of Canadian Law
Week 1: Introduction to Law & Legal Systems
Objective: Understand the purpose of law, legal traditions, and Canada's government structure.
- Day 1: Watch Introduction to the
Canadian Legal System – YouTube Lecture
- Day 2: Read Canada's System
of Justice – Justice.gc.ca
- Day 3: Read Canadian
Legal Systems – The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Day 4: Explore Structure
of Government – Canada.ca
- Day 5: Draw Canada’s court hierarchy (use Courts of
Canada for reference)
- Day 6: Skim the Constitution
Act, 1867 & 1982
- Day 7: Write a bullet summary of the week’s key takeaways
Week 2: Sources of Law & Court Structure
Objective: Learn how laws are created, interpreted, and enforced.
- Day 1: Read The Role of the
Courts – Justice Canada
- Day 2: Read Parliament’s
Law-Making Process
- Day 3: Learn about Statutes vs. Case
Law – CanLII Primer
- Day 4: Watch a case hearing: Supreme Court
of Canada YouTube Channel
- Day 5: Read about Stare
Decisis and Precedent – Slaw.ca
- Day 6: Read the Criminal Code
Preamble & s. 1–5
- Day 7: Write a simple explanation of how laws and precedent work in Canada
Week 3: The Constitution and Charter
Objective: Dive into the Constitution Act and Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- Day 1: Read Charter
of Rights – Justice Canada Overview
- Day 2: Read Charter
full text (focus: ss. 1, 2, 7, 15, 24)
- Day 3: Read Plain Language Guide to the
Charter – CCLA
- Day 4: Read a summary of R. v. Oakes: TheCourt.ca
Commentary
- Day 5: Read summaries of Multani v. Commission
scolaire and R. v. Big M Drug Mart (CanLII or
TheCourt.ca)
- Day 6: Reflect: Which Charter right resonates most
with you and why?
- Day 7: Review key terms: reasonable limits, fundamental freedoms, equality rights
Week 4: Legal Research Tools & Case Practice
Objective: Learn to navigate CanLII and analyze cases yourself.
- Day 1: Watch CanLII Navigation
Tutorial (YouTube)
- Day 2: Read a simple statute: Canadian Human
Rights Act, s. 2–7
- Day 3: Search for a small claims case in your
province on CanLII
- Day 4: Try reading a Supreme Court ruling in full
(e.g., R. v. Jordan)
- Day 5: Use the IRAC method to summarize that
case
- Day 6: Read Legal Research
Guide – Queen’s Law Library
- Day 7: Reflect on the difficulty/ease of finding and reading real legal texts
📗 Month 2: Areas of Canadian Law
Week 5: Criminal Law
- Day 1: Read Intro to Criminal Law –
Justice Canada
- Day 2: Read Criminal
Offences Explained – CLEO
- Day 3: Read R. v. Jordan summary on TheCourt.ca
- Day 4: Read Sentencing Basics –
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime
- Day 5–6: Watch real or mock Canadian criminal trial
(YouTube)
- Day 7: Write down key elements of a crime: actus reus + mens rea
Week 6: Civil & Tort Law
- Day 1: Read Civil
Law Overview – Canadian Encyclopedia
- Day 2: Read about torts (negligence, defamation,
etc.): CLEO – Civil
Law
- Day 3: Read a summary of Donoghue v.
Stevenson
- Day 4: Read a small claims case on CanLII in your
province
- Day 5: Identify the issue, law, and
resolution
- Day 6: Think of a real-life example of a tort
(e.g., slip and fall)
- Day 7: Summarize key differences between civil and criminal law
Week 7: Administrative & Human Rights Law
- Day 1: Read Intro
to Administrative Law – Canadian Encyclopedia
- Day 2: Read about Tribunals in Ontario (or your
province)
- Day 3: Read Baker v. Canada case summary
on CanLII
- Day 4: Watch a tribunal hearing (if available
online)
- Day 5: Research one Human Rights Tribunal decision
and summarize outcome
- Day 6–7: Read Ontario Human Rights Code ss. 1–7
Week 8: Indigenous Legal Traditions
- Day 1: Enroll in Indigenous
Canada (U of Alberta, free)
- Day 2: Read Section 35
– Constitution Act
- Day 3: Read summary of Delgamuukw v. British
Columbia
- Day 4–5: Read UVic
Indigenous Law Research Unit Overview
- Day 6: Watch or read about Indigenous justice
initiatives (e.g., Gladue courts)
- Day 7: Reflect on what’s unique or challenging about integrating Indigenous law
📕 Month 3: Legal Thinking & Real-World Context
Week 9: Legal Reasoning & IRAC Practice
- Day 1: Read IRAC
Explained – LawTeacher.net
- Day 2: Practice IRAC: Pick any CanLII case and
summarize
- Day 3–4: Try writing a 1-paragraph legal opinion on
a hypothetical dispute
- Day 5–6: Read case commentary on TheCourt.ca
- Day 7: Compare your case analysis to one written by a law student
Week 10: Legal News & Public Impact
- Day 1: Visit Slaw.ca and read 1–2 current posts
- Day 2: Browse The Lawyer’s Daily – read
about a current case
- Day 3–4: Pick a legal issue in the news and write
your own 3-point analysis
- Day 5: Read a public interest ruling from the
Supreme Court on CanLII
- Day 6–7: Reflect: How do courts influence politics, society, or human rights?
Week 11: Rights in Action
- Day 1: Read about a recent Charter challenge
case
- Day 2: Watch oral arguments at the Supreme Court on
YouTube
- Day 3: Review how s. 1 (“reasonable limits”) was
applied in that case
- Day 4–5: Research commentary or analysis of the
same case
- Day 6: Write your own view – was the right properly
upheld or limited?
- Day 7: Compare to another country’s human rights approach (optional deep dive)
Week 12: Review & Future Focus
- Day 1–2: Review your notes and summaries from all
weeks
- Day 3: Create a concept map or mind map of what
you’ve learned
- Day 4: Choose an area of law to explore further
(e.g., environmental, immigration, family law)
- Day 5–6: Look up 1–2 beginner books or podcasts for
that area
- Day 7: Set a new weekly learning schedule (1–2 sessions/week ongoing)
📚 Recommended Supplementary Books
- Introduction to the Canadian Legal System – Nancy McCormack et al.
- Canadian Law: An Introduction – Neil Boyd
- The Law is (Not) for Kids – Ned Lecic & Marvin Zuker
- The Canadian Legal System – Gerald Gall (classic)