Privilege provides special protection that exempts certain documents and other forms of communication from having to be disclosed in legal proceedings. Its protection is powerful, but it can be easily lost if the privileged information is handled incorrectly. This guide has been created to provide basic information about privilege in Canadian law and suggest ways to protect it. For example, the following steps can be taken to better protect privilege:

1. Identify privilege issues and privileged information early on.

2. Label privileged documents appropriately and judiciously.

3. Ensure where possible that potentially privileged communications flow through a lawyer.

4. Manage the dissemination of documents in respect of which privilege may be asserted, both to ensure that the necessary element of confidentiality is not lost and to avoid inadvertent disclosure...