Section 8 - SEARCH OR SEIZURE. 8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

The purpose of section 8, according to the Supreme Court of Canada, is to protect a reasonable expectation of privacy. This means that those who act on behalf of a government, such as police officers, must carry out their duties in a fair and reasonable way. They cannot enter private property or take things from others unless they can show that they have a good reason. In most cases, they are allowed to enter private property to look for evidence or to seize things only if they have been given a search warrant by a judge. On the other hand, government inspectors may enter business premises without a warrant to check whether government regulations are being observed.