5 Commonly asked questions

WestlawNext Canada

What do the flags and letters attached to Cases and Legislation mean?

You can find an explanation of the KeyCite flagging by clicking on the "Powered by KeyCite Canada" icon when you are KeyCiting a case. KeyCite Flags alert you to history and citing references that may impact the validity of that document.


KeyCite Red Flag

A red flag warns that the case may not be good law, indicating that the decision has been reversed, or has not been followed within the same jurisdiction or by the Supreme Court of Canada.

KeyCite Yellow Flag

A yellow flag warns that the decision has some negative history or treatment, but has not been reversed or overruled. A yellow flag is also displayed if a treatment has been recently added, and has not yet been editorially analyzed.

Blue H

A blue H indicates that the decision has some history.

Green C

A green C indicates that the decision has no history, but there are treating cases or other citing references to the decision.


Green C

A green C indicates that the legislative provision has treating cases or other citing references.

How quickly are cases added to the service?

It takes about three days for the full text of a case to show up on WLNC. It is a little sooner for Supreme Court of Canada cases.

How can I view/download the full-text of a statute, rather than section by section?

When viewing any section, look for the Browse All (small page) icon in the header. Click the top icon (of the main Statute) to view the statute. Longer statutes will be broken up into parts on screen but the full statute can be printed or downloaded as a PDF.

If I search using French keywords, can I also retrieve English documents?

If you search in WLNC using French keywords, you will not retrieve English documents. You would have to search in French and then in English.

How do I access the legend of Boolean Terms & Connectors in WestlawNext Canada?

From the home screen at the top of the WLNC page to the right of the orange Search button is an "Advanced" link. This link will take you to the advanced search template. On that page will be a legend of the Boolean Terms and Connectors.

You can download a 1 page reference sheet here.

Taxnet Pro

If I print/email/download a document with notes, those notes will be automatically included?

Not necessarily, see “What to deliver” in print options after you have clicked the print icon. You can choose to include your notes or just export the original document. You can find our Taxnet Pro User Guide here.

Why am I getting so many results?

The main search is Boolean only and the default space is an “OR” connector. The more terms you add the wider the search is due to the OR connector. There is a prominent gear icon in the search box. This allows the creation of more complex Boolean search strings without the need to know the correct search syntax. You can view our Taxnet Pro Searching Guide here.

Where is the concordance for the ITA and Quebec ITA?

You can find a concordance between the Federal Income Tax and the Quebec Income Tax Act in the Table of Contents under Tables of Concordance. Or if you are within the ITA section you can find the link under the Commentary tab.

How can I check the currency of my document?

Most of our documents on Taxnet Pro have dates. Please check the date of the document you are interested in for currency.

Practical Law Canada

If I want to use a standard document, should I open it in word or download it?

You should Open in Word as opposed to downloading the document. The “Word” version of the document does not contain any Practical Law branding.

How do you delete an annotation?

If you have created an annotation and you wish to delete it, simply click anywhere on the annotation and a red “X” will appear on the top right hand corner. Click on the “X” and it will delete the annotation. You can find our guide on Annotations here.

Are the advanced printing settings I select saved?

Yes, advanced print settings is saved upon log-off. This “stickiness” ensures that you do not constantly have re-enter your preferences.

Why is the client ID always pre-filled on Practical Law (as Practical Law)?

On WestlawNext you can enter a client ID. This client ID is then used for client charge-back purposes. As Practical Law is not intended as a client charge back, the client ID will always be pre-filled as Practical Law.

How do I share annotations?

To share an individual note: Open the note by right clicking anywhere on the note. Select the Contacts link. Select the users with whom you would like to share the note and then select “Insert” and then “Save”. The bottom of the annotation box will now reflect with whom you have shared your annotation. You can find our guide on Annotations here.


What are the search connectors?

Search connectors

AND Connector:

Use the AND connector (represented by an AND, &, or a space), to retrieve text containing two or more search terms in the same section.

OR Connector:

OR is used to require query terms on either side of the OR to be in a document.

%, BUTNOT Connector:

% is used to quantify what cannot be in the document. The term to the right of the % is the term that cannot be in the content. Phrase Searches (" "): A phrase search contains one or more terms within quotes. This requires all of the terms to be found next to each other.

Numerical Connectors:

Numerical connectors require search terms to appear within a specified number of terms of each other.

To specify term order with numerical connectors, use the +n connecter (where n is a number); the +n connector requires that the first term precede the second term by no more than the specified number of terms.

Precedence of Search Connectors

The following is the order in which ProView will evaluate the search connectors with the terms in your query:
OR, +n, /n, &, %, [SPACE]

How do I get to a specific page in the ProView version of my book?

There is a scrollable view and page by page presentation of your ProView eBooks. In Scrollable view, the easiest way to reach the content you are looking for is to find the section via the heading in the TOC rather than by the page on which it is contained in the book.

eReference (eLooseleaf) titles are only viewable in Scrollable mode and do not contain page numbering, so the only way to reach specific content is via the table of contents links.

What is the difference between “Library” and “eReference” (soon to be “eLooseleafs”)?

Under ‘Library’ you will see the full library of titles to which you are subscribed. This includes electronic versions of bound books (for example: Martin’s Criminal Code) and looseleaf titles (for example: Klar, Remedies in Tort). Clicking on the “eReference” button will filter the library so that it only displays the looseleaf titles. You can find a user guide for Proview eReference titles here.

Subscribers to any eReference title in print are automatically entitled to free ProView access to that title. However, if a customer cancels their subscription to the print title, the electronic version on ProView will be removed from their library. On the other hand, purchasers of a bound book will pay a premium if they also want to have access to the eBook version. eBooks will always remain in the customer’s ProView library once purchased. No ongoing subscription is required.

What is IP Authentication and is it available for Proview access at my firm?

Yes IP Authentication is available for eReference (eLooseleaf) titles only. If a firm chooses to provide seamless IP access then no login will be required, however some of the personalized features of ProView such as Notes & Annotations, Bookmarking, and Highlights, will not be available because those features must be tied to a OnePass account.

If a member of the firm wants to take advantage of these features then they will be moved to IP Personalization (IPP) in which case they will have to sign out of IP Authentication and log in with their OnePass user ID.

How will billing/chargeback work with ProView Federated search on Westlaw?

The additional search results from ProView will be part of the broader WestlawNext Canada Federated Search result list, so any search run on Westlaw will continue to have the same suggested notional chargeback for the search. However, once you click through to ProView, there are no notional charges assigned to ProView usage. As is the case today, activity within ProView will not show up in the Reporting System so there will be no suggested chargeback value for activity within ProView.

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