The Legal Landscape of Freedom of Association in Canada: The Complex Path to Half of a Constitutional Freedom

Abstract Part of a special issue setting out the shape of freedom of association in jurisdictions around the world, this article analyzes freedom of association in Canada. It argues that freedom of association in Canada has struggled toward being half a freedom. Early union-context case law saw it significantly constrained in judicial interpretation, though that has changed in recent years. Today, those judicial interpretations continue to face possible parliamentary response under distinctive constitutional arrangements in Canada, and they have not yet animated a case law on association outside the union context, though that now has more potential. So, association remains in the position of being a half-freedom, though this landscape could change in the years to come.