Legal Encyclopedias
There are two main legal encyclopedias in law: the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) and Halsbury's Laws of Canada (Halsbury's). Both are available in print in the Law Library in the reference section on the first floor.
Electronically, CED is available in WestlawNext Canada, while Halsbury's is available in Quicklaw (campus-wide version) and Lexis Advance Quicklaw. Please note that only UNB Law students and faculty have access to Lexis Advance Quicklaw and WestlawNext Canada.
Canadian Encyclopedic Digest
In print, the CED has the following titles available:
- Vol. 35: Labour Law
- Vol. 36: Labour Law
Electronically, the CED has the following titles available:
- Labour Law – Federal
- Labour Law – Alberta
- Labour Law – British Columbia
- Labour Law – Manitoba
- Labour Law – Ontario
- Labour Law – Saskatchewan
Please make sure you check the currency of these titles in WestlawNext Canada, as some of the CED titles can be years out of date.
Halsbury's Laws of Canada
Both in print and electronically, there is a Labour (2016 Reissue) title available. The title code for the volumes is HLA.
Please check the currency of these titles. This resource provides information from each province in Canada, as well as federally.
There are other related titles available for both encyclopedias, such as employment and human rights.
Books
To search for books at UNB Libraries, use UNB WorldCat, the library's catalogue. UNB WorldCat contains records of materials held at the Harriet Irving, Science and Forestry, Engineering, and Law libraries, as well as the Hans W. Klohn Library at UNB-Saint John.
In UNB WorldCat, items shown as LAW-RESERVE may be requested at the Law Library's circulation desk on the first floor. Items shown as LAW-STACKS are on the Law Library's second floor, arranged by call number.
If you would like to browse the shelves, the call numbers below house labour law texts:
- HD 7300 – 8847
- KF 3301 – 3450
- K1702 – 1841 (international law)
The following looseleaf texts are in our reserve collection. Bring a book's call number to the circulation desk to check it out for three hours.
- Canadian Labour Arbitration, 4th ed / Donald JM Brown and David M Beatty. LAWRESERVE: KF 3424 .B7 2006. Note: This title is also available through LabourSource in WestlawNext Canada (law students only).
- Canadian Labour Law, 2nd ed / GW Adams. LAWRESERVE: KF 3319 .A74 1993. Note: This title is also available through LabourSource in WestlawNext Canada (law students only).
- Clarke's Canada Industrial Relations Board / Graham J Clarke. LAWRESERVE KF 3372 .A6 C52 1999.
- Evidence and Procedure in Canadian Labour Arbitration / Morley R Gorsky, SJ Usprich, and Gregory J Brandt. LAWRESERVE KF 3424 .G67 1991
- Judicial Review in Labour Law / Richard J Charney and Thomas EF Brady.LAWRESERVE KF 3372 .A6 C42 1997.
- Remedies in Labour, Employment and Human Rights Law / James T Casey. LAWRESERVE KF 3320 .ZA2 R46 1999b.
- Trade Union Law in Canada / Michael MacNeil, Michael Lynk, and Peter Engelmann. LAWRESERVE: KF 3390 .ZA2 M32 1994.
The following books are available in the stacks. Please use UNB WorldCat to find more materials.
- Annotated Canadian Labour Code. Most recent edition is available. LAWSTACKS: KF 3319 .S56 2015.
- Canadian Master Labour Guide. LAWSTACKS: KF 3319 .C36
- Collective Agreement Arbitration in Canada, 5th ed. / Ronald M Snyder. LAWSTACKS: KF 3424 .P34 2013.
- Labour & Employment Law: Cases Materials, and Commentary, 8th ed. LAWSTACKS: KF 3318 .L32 2011.
- Labour Law in Canada / Donald D Carter. LAWSTACKS: KF 3320 .ZA2 L32 2002.
Government departments and agencies publish a great deal of important law-related information. The Law Library's collection of printed government documents is located on the third floor. Use UNB WorldCat to search, or ask a library staff member for help.
The Harriet Irving Library also has government documents, which can be located through UNB WorldCat.
For government documents that are available online, try using UNB Libraries' Google Custom Search.
Journal Articles & Databases
If you already know the journal title, year, volume number and page number for an article, you may be able to access it electronically by searching for the journal's title in the UNB e-journals database. If we have the journal electronically or in print, it will be listed. You can also look up the journal title in UNB WorldCat.
Keep in mind that it can be best to start with an index rather than a full-text journal search. A few key indexes in law are listed below.
Key Resources
- Index to Canadian Legal Literature (available via WestlawNext Canada or Lexis Advance Quicklaw [UNB law students and faculty only])
- Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature
- Index to Legal Periodicals & Books Full Text
- Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective
- LegalTrac
- Quicklaw (campus-wide version, available to UNB/STU students and faculty)
- Lexis Advance Quicklaw (UNB Law faculty and students only)
- WestlawNext Canada (UNB Law faculty and students only)
- HeinOnline
There are other indexes available in print and electronically, as well as more full-text journal databases. See a librarian for assistance. For more resources, please visit the Law Library website.
Cases and Legislation
Key Resources
The following databases and websites provide access to federal and provincial cases and legislation.
- Quicklaw (campus-wide version, available to UNB/STU students and faculty)
- Lexis Advance Quicklaw (law students only)
- WestlawNext Canada (law students only)
- CanLII
- Supreme Court of Canada Cases
- Justice Laws: Current Legislation (Canada: Federal)
- New Brunswick Legislation (Attorney General)
- LabourSource (via WestlawNext Canada)
Statutes
The following statutes are related to labour law in Canada and New Brunswick.
Federal
Provincial
- Industrial Relations Act, RSNB 1973, c I-4
- Human Rights Act, RSNB 2011, c 171
- Public Service Labour Relations Act, RSNB 1973, c P-25
- Labour and Employment Board Act, RSNB 2011, c 182
Cases and Decisions
Along with searching the databases mentioned above, one can use other products to find case law:
- Canadian Abridgment Digests
A digest service that indexes cases by subject. This is an extremely useful resource. There are Labour and Employment Law volumes available in print (vols 62–75) and electronically in WestlawNext Canada (UNB Law students and faculty only).
- Canada Digest
A digest service similar to the Canadian Abridgment. Useful titles include Canada Labour Arbitration Digest and Canada Labour Digest. It is available electronically through Quicklaw (available to all UNB and STU students and faculty) and Lexis Advance Quicklaw (UNB Law students and faculty only).
- LexisNexis Labour Law Netletter
A monthly current awareness service that provides short summaries of significant new Canadian decisions on labour law that have been added to Quicklaw. It is available electronically through Quicklaw (available to all UNB and STU students and faculty) and Lexis Advance Quicklaw (UNB Law students and faculty only).
- Case Reporters
If you wish to browse the print reporters, we have some topical law reports dealing with labour law on the second floor. Note: much of this content is retrospective. For current cases/decisions, please use electronic databases.
For Canadian cases on labour law, try:- Labour Arbitration Cases (1948–2005), stack 254 (current holdings in LabourSource)
- Canadian Labour Law Cases (1944–1997), stack 253 (current holdings in Quicklaw and Advance Quicklaw)
- Canadian Labour Law Reporter (1970–2011), stack 253 (current holdings in Quicklaw and Advance Quicklaw)
- Canadian Labour Relations Board Reports (1974–2002), stack 254 (current holdings in WestlawNext Canada; UNB Law students and faculty only)
- Collective Bargaining in New Brunswick (1991–current), stack 254
Other labour reporters are available in stacks 252–256.
Websites & Blogs
Note: use Google search operators to focus your search, such as the site operator (site:) and the filetype operator (filetype:). For example, including site:gc.ca and filetype:pdf with your keywords will retrieve PDF documents from Government of Canada websites. This is a good way to find government reports, as they are usually in PDF format.
The following websites may be helpful for your research:
- Canada Industrial Relations Board
This tribunal makes decisions on complaints filed under the Canada Labour Code. Includes decisions of the board and the statutes it operates under.
- Canadian Labour Congress
The umbrella organization for organized labour in Canada. It brings together Canada's national and international unions. Includes links to various union councils and issues.
- Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
At the University of Toronto, this program specializes in all aspects of employment and labour relationships. The site contains articles, a link to the CIRHR library, and links to other useful resources.
- Lancaster House
A labour and employment law publisher with news and articles on labour and employment law from Canada, and some from overseas. While some information is only accessible with a subscription, some information is freely available.
- NATLEX
A database of national labour legislation from around the world.
- New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board
"The New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal responsible for adjudicating employment and labour matters" pursuant to several pieces of legislation.
- New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour
The New Brunswick department responsible for labour issues in the province.
- New Brunswick Human Rights Commission
"The Human Rights Commission forwards the principles of equality found in the New Brunswick Human Rights Act by promoting an understanding, acceptance and compliance with the Act."
- International Labour Organization
"The main aims of the ILO are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues."
There are many blogs maintained by lawyers and law firms, and you can find many of them at lawblogs.ca. The following are a few blogs that might be helpful for labour law research:
- Perry Work Report
Available from Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto. The last six months are only available for purchase, but issues from six months and earlier are free to all.
- Law of Work (formerly Doorey's Workplace Law Blog)
Created by a professor at York University, this blog deals with labour and employment law issues in Canada and around the world.
- Employment & Human Rights Law in Canada
About employment and human rights law, and technology in the workplace in Canada.
- First Reference
News and discussions on human resources, employment and labour law, accessibility standards, and payroll in Canada.
Citing Your Sources
Accurate, properly formatted footnotes, reading lists, and bibliographies are hallmarks of good academic research. Through citing, you acknowledge the source of any ideas you mention in your writing, document your research, and provide the information your readers need to track down your sources. Numerous citation styles exist.
The citation style used by lawyers and law students for Canadian legal materials is:
- The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 9th ed (KF245 .C28 2018 on LAW-RESERVE)
There is no online version of this guide at the present time; however, the University of British Columbia Law Library has put together a legal citations subject guide, which is available freely on the internet.
More Information More Information
- Catherine Cotter (Profile)
- Head Law Librarian
- UNB Fredericton
- cacotter@unb.ca
- 506-447-3265
- Nikki Tanner (Profile)
- Reference/Instruction Librarian
- UNB Fredericton
- Nikki.Tanner@unb.ca