Section 1 of the Charter guarantees rights subject to “reasonable limits… demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” Once a claimant shows a right has been infringed, the burden shifts to the government to justify the limit.
The Oakes test asks two things. First, the objective of the limit must be pressing and substantial. Second, the means must be proportionate: rationally connected to the objective, impairing the right as little as reasonably possible, and proportionate in their overall effect. A limit that fails any branch is not saved by section 1.
The Court set out the test for when a limit on a Charter right can be justified under section 1: the objective must be pressing and substantial, and the means proportionate — rationally connected to the objective, minimally impairing of the right, and proportionate in their overall effect.
The Court struck down the Lord's Day Act as an infringement of freedom of religion under section 2(a). A law's constitutionality turns on both its purpose and its effects, and Charter rights are defined by the interests they protect.