McGill Guide Citation Generator
Cite a Canadian case, statute or regulation in McGill Guide footnote form. Enter the neutral citation, CanLII citation or reporter, or the statute volume and chapter, and get the first footnote, the later supra footnote and ibid. It follows the 10th edition of the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation. Free, no sign-up.
Source details
The first-named party on each side, by last name, as the judgment is “indexed as”. R stands for the Crown. It is set in italics.
Year, court and number, exactly as the court gave it. If the case has one, it comes first.
Only for a decision the court did not give a neutral citation.
Square brackets when the year identifies the volume: [1986] 1 SCR 103. Round brackets and a comma when the volume number does: (1901), 8 BCR 225. With a neutral citation it becomes the parallel citation.
In brackets at the end. Leave it out when the reporter's name shows the court, as SCR does. A neutral citation already names the court.
A number, a span (46-48) or several (46, 49). Used for neutral and CanLII citations; we write at para or at paras.
Used for a printed reporter, and for a CanLII citation with no paragraph. Spans are kept as you type them.
After the pinpoint, with the office abbreviated: Abella J, McLachlin CJ, Binnie J, dissenting.
Added in square brackets, in italics, at the end of the first footnote and used in later ones. Left blank, later footnotes use the first-named party or the title.
Used in the later footnote, which reads supra note 1. Left blank, it reads note x for you to fill in.
Your McGill Guide citations
Enter the style of cause and a neutral citation, CanLII citation or reporter citation to see your footnotes.
How to Use the McGill Guide Citation Generator
- 1. Choose a case, a statute or a regulation.
- 2. Enter the details. For a case: the style of cause and the neutral citation, which comes first when the court gave one. For a statute: the title, the volume (RSC, SC, RSO, SO and so on), the year and the chapter. For a regulation: its title and its SOR, CRC or provincial number.
- 3. Add a pinpoint. A paragraph or a page for a case; a section for a statute. A judge's name and a short form are optional.
- 4. Copy the footnote. Italics survive the paste into Word or Google Docs. Give the first footnote's number to get the later supra footnote.
The McGill Guide, 10th Edition
The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation — the McGill Guide — is written by the editors of the McGill Law Journal and published by Thomson Reuters (Carswell). The 10th edition was released in June 2023, and the Guide is revised about every four years. The Guide itself is a paid book, so this generator is built from the university library guides that quote its rules chapter by chapter; where your professor or journal sets a stricter rule, theirs wins. Check any citation you submit against the Guide.
How the McGill Guide Cites a Case
The Guide gives a hierarchy. If the court assigned a neutral citation, you must use it: the style of cause in italics, then the year, the court and the number, as in 2012 ONCA 321. If there is none, use a CanLII citation, such as 1975 CanLII 148, with the court in brackets at the end. Only when there is neither do you cite a printed reporter or a database, with the year in square brackets when it identifies the volume, [1986] 1 SCR 103, and in round brackets and followed by a comma when the volume number does, (1901), 8 BCR 225.
A pinpoint follows the citation with the word at: at para 46 for a neutral or online citation, at 138 for a page of a printed report. A parallel citation, such as the SCR report, comes after the pinpoint. A judge, if you name one, follows the pinpoint after a comma, and a short form closes the citation in square brackets, with the name in italics. In the 10th edition a parallel citation is needed only for a case with no neutral citation and no paragraph numbers.
McGill Guide Citation Examples
Cases
R v Jordan, the Supreme Court's 2016 decision on trial delay, with its SCR report as a parallel citation and a short form, first cited in footnote 1:
McGill Guide — neutral citation with a parallel citation
Footnote (first citation):
R v Jordan, 2016 SCC 27 at para 46, [2016] 1 SCR 631 [Jordan].
Later footnote (supra):
Jordan, supra note 1 at para 46.
Next footnote, same source (ibid):
Ibid.
McGill Guide — neutral citation with a judge
Footnote (first citation):
Radonna Investments Ltd v Rubin, 2012 ONCA 321 at para 2, LaForme JA [Radonna].
Later footnote (supra):
Radonna, supra note 4 at para 2, LaForme JA.
McGill Guide — CanLII citation
Footnote (first citation):
Dickson v Royal Bank of Canada, 1975 CanLII 148 at 836 (SCC).
McGill Guide — printed reporter with a parallel citation
Footnote (first citation):
R v Oakes, [1986] 1 SCR 103 at 138-39, 26 DLR (4th) 200.
Later footnote (supra):
Oakes, supra note 2 at 138-39.
Statutes
A statute is cited by its title in italics, then the volume and year with no comma between them, the chapter, and the pinpoint with no at. The federal and Ontario statutes were last revised in 1985 and 1990, so a statute in force then is cited to RSC 1985 or RSO 1990; a later one is cited to the annual volume, SC or SO. Chapter numbers keep their letters and punctuation. Quebec and Manitoba use continuing consolidations, CQLR and CCSM, which carry no year.
McGill Guide — statutes
Revised statute, first citation:
Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 718.2(e) [Code].
Revised statute, later footnote:
Code, supra note 3, s 718.2(e).
Annual statute:
Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29, ss 5, 7-12.
Quebec:
Charter of human rights and freedoms, CQLR c C-12, s 10.
Regulations
Federal regulations are cited by their Statutory Orders and Regulations number: SOR, the year filed and a serial number. Until 1999 only the last two digits of the year were used; from 2000 all four. A regulation in the consolidated set is cited as CRC, its chapter, any pinpoint, and then the revision year, 1978. Ontario regulations use O Reg and the number with the last two digits of the year.
McGill Guide — regulations
Federal (SOR):
Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules, SOR/91-499.
Consolidated federal (CRC):
Migratory Birds Regulations, CRC, c 1035, s 9 (1978).
Ontario:
Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, O Reg 429/07, s 2.
Short Forms, Supra and Ibid
The first reference is always in full. Put the short form in square brackets at the end of it, with the name in italics. A later reference gives the short form, then supra and the number of the footnote that holds the full citation: Jordan, supra note 1. Supra points to the source as a whole, so repeat the pinpoint even if it has not changed. Ibid points to the immediately preceding reference with no footnote number, and an ibid with no pinpoint takes the previous footnote's. Use supra instead when the previous footnote cites several sources, or when you want the whole source after a pinpointed one.
Common Mistakes
- Citing a reporter when there is a neutral citation. The neutral citation comes first; the reporter becomes a parallel citation, if you give one.
- Using a CanLII citation for a judgment that has a neutral citation. CanLII is for decisions the court did not number.
- Writing at before a section. A statute is pinpointed with s or ss and no at: Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 718.2(e).
- A comma between the volume and the year. It is RSC 1985, not RSC, 1985.
- A year after CQLR or CCSM. Those consolidations carry none: CQLR c C-12.
- Italicising the square brackets of a short form. Only the name inside them is italic.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you cite a case in the McGill Guide?
- Give the style of cause in italics, a comma, the neutral citation, and a pinpoint with at para: R v Jordan, 2016 SCC 27 at para 46. Add a parallel citation after the pinpoint if you want one, [2016] 1 SCR 631. If there is no neutral citation, use a CanLII citation, and failing that a printed reporter.
- What is a neutral citation and when do you use it?
- A neutral citation is the identifier the court itself gives a judgment: the year, the court's abbreviation and a number, such as 2012 ONCA 321. Under the McGill Guide you must use it whenever the case has one, and its numbered paragraphs let you pinpoint with at para.
- Do you still need parallel citations in the 10th edition?
- Rarely. The library guides read the 10th edition as requiring a parallel citation only for a case that has no neutral citation and no paragraph numbers, for instance one found in CanLII without them. You may still add one, such as the SCR report, after the pinpoint; check your professor's preference.
- How do you cite a federal statute in McGill style?
- The title in italics, the volume and year, the chapter and the section: Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 718.2(e). A statute passed after the 1985 revision is cited to the annual volume instead: Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29, s 5. Drop the full stop after the c of the chapter.
- How do you cite a federal regulation?
- Use the title in italics and its SOR number: Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules, SOR/91-499. A regulation in the consolidated set takes CRC, the chapter, the pinpoint and then the revision year: Migratory Birds Regulations, CRC, c 1035, s 9 (1978). Ontario regulations are cited as O Reg and the number, such as O Reg 429/07.
- How do you use ibid and supra in the McGill Guide?
- Ibid refers to the source in the immediately preceding footnote, without a footnote number, and takes that footnote's pinpoint unless you give a new one. Supra, with the short form and the footnote number, refers to a source cited earlier, and you repeat the pinpoint. If the previous footnote has several references, use supra rather than ibid.
- Is the McGill Guide free?
- No. The 10th edition, released in June 2023, is sold by Thomson Reuters in print and is online on Westlaw Canada. The McGill Law Journal's editors write it. Many Canadian law school libraries publish free summaries, which is what this generator draws on.