Section 94 of the Constitution Act, 1867

Section 94 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (French: article 94 de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1867) is a provision of the Constitution of Canada allowing the federal Parliament to implement uniform laws relating to property and civil rights, and procedure in the civil courts, in three of the original provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.

John A. Macdonald, a leading figure in the Confederation negotiations and the first prime minister of Canada, was a particular proponent of centralisation.

The provision applies in the three original common law provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.

The commissioner, John Hamilton Gray, former premier of New Brunswick, gave his report in 1871, with suggestions for a draft uniform bill, but Parliament did not proceed with it.

[9]: 528–529  The matter was raised again in the House of Commons some 30 years later, when a Liberal backbencher, Benjamin Russell made a proposal to apply section 94.

The matter was debated in the House of Commons, and strongly opposed by the Liberal minister of justice, Charles Fitzpatrick, who sarcastically commented that the first step in considering the matter "would be to ask the local legislatures how soon they are going to be disposed to commit suicide",[9]: 529  a comment on the significance of the provincial jurisdiction over property and civil rights.

Scott argued that by the nature of the provision, to create federal uniform jurisdiction, it should be read to include all provinces added to Confederation after 1867.