Royal Assent is usually performed via a ceremonial act (a nod of the head) and does not involve a written document, signatures, or any kind of official seal.
The date of Royal Assent is written at the top of every new Statute when it is published for the first time. An Act is granted Royal Assent after it has passed all three readings by the Legislative Assembly in BC, or all three readings in both the House of Commons and the Senate in Parliament - so there is a short window after a Bill has passed the legislature to become an Act, but is not yet law, until it is granted Royal Assent.
In BC, Royal Assent occurs when the Lieutenant Governor (or representative in certain circumstances), sits in the Speaker’s Chair and nods when the Law Clerk reads out loud the names of the Acts that have passed Third Reading. It is at that moment that the Act becomes law or a "Statute." The version of the Bill that passed the Third Reading is the version that is published in the annual statute volumes, along with the date that it was granted Royal Assent at the top.
In Parliament, when a Federal Act is being passed, the process is the same except approval is granted by the Governor General or another designated representative of the Crown in the Senate chamber. It is also possible for Royal Assent to be granted using the traditional Royal Assent ceremony or via written declaration procedure.
Optional written declaration procedure (Federal only)
The Royal Assent Act S.C. 2002, c. 15, allows for Royal Assent to be signified in Parliament by written declaration rather than ceremonially (which was not an option prior to the passing of this Act), but does not require it. The Act also specifies that the written declaration in this case, should it exist, is not a statutory instrument.
The written declaration procedure is when the Clerk of the Senate (whose title is the Clerk of the Parliaments) presents the bills to be granted Royal Assent to the Governor General along with a letter indicating they have been passed by both houses and require Royal Assent. This written declaration is signed, and then letters are sent immediately to the Speakers of both Houses by the Clerk of the Senate. The letters are then customarily read out in the Senate and then in the House.
When this optional procedure is used, the official date of Royal Assent is the day on which the two Houses of Parliament are notified of the declaration - not the day on which the declaration is signed. That document is not a statutory instrument and not publicly available. We do not have a record of which Federal Acts are granted Royal Assent via written declaration procedure vs the traditional Royal Assent ceremony, and they effectively serve the same function.
Force of law
When Royal Assent is granted through this formal ceremony, an Act becomes law, but that does not mean it is in force yet. If the Act has a "Commencement" section (for BC Acts) or a "Coming Into Force" section (for Federal Acts), it may specify that certain sections (or the whole Act) is set to come into force on a date that will be later set by regulation or some other condition. If there is no such section, then the Act is taken to have come into force on the date of Royal Assent.
The date at the top of the published Statute is the official date of Royal Assent, and ultimately signatures or written documentation of Royal Assent cannot be found as it does not exist.
Content reviewed January 24, 2024
- Procedural Info Legislative Process - Parliament of Canada website
- Royal Assent Act - Justice Laws website