Canada — Quebec Act or statute

Canada — Quebec legislation

Roman Catholic Bishops Act

This section defines four terms used in the Act: diocese, bishop, legal person, and register.

Source excerpt

charter issuancecommitteescorporate authorizationcorporate namecorporate recordsdiocese namingdissolutiondonationsecclesiastical titlegovernment administrationinspection rightsinternal managementlegal person formationlegal person namelegal person remedieslegal personsministerial responsibilityofficersproperty devolutionproperty managementpublic registriesregister filingsreligious administrationseminaries

Jurisdiction: Canada — Quebec
Structure: 28 provisions
Dates: Source version 10 Jun 2026

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“This section defines four terms used in the Act: diocese, bishop, legal person, and register.”

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Section 1

This section defines four terms used in the Act: diocese, bishop, legal person, and register.

Section 1

Section 6

The enterprise registrar must deposit the letters patent in the register.

Section 6

Section 13

If the Holy See changes the name or seat of the diocese, the legal person may change its name or head-office location, and written notice of the change must be filed with the enterprise registrar.

Section 13

Section 18

18. A certificate of the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Québec shall constitute for all purposes proof that a clergyman holds the office of bishop of a diocese or any other office mentioned in this Act. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 18.

Section 18

Schedule

This provision repeals chapter 304 of the Revised Statutes, 1964, as it stood on 31 December 1977, when chapter E-17 of the Revised Statutes comes into force.

Schedule

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Source record from www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca · Source version 10 Jun 2026

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Showing 28 of 28 provisions

Provision 24Repeal 3Amendment

§ 1Section 1Provision

Source excerpt

This section defines four terms used in the Act: diocese, bishop, legal person, and register.

1. In this Act, saving incompatibility, the term (a) “diocese” means a territory under the jurisdiction of a bishop and situated in whole or in part in Québec; this term includes an archdiocese, a diocese, an archeparchy, an eparchy, an exarchate, a vicariate apostolic, a military ordinariate, a prefecture apostolic, a territorial prelacy and a territorial abbey; (b) “bishop” means the cleric who, according to the rules of the Roman Catholic Church, is appointed to administer a diocese; this term includes an archbishop, a diocesan bishop, an archeparch, an eparch, an exarch, a vicar apostolic, a military ordinary, a prefect apostolic, a territorial prelate, a territorial abbot, an apostolic administrator, a diocesan administrator, a provicar in a vicariate apostolic and a pro-prefect in a prefecture apostolic; (c) “legal person” means a legal person constituted under the authority of section 3 of this Act; (d) “register” means the register referred to in Chapter II of the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (chapter P-44.1). R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 1; 1993, c. 48, s. 403; 1997, c. 25, s. 18; 1999, c. 40, s. 127; 2010, c. 7, s. 282.

Section 1Verify source

§ 2Section 2Provision

Source excerpt

In every Act, “archiepiscopal corporation” and “episcopal corporation” also include a legal person constituted under section 3 of this Act.

2. In every Act, the terms “archiepiscopal corporation” or “episcopal corporation” shall also include a legal person constituted under the authority of section 3 of this Act. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 2; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 2Verify source

§ 2.1Section 2.1Provision

Source excerpt

A legal person’s name must conform to section 9.1 of the Companies Act.

2.1. The name of a legal person shall be in conformity with section 9.1 of the Companies Act (chapter C-38). 1993, c. 48, s. 404; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 2.1Verify source

§ 2.2Section 2.2Provision

Source excerpt

The enterprise registrar must refuse a bishop’s charter application if the name does not conform to the stated name rules.

2.2. The enterprise registrar shall refuse to grant a charter to a bishop whose application contains a name not in conformity with section 4 of this Act or with any of paragraphs 1 to 6 of section 9.1 of the Companies Act (chapter C-38). 1993, c. 48, s. 404; 2002, c. 45, s. 501.

Section 2.2Verify source

§ 3Section 3Provision

Source excerpt

The enterprise registrar may issue letters patent to grant a charter making an applying bishop a legal person.

3. The enterprise registrar may, by letters patent which he issues under his hand and seal, grant a charter constituting as a legal person any bishop who may apply to him therefor. The letters patent issued by the enterprise registrar under his hand and seal shall have the same effect as if they were issued by the Lieutenant-Governor under the Great Seal. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 3; 1969, c. 26, s. 78; 1975, c. 76, s. 11; 1981, c. 9, s. 24; 1982, c. 52, s. 198; 1999, c. 40, s. 127; 2002, c. 45, s. 501.

Section 3Verify source

§ 4Section 4Provision

Source excerpt

The legal person’s name must be set in the specified English and French forms.

4. The name of the legal person shall be, in English: “The Roman Catholic (title of the ecclesiastical head constituted as a legal person) of (name of the diocese of such head)” and, in French: “Le (titre du chef ecclésiastique constitué en personne morale: archevêque, évêque, etc.) catholique romain de (nom du diocèse de ce chef)”. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 4; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 4Verify source

§ 5Section 5Provision

Source excerpt

The legal person's head office must be at the bishop's residence, or if that residence is outside Québec, at the Québec place named in the constitution petition.

5. The head office of the legal person shall be at the place of residence of the bishop constituted as a legal person or, if such place of residence is outside Québec, at the place in Québec, designated in the petition for constitution as a legal person. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 5; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 5Verify source

§ 6Section 6Provision

Source excerpt

The enterprise registrar must deposit the letters patent in the register.

6. The enterprise registrar shall deposit the letters patent in the register. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 6; 1969, c. 26, s. 79; 1975, c. 76, s. 11; 1981, c. 9, s. 24; 1982, c. 52, s. 198; 1993, c. 48, s. 405; 2002, c. 45, s. 501.

Section 6Verify source

§ 7Section 7Provision

Source excerpt

The bishop and successors in the office are members of the legal person and may exercise all its powers; the legal person continues to exist even without a member.

7. The bishop constituted as a legal person and all his successors in the same office shall, of right and successively, be members of the legal person and exercise all its powers. The legal person shall subsist though it may have no member. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 7; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 7Verify source

§ 8Section 8Provision

Source excerpt

If there is a vacancy in a bishop’s episcopal see, a vicar capitular, pro-vicar, pro-prefect, or administrator may exercise the powers of the legal person while holding office.

8. In the case of a vacancy in the episcopal see of a bishop constituted as a legal person, any vicar capitular, pro-vicar, pro-prefect or administrator may, of right and so long as he holds his office, exercise the powers of such legal person. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 8; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 8Verify source

§ 9Section 9Provision

Source excerpt

9. The objects of the legal person are religion, teaching, education, charity and hospitalization. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 9; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

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§ 10Section 10Repeal

Source excerpt

The legal person has specific powers to operate, hold property, contract, borrow, invest, support related persons, accept gifts, expropriate with government authorization, act outside Québec, and delegate some powers in writing.

10. For the attainment of its objects, the legal person shall have, in particular, the following powers: (a) to have a seal and alter it at will; (b) to appear before the courts; (c) to acquire, establish, maintain, administer and manage any work or undertaking related to its objects; (d) to acquire, establish, own, maintain, administer and manage residences for clergy, seminaries, colleges, teaching or educational institutions, hospital centres, asylums, refuges, recreational centres, libraries and, notwithstanding any incompatible legislative provision, churches, chapels, cemeteries, parsonages, public halls and playgrounds; (e) to bind itself and bind others towards it in any legal manner whatsoever; (f) to borrow money on its credit by any method recognized by the law, and especially by bills of exchange, notes or other negotiable instruments; (g) to hypothecate its movable or immovable property or encumber it with another charge to secure payment of its loans or the performance of its obligations; (h) to issue bonds or other title-deeds or securities and sell, exchange or hypothecate the same; (i) (paragraph repealed); (j) to invest its funds in any manner deemed suitable, either directly in its own name or indirectly in the name of trustees; (k) to support any person pursuing any object similar to one of its own, transfer to such person any property whatsoever, gratuitously or not, make loans to the same and secure or guarantee his obligations or engagements; (l) to accept any gift, legacy or other liberality; (m) to acquire, possess, administer and alienate property by all legal methods and by any title whatsoever; (n) to acquire by expropriation, with the previous authorization of the Government and upon such conditions as it shall determine, any property deemed necessary for the pursuit of its objects, and especially any immovable for the site of a church, chapel, parsonage, cemetery or public hall; (o) to acquire, possess and exercise outside the territory of Québec the rights and powers recognized or conferred upon it by the laws in force in any other province or country; (p) delegate in writing to any vicar-general, to any vicar deputed to vicariates or apostolic prefectures, or to the administrator replacing the bishop during his absence, the exercise of one or more of the powers mentioned in this section, save and except the one provided for by paragraph n. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 10; 1971, c. 48, s. 161; 1992, c. 57, s. 573; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 10Verify source

§ 11Section 11Provision

Source excerpt

The legal person must dispose of immovables that have not been used for the pursuit of its objects for 25 consecutive years, within a reasonable delay.

11. The legal person shall dispose within a reasonable delay of the immovables which, for a period of 25 consecutive years, shall not have been used for the pursuit of its objects. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 11; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 11Verify source

§ 12Section 12Provision

Source excerpt

The legal person may, if needed, make regulations about its internal management, officers, committees, property, works, undertakings, and pursuit of its objects.

12. The legal person may, if need be, make regulations respecting: (a) its internal management; (b) the appointment, functions, duties and remuneration of its officers, agents and employees; (c) the appointment and the management of an executive committee and of special committees which may be created for the attainment of its objects; (d) the administration, management and control of its property, works and undertakings; (e) the pursuit of its objects in general. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 12; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 12Verify source

§ 13Section 13Provision

Source excerpt

If the Holy See changes the name or seat of the diocese, the legal person may change its name or head-office location, and written notice of the change must be filed with the enterprise registrar.

13. The legal person may, should the Holy See change the name or the seat of the diocese, change its name or the place of its head office; written notice is given to the enterprise registrar of any such change, and he shall deposit such notice in the register. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 13; 1969, c. 26, s. 80; 1975, c. 76, s. 11; 1981, c. 9, s. 24; 1982, c. 52, s. 198; 1993, c. 48, s. 406; 1999, c. 40, s. 127; 2002, c. 45, s. 501.

Section 13Verify source

§ 13.1Section 13.1Provision

Source excerpt

A remedy from section 221.1 of the Companies Act may be used for a legal person’s name.

13.1. The remedy provided for in section 221.1 of the Companies Act (chapter C-38), with the necessary modifications, may be exercised in respect of the name of a legal person. 1993, c. 48, s. 407; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 13.1Verify source

§ 14Section 14Provision

Source excerpt

Certain persons may transfer qualifying property to a legal person created under this Act.

14. Every person who holds property in trust or in any other manner for any of the purposes mentioned in section 9 of this Act, and every person upon whom such property devolves, may transfer the same in whole or in part to any legal person constituted under the authority of this Act; the latter legal person shall then be responsible for the trusts affecting such property to the extent of the property so received. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 14; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

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§ 15Section 15Provision

Source excerpt

A register must be kept at the legal person’s head office, and interested persons may consult it and obtain certified extracts at their own expense.

15. A register shall be kept at the head office of the legal person in which shall be entered the regulations made pursuant to the powers conferred by section 12 and the delegations provided by paragraph p of section 10. Such register, as well as abstract certified by the bishop of the place or by the chancellor of the diocese, shall be authentic. Any person interested may consult it and obtain at his own expense certified extracts therefrom. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 15; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 15Verify source

§ 16Section 16Provision

Source excerpt

If a diocese is suppressed, the legal person constituted by its head does not cease to exist.

16. The suppression of a diocese does not entail the extinction of a legal person which its head constitutes; this legal person shall continue to exist and its powers shall be exercised by the bishop of the diocese in which its head office is located. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 16; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 16Verify source

§ 17Section 17Provision

Source excerpt

To dissolve a legal person, the bishop exercising its powers must send an act of dissolution to the enterprise registrar, who must file it in the register.

17. In order for a legal person to be dissolved, the bishop exercising the powers of such legal person shall transmit an act of dissolution to the enterprise registrar, who shall deposit it in the register. The legal person shall be dissolved from the thirtieth day after such deposit. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 17; 1993, c. 48, s. 408; 1999, c. 40, s. 127; 2002, c. 45, s. 501.

Section 17Verify source

§ 18Section 18Provision

Source excerpt

Section 18Verify source

§ 19Section 19Amendment

Source excerpt

The enterprise registrar may issue or amend letters patent for certain bodies on a bishop’s petition or application, and must deposit the documents in the register.

19. The enterprise registrar may also, upon petition by a bishop, grant by letters patent issued over his signature and seal, a charter constituting as a legal person, for any of the purposes mentioned in section 9 and upon the conditions contained in the petition, any council, committee, organization or association. The petition of the bishop shall indicate the purpose of the legal person, its head office, the powers mentioned in section 10 which it will enjoy, the rules for the exercise of its powers and for the designation of its members or administrators. The enterprise registrar shall deposit the letters patent in the register, and the legal person shall exist from the date of such deposit. The enterprise registrar may also, upon application of the bishop, amend by supplementary letters patent the by-laws and powers of a legal person constituted under the authority of this section; the supplementary letters patent shall be deposited in the register. The letters patent issued by the enterprise registrar over his signature and seal have the same effect as if they had been issued by the Lieutenant-Governor under the Great Seal. The bishop of the diocese wherein the head office of a legal person constituted under the authority of this section is located may dissolve it by filing an act of dissolution with the enterprise registrar, who shall deposit it in the register. In the event of dissolution, the property of such legal person, after payment of its obligations, shall devolve on such bishop. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 19; 1983, c. 54, s. 39; 1993, c. 48, s. 409; 1999, c. 40, s. 127; 2002, c. 45, s. 501.

Section 19Verify source

§ 19.1Section 19.1Provision

Source excerpt

Sections 2.1, 2.2 and 13.1 apply to legal persons constituted under section 19.

19.1. Sections 2.1, 2.2 and 13.1 apply to legal persons constituted under section 19. 1993, c. 48, s. 410; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 19.1Verify source

§ 20Section 20Provision

Source excerpt

Québec legal persons may, by resolution of a quorum-present majority of administrators, make suitable donations to the legal person under section 3 of the Act.

20. Notwithstanding any contrary or incompatible provision, the legal persons constituted under the laws of Québec are authorized to consent to and make to the legal person constituted under the authority of section 3 of this Act, the donations which they deem suitable to help to defray the cost of building and maintaining grand seminaries, and this, by resolution passed by the majority of the administrators then present at a meeting called for such purpose, provided there be a quorum. R. S. 1964, c. 304, s. 20; 1999, c. 40, s. 127.

Section 20Verify source

§ 21Section 21Provision

Source excerpt

Section 21 states that it ceased to have effect on 17 April 1987.

21. (This section ceased to have effect on 17 April 1987). 1982, c. 21, s. 1; U. K., 1982, c. 11, Sch. B, Part I, s. 33.

Section 21Verify source

§ 22Section 22Provision

Source excerpt

The Government designates the minister responsible for administering this Act, except for provisions about the enterprise registrar, which are administered by the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity.

22. The Government designates the Minister responsible for the administration of this Act except the provisions relating to the responsibilities of the enterprise registrar, which are administered by the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity. 2002, c. 45, s. 502; 2006, c. 38, s. 38; 2016, c. 29, s. 26.

Section 22Verify source

§ 23Section 23Repeal

Source excerpt

Section 23 is repealed.

23. (Repealed). 2002, c. 45, s. 502; 2003, c. 29, s. 170; 2006, c. 8, s. 31; 2019, c. 29, s. 1; 2025, c. 8, s. 108.

Section 23Verify source

§ —ScheduleRepeal

Source excerpt

This provision repeals chapter 304 of the Revised Statutes, 1964, as it stood on 31 December 1977, when chapter E-17 of the Revised Statutes comes into force.

In accordance with section 17 of the Act respecting the consolidation of the statutes (chapter R-3), chapter 304 of the Revised Statutes, 1964, in force on 31 December 1977, is repealed effective from the coming into force of chapter E-17 of the Revised Statutes.

ScheduleVerify source

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2 referenced instruments

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Companies Act
Sections 2.1, 2.2, 13.1

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Revised Statutes comes into force. In accordance with section 17 of the Act
Section Schedule

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Roman Catholic Bishops Act

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