Section 54 of the Constitution Act, 1867 () is a provision of the Constitution of Canada relating to taxation and appropriation legislation in the Parliament of Canada. It provides that the House of Commons shall not consider a bill relating to taxes or appropriation unless it is accompanied by a recommendation from the governor general (in effect, the federal Cabinet) that the House of Commons consider the bill.

The recommendation for money bills is one of the ways in which responsible government is implemented, ensuring that the federal finances are controlled jointly by both the executive and legislative branches. Although the recommendation is made by the governor general, it is often referred to as the "royal recommendation". The requirement for the royal recommendation for money bills also applies to the provincial legislatures by means of section 90 of the act.

The Constitution Act, 1867 is the constitutional statute that established Canada. Originally named the British North America Act, 1867, the act continues to be the foundational statute for the Constitution of Canada, although it has been amended many times since 1867. It is now recognised as part of the supreme law of Canada.

Constitution Act, 1867

The Constitution Act, 1867 is part of the Constitution of Canada and thus part of the supreme law of Canada.Peter Hogg and Wade Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, 5th ed. (Thomson Reuters (looseleaf; current to 2024), para. 1:4.Constitution Act, 1982, s. 52, s. 53, and Schedule, item 1. It was the product of extensive negotiations by the governments of the British North American provinces at three separate conferences in the 1860s.Donald G. Creighton, The Road to Confederation (Macmillan Publishing, 1964; revised ed., Oxford University Press, 2012.) onlineChristopher Moore, 1867 — How the Fathers Made a Deal (McClelland & Stewart, 1997). Following those conferences, there were consultations with the British government in 1867.Ben Gilding, "The Silent Framers of British North American Union: The Colonial Office and Canadian Confederation, 1851–67", (2018) 99:3 Canadian Historical Review. The act sets out the basic constitutional structure of Canada, creating the federal government and defining the powers of the federal government and the provinces. It was enacted in 1867 by the British Parliament under the name of the British North America Act, 1867.Hogg and Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, para. 1:2.British North America Act, 1867, 30 & 31 Victoria, c. 3 (UK).

The act did not include any power for it to be amended in Canada, so amendments had to be made by the British Parliament at the request of the Canadian Parliament. That remained the case until Patriation of the Constitution in 1982, when the act was brought under full Canadian control and was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867. Since 1982, the act can only be amended in Canada under the amending formula set out in the Constitution Act, 1982.Hogg and Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, para. 4:1.Constitution Act, 1982, Part V.Canada Act 1982 (UK) 1982, c. 11, s. 2.

Text of section 54

Section 54 reads:

The provision is found in Part IV of the Constitution Act, 1867, dealing with the federal legislative power. It has not been amended since the act was enacted in 1867.

Legislative history

Section 54 has its origins in a standing order of the British House of Commons, passed in 1713, which provided that the House of Commons would not consider tax bills or spending bills without a Crown recommendation that the bill be considered:

The requirement for the royal recommendation continues to be set out in the Standing Orders of the British House of Commons.United Kingdom, House of Commons, Standing Orders of the House of Commons - Public Business 2019, r. 48.

In 1840, the British Parliament passed the Union Act, 1840, which merged the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada. The Union Act contained the following requirement:

When Confederation was being debated, delegates included a requirement for tax and spending bills to have a recommendation from the governor general in both the Quebec Resolutions of 1864Quebec Resolutions, resolution 49, in G.P. Browne and Janet Ajzenstat (eds.), Documents on the Confederation of British North America (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009; reprint of the 1969 edition), document 34, p. 162. and the London Resolutions of 1866.London Resolutions, resolution 48, in Browne and Ajzenstat, Documents, document 74, p. 225. The provision was set out in the rough draft of the British North America bill prepared by a sub-committee of the London Conference, composed of the four provincial attorneys general."Rough Draft of Conference, clause 49, in Joseph Pope, Confederation: Being a Series of Hitherto Unpublished Documents Bearing on the British North America Act (Carswell, 1895), p. 135."Rough Draft of the British North America Bill" (undated), clause 49, in Browne and Ajzenstat, Documents, document 78, p. 242.Creighton, Road to Confederation, p. 418. It was included in all of the drafts of the bill leading up to the passage of the Constitution Act, 1867."Final Draft of Bill for Union of B.N.A. Colonies, clause 55, in Pope, Confederation, p. 224."Final Draft of the British North America Act" (February 9, 1867), clause 55, in Browne and Ajzenstat, Documents, document 86, p. 314.

The standing orders of the House of Commons and the Senate include provisions which recognise and implement the requirement set out in section 54. Standing order 79 of the House of Commons repeats the wording of section 54.Canada, House of Commons Standing Orders of the House of Commons (consolidated version as of June 5, 2025), order 79. Rule 10-7 of the Senate is more condensed: "The Senate shall not proceed with a bill appropriating public money unless the appropriation has been recommended by the Governor General."Canada, Senate, Rules of the Senate (last updated September 2024), rule 10-7.

Purpose and interpretation Historical British origins

This provision is based historically on British constitutional principles relating to public finances. After the English Civil War and the passage of the Bill of Rights, it was firmly established that legislation enacted by Parliament was needed for all taxes and all appropriations of public funds. The English House of Commons took the lead on this point, and gradually acquired primary control over public finances. Bills to impose taxes or appropriate public funds from the treasury, commonly called "money bills", had to originate in the House of Commons, and the monarch could not personally impose taxes or appropriate funds.Marc Bosc and André Gagnon (eds.) House of Commons Procedure and Practice, 3rd ed. (Canadian House of Commons, 2017), Chapter 18: Financial Procedures.Joan Small, "Money Bills and the Use of the Royal Recommendation in Canada: Practice versus Principle?" (1999) 27:1 Ottawa Law Review / Revue de droit d'Ottawa.W.H. McConnell, Commentary on the British North America Act (MacMillan Co. of Canada, 1977), pp. 131–132.

However, if every member of the House of Commons had an equal opportunity to introduce money bills, there would not be firm budgetary controls. In order to address this issue, the House of Commons passed a rule in 1713 stating that the House would not consider any money bill unless it came with a monarch's recommendation that the bill was essential for the public finances. The effect of the rule was to give joint control over money bills to the executive and legislative branches. This procedural rule is continued today as part of the Standing Orders of the British House of Commons. The leading authority on British parliamentary practice, Erskine May, describes the principle that public funds are not to be spent except on the initiative of the Crown as "a principle of the highest constitutional importance".Sir David Natzler KCB et al. (eds.) Erskine May’s Treatise on The Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament (25th ed.) (Parliament of the United Kingdom, 2019), para. 33.13.

British North America

Control over the public finances became a major point of contention in the British North American colonies in the 19th century, particularly in Lower Canada and Upper Canada. Disputes between the elected legislative assemblies and the governors, appointed by the British government, became a routine aspect of public life.Fernand Ouellette, Lower Canada 1791–1840: Social Change and Nationalism (McClelland and Stewart, 1980), pp. 197–200, 213, 253–255.Gerald M. Craig, Upper Canada: The Formative Years, 1784–1841 (McClelland and Stewart, 1963), pp. 191, 211–212.Donald G. Creighton, "The Struggle for Financial Control in Lower Canada, 1818-1831" (1931) 12:2 Canadian Historical Review.

Following the Rebellions of 1837–1838 in Lower Canada and Upper Canada, Lord Durham in his Report on British North America recommended that the principle of a Crown recommendation be adopted in the proposed union of Lower Canada and Upper Canada, the same as in the British Parliament: money bills were to be approved by the elected Assemblies, but only on recommendation from the governor.Charles Lucas (ed.), Lord Durham's Report on the Affairs of British North America, (Clarendon Press, 1912 (reprint)), vol. II, pp. 92–93, 286–287, 328. As a subsequent editor of the Report summarised, "no money votes were to be proposed except with the consent of the Crown, i.e., by the responsible ministers".Lucas (ed.), "Introduction", Lord Durham's Report on the Affairs of British North America (reprint)), vol. I, p. 149.

This policy was established in the Union Act, 1840, which merged the two Canadas into the single Province of Canada. The Union Act provided that money bills had to originate in the elected Legislative Assembly of the new province, but only on a recommendation from the governor. This combined control over finances by the elected legislative body and the executive contributed strongly to the development of responsible government.

Confederation

At the time of Canadian Confederation in 1867, this principle of joint control over the public finances was well-established in both the United Kingdom and the British North American provinces. Following the example of the Union Act, section 54 creates a constitutional requirement for a recommendation for money bills, not simply as a parliamentary rule as in the United Kingdom. The recommendation to the House of Commons is made by the governor general, not the monarch.McConnell, Commentary on the British North America Act, pp. 105–106. Although the recommendation is made by the governor general, it is often referred to as the "royal recommendation".

Current operation

Under the principle of responsible government, the recommendation is authorised by the federal Cabinet.Hogg and Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, para. 9:6. A Cabinet member gives the governor general's recommendation to the Commons at any stage before third reading, the final vote on a bill in the Commons. This is now usually done by means of a written notice accompanying a bill. The recommendation must be given for any new financial legislation, and again for any proposal to change an existing tax or appropriation bill in any significant fashion.