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LegalCalc Ontario
Student Tool

Canadian Legal Citation Builder

Format structured Canadian legal citations using the McGill Guide, 10th edition style.

Independent, browser-based helper for common Canadian source types. Nothing you enter is stored or transmitted. Verify every citation against the current guide and any faculty, journal, or court instructions.

How to use this tool

  1. Pick a source type at the top. The form updates to show only fields for that type.
  2. Fill in the metadata you have. Required fields are marked; leave optional fields blank if you do not have them.
  3. Read the Footnote citation and Bibliography entry panels. The Citation anatomy list shows exactly what the tool used.
  4. Copy the output, then verify every element against the current McGill Guide and your course, journal, or court rules.

The tool never invents metadata. Missing fields are flagged as warnings, not silently filled.

Type party names as you want them to appear. Italics are applied automatically.

Paragraphs and pages are formatted differently. Choose the correct type on the left.

Formatted citation

  • Style of cause is required.
  • Provide a neutral citation, or a reporter with year and first page. Otherwise the citation cannot identify the case.

Verify the output against the current edition of the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation before submitting. This tool does not guarantee academic acceptance or exhaustive compliance.

Footnote citation
Fill in the required fields to generate a citation.
Bibliography entry
Fill in the required fields to generate a citation.
Short form

Short forms depend on how the case is first introduced and later referenced. Choose a distinctive short form manually and confirm it matches your school or court's requirements.

Citation anatomy

Fields you enter will appear here so you can check each component.

Privacy and academic integrity
Formatting runs entirely in your browser. Your citation data is not saved or sent to any server. This tool assists with mechanics only. You are responsible for source accuracy, academic integrity, and compliance with your school, court, or journal rules.

Related guides

Related student tools

Educational tool, not legal or academic advice
Independent educational tool. Not affiliated with or endorsed by McGill University, the McGill Law Journal, Thomson Reuters/Carswell, Zotero, CSL, or CanLII. Verify every citation against the current guide and any court, journal, professor, or faculty instructions.

Open source attribution

This tool is an independent implementation. It does not reproduce text, examples, or rules from the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 10th edition. The name is used only to identify the target style.

When a Citation Style Language (CSL) style is incorporated in a future release, it will be sourced from the Zotero Style Repository and its authorship, licence, and attribution metadata will be preserved. See the Zotero CSL documentation.

The Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide (COAL) is a planned alternative style. It is not implemented in this release.

Last reviewed: 19 July 2026Spotted an error? Send feedback and corrections →