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How a Bill Becomes Law
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All bills normally pass through a series of steps that are similar in both the Senate and the House.
  1. Introduction in either the House of Commons or the Senate
  2. 1st Reading: This step is not an actual reading but rather a first presentation of the Bill. This step authorizes the printing of the Bill and allocates it a number: C-# for House bills and S-# for Senate bills.
  3. 2nd Reading: The principle of the bill is debated. Once the principle is adopted, the Bill is referred to parliamentary committees for further study.
  4. Committee: A committee hears witnesses, examines the bill clause by clause and submits a report with or without amendments
  5. Report Stage: Additional amendments to the bill may be moved, debated and voted on.
  6. 3rd Reading: This reading is the last opportunity for the House to amend the bill. Following this review, the bill is printed for the last time.
  7. Sent to the other House (e.g., if the bill was passed by the House, it is then referred to the Senate): The process starts again from first reading
  8. Royal Assent: The Governor General or a deputy gives the bill Royal Assent in the Senate when the bill has been passed in exactly the same form by both Houses. It is assigned a Chapter number (e.g., Bill C-7 became Chapter 1 of the Statutes of Canada, 2000). The bill will then become law and comes into force on the day of Assent, unless otherwise provided in the bill itself.
The above process is described in detail on-line in the House of Commons Compendium of Procedure (replaced Précis of Procedure).
  1. Proclamation: If the coming-into-force date is to be fixed by an order of the Governor in Council, the date is determined by Cabinet, on the advice of the minister responsible for administering the Act. Draft orders are prepared by that minister's department. They are not subject to the Regulatory Review Process or the regulation-making requirements of the Statutory Instruments Act, because they are not considered to be regulations. However, before they are made, they are examined by the Regulations Section of the Department of Justice. After they are made, they are required by the Statutory Instruments Regulations to be published in Part II of the Canada Gazette under the "SI" designation. A list of proclamations or orders in council relating to the coming-into-force of Acts is published in each edition of Part III of the Canada Gazette.
A more in-depth description of the above process is available at the Department of Justice’s website.

Status of House Business on the Parliamentary website contains information about the progress of a bill.

Availability of Bills

First and third reading copies of a bill are published, both in print and on-line. Consult the current bills list for prices of printed copies. Second reading copies are not available. It will generally take about 5-10 business days from the time a bill is read to when the bill is available in printed form.

There are four versions of a public bill that are printed:
  1. First Reading Cat. #: XB(Parliament #)(Session #)-Bill #-1 e.g. Bill C-5, 1st reading, 36th Parliament, 1st session will be: XB361-5-1
  2. Third Reading Cat. #: XB(Parliament #)(Session #)-Bill #-3
  3. Royal Assented Once the bill has been passed by the Senate and given Royal Assent, the bill will be given a chapter number. This version is printed to fill the gap between the third reading and the time when the chapter is published in the Canada Gazette, which must occur before the final chapter version will be published. Cat.#: YX4-Year of Royal Assent-Chapter #
  4. Final Statute This replaces the Royal Assented version and is the final version to be printed. Cat.#: YX3-Year-Chapter #
A private bill is printed in first and third reading versions. It will also appear in the bound Annual Statutes of Canada.
It's always a good idea to know the subject of a bill in addition to its number - bill numbers repeat every session of Parliament, so a number may have been used five times in the past seven years.
We have records of bill numbers used since 1985; please ask us if you're having trouble tracking down a bill.

Committees

Standing Committee

A standing committee is an ongoing committee of the Houses of Parliament (there are Senate committees and House of Commons committees). Examples are the Commons Finance Committee and the Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee.
When a bill's subject matter relates to an existing standing committee, that committee will study the bill.
Catalogue # for minutes of a Senate standing committee: YC(Committee #)-(Parliament)(Session#)-1-Issue# e.g. YC11-361-1-12

Legislative Committee

A legislative committee is struck when a bill's subject matter does not match that of a standing committee. In that case, a new committee is created. Catalogue # for minutes of a Senate legislative committee: YC1-(Parliament)(Session#)-Bill#-Issue# e.g. YC1-361-55-1

Committee Documents

House of Commons Committees publish minutes, reports and evidence of proceedings on the internet. Reports are available in print format for sale through Federal Publications, but there is sometimes a lengthy delay from the time the report is available on the internet, and when it is available in print. Evidence of proceedings are not available in paper format any longer - they are available only on the internet. Evidence will officially only be available from Parliament, and also provided to the Press Gallery.
The Senate is still publishing minutes, reports and evidence of proceedings, both in paper and on the internet.

Interesting Links:
Parliamentary Calendar
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This page last modified: October 16, 2007
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