Patriation is a legal term particularly used in Canada, to describe a process of constitutional change also known as "bringing home" the constitution. The term is based upon the word repatriation, since critics of the use of the word "repatriation" pointed out that the constitution could not "return" to Canada, as it was not formulated in Canada in the first place. Thus the term "patriation" was coined as a word meaning "to make something part of one's own nation."

Canada, as a former British colony, was until 1982 governed by a constitution that was a British law and could be changed only by an Act of the British Parliament. Patriation thus specifically refers to making the constitution amendable by Canada only, with no role for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to play in the amending process. Hence, patriation is associated with the adoption of the Canadian amending formula, and the corresponding acquisition of sovereignty.