Opening of new parliamentary session

[ * ] An asterisk appears where sensitive information has been removed in accordance with the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

Key priorities

Determining when to meet Parliament: The 45th Parliament is set to open on May 26, 2025. The opening date can be moved earlier or later through your advice to the Governor General. Over the last 20 years, the median time period between an election day and the opening of a new Parliament has been 45 calendar days.

Securing Supply: Special warrants were issued by the Governor General to fund government operations from April 1 to May 15, 2025 [ * ]

Identifying Key Themes: It will be important for you and your Cabinet to identify the key themes of your Government’s agenda in the weeks immediately following the swearing-in of your Government. This will guide the preparation of the Speech from the Throne (SFT), your first budget, and legislative agenda, which are interconnected.

Assembling your Parliamentary Team: You will appoint a Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (GHL) and a parliamentary team before the opening of the new Parliament to advance your legislative agenda and manage business in the House of Commons and the Senate.

Developing a Legislative Agenda: The GHL will work with ministers and the Privy Council Office (PCO) to develop a legislative agenda for your approval, that will include signature bills that can be introduced early in the mandate.

[ * ]  

Debating the Address in Reply to the SFT: The GHL will consult you on whether to call the Address in Reply to the SFT for up to six days of debate in the House. This would allow the Government to outline its agenda to Canadians and how it will implement the commitments in the SFT.

The Minister of Finance will have an opportunity to present your Government’s first budget to the House. This will be followed by four days of debate and votes scheduled by the GHL in consultation with you. Direction will be sought on the timing and scope of ambition of your Government’s first fiscal release.

Testing the Confidence of the House of Commons: It is a constitutional principle that a new government test the confidence of the House early in a new Parliament, e.g., at the main motion on the Address in Reply to the SFT, the main motion on a budget, or the motion to concur in the Main Estimates.

Opening Parliament

Changing the start date of the 45th Parliament from May 26, 2025, would require you to sign an instrument of advice to the Governor General. PCO’s Machinery of Government Secretariat can provide you with advice and support on this matter.

Over the last 20 years, there have been six general elections. The median time period between the general elections and the opening of the new Parliament has been 45 calendar days. The shortest time period was 31 calendar days between the 2011 general election and the opening of the 41st Parliament. The longest time period was 70 calendar days between the 2006 general election and the opening of the 39th Parliament.

The daily business of the House of Commons is set out in the Standing Orders and can be found in Annex A.

Election of the Speaker

The first order of business in a new Parliament is the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons.

The election is conducted by secret ballot using a single preferential ballot. Once a successful candidate has been announced to the House, you and the Leader of the Opposition will escort the Speaker-elect to the Speaker’s chair. Recent practice has seen the Speaker briefly addressing the House, and party leaders offering brief congratulatory remarks.

The single secret preferential ballot was first used in 2015 and can take three to four hours to complete depending on the number of Members seeking the position.

The election takes place before the SFT is given. In 2015 and 2021, the election of the Speaker was held in the afternoon and the SFT was given in the Senate the next day. In 2019, the election was held in the morning followed by the SFT that afternoon in the Senate.

The GHL will consult you on scheduling the election of the Speaker and the SFT for the 45th Parliament.

Speech from the Throne (SFT)

The SFT is traditionally delivered by the Governor General on behalf of the King in the Senate. The Priorities and Planning Secretariat at PCO will support your office in preparing for the SFT.

When the House resumes sitting after the SFT, you have the option of calling the Address in Reply to the SFT for debate in the House of Commons.

Following adoption of this motion, the House of Commons may debate and vote on an Address in Reply to the SFT, which could begin during the first sitting week. Debate can extend for a maximum of six sitting days; the days need not be consecutive. The GHL will consult your office to determine a strategy for scheduling the debate on the Address in Reply to the SFT.

The Government traditionally begins the debate by having a mover and seconder make their speeches. The Prime Minister normally selects the mover and seconder, often from among his or her party’s backbench with consideration to linguistic and regional representation, and the Prime Minister’s Office supports them in preparing their speeches and for the short questions and comments period that follows. PCO support is available as required.

Over the course of debate, the leaders of the Official Opposition and the second largest opposition party move an amendment and sub-amendment respectively, which are debated and voted on. These votes are not necessarily considered questions of confidence; however, the vote on the main motion for the Address in Reply to the SFT is generally acknowledged to be a confidence matter as it signals support for the Government’s agenda.

Further details on the SFT can be found in Annex B.

Confidence convention

A fundamental characteristic of Parliamentary government is that the Prime Minister and Cabinet are accountable to the House of Commons and that they must enjoy the support and confidence of the House to remain in office.

However, confidence is a constitutional convention that has evolved over time, and political actors, media, and constitutional experts may disagree as to what constitutes a question of confidence. The confidence convention [ * ] is not a matter of parliamentary procedure, and therefore is not an issue the Speaker can rule on.

In practice, what constitutes a matter of confidence is ultimately determined by the Prime Minister, whose responsibility it is to act on any votes of non-confidence by resigning or requesting that the Governor General dissolve Parliament thereby triggering an election.

Nonetheless, it is generally acknowledged that certain motions are questions of confidence such as motions that explicitly state that the House does not have confidence in the Government. Some motions of confidence, however, can be more implicit. For example, motions of confidence that seek approval of the Government’s overall agenda, e.g., the vote on the main motion for the Address in Reply to the SFT, although not necessarily the votes on the amendment and sub‑amendment.

It is a constitutional principle that a new government will test the confidence of the House of Commons early in the new Parliament to demonstrate that it commands the confidence of the Chamber. The motions listed in the preceding paragraph typically offer an opportunity to do so early in the mandate.

See Annex C for a more comprehensive list of motions that are generally acknowledged to be questions of confidence.

Main estimates and supply

Each year, the Government must table its spending proposals for the upcoming fiscal year (i.e., the Main Estimates) in the House of Commons for approval. You are being briefed separately on the contents of the estimates. Once approved, the Government introduces an appropriation bill, which is the mechanism by which Parliament authorizes expenditures from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).

Under the Financial Administration Act, the Main Estimates are approved by the Treasury Board. Preparing and approving the Main Estimates is typically an accounting exercise that updates the previous year’s Main Estimates, department by department, with funding decisions made by the Treasury Board in the intervening year.

A key priority of your first weeks in government will be securing supply for the 2025-26 fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2025. The Governor General issued special warrants at the beginning of the general election to provide the federal government authority to draw from the CRF to fund government operations for the first 45 sitting days of the new fiscal year, i.e., from April 1 to May 15, 2025.

Additional special warrants would be required to continue to fund government operations from May 16, 2025, until the Main Estimates are approved, typically in June 2025. All special warrants must be tabled in Parliament by the President of the Treasury Board within 15 sitting days after the opening of a Parliament.

If the 45th Parliament begins on May 26, 2025, as per the current proclamation, there will be a truncated spring supply period in the House of Commons that must conclude on or before June 23, 2025, to conform to the rules of the House:

• It will be necessary for the Government to table the 2025-26 Main Estimates on May 27, 2025, which set out each department and agency’s planned expenditures for the new fiscal year for Parliament’s consideration and approval.
• Later that week, the House will debate the Main Estimates of two departments on two separate evenings. These departments will be selected by the Leader of the Opposition by the end of the sitting day on May 27, 2025. While the Government has discretion in scheduling the debates, they must occur before the end of the week, i.e., on or before May 30, 2025.
• The debates will last a maximum of four hours during which government and opposition Members of the House of Commons will give speeches and ask the responsible Minister questions about the department’s planned expenditures, as well as its programs, policies and operations.
• Following the SFT, the Speaker of the House of Commons will make a statement setting out the number of opposition days in the shortened supply period ending June 23. This could result in four opposition days.
• The opposition days will be designated by the Government to debate and vote on a motion selected by an opposition party. The GHL will consult with your office on the decision to designate the opposition days.
• The opposition days will be the first opportunity for an opposition party to propose a motion of non‑confidence in the Government. The opposition days will be allocated to opposition parties pursuant to discussions among the parties and generally reflects the distribution of seats in the House.
• The President of the Treasury Board will table the special warrants on or before June 16, 2025.
• Forty-eight hours before the final opposition day, opposition parties will be able to give notice of items in the Main Estimates that they oppose.
• At the end of the final opposition day, the House will have the votes on:
  • the opposition motion;
  • any opposed votes;
  • a motion to concur in the Main Estimates; and
  • the appropriation bill at all stages before the end of the sitting day.
• If there are many opposed votes, voting could be extended beyond the time normally set aside for this exercise.
• Once passed by the House, the appropriation bill would be referred to Senate, which would need to consider and pass the bill before June 30, 2025.

Short to medium term priorities

Parliamentary related appointments

Day to day management of the House of Commons and its committees is the responsibility of the GHL, who leads a team comprising the Deputy GHL, the Chief Government Whip (Whip), the Deputy Whip, and, should you appoint one, the Parliamentary Secretary to the GHL.

You will be briefed separately on these parliamentary appointments. 

Board of Internal Economy Government Members

The Board of Internal Economy is the governing body for the financial and administrative matters of the House of Commons. Its membership includes the Speaker, who acts as Chair, two ministers, the Leader of the Opposition or their representative, and additional Members of Parliament so that there are an equal number of Government and opposition representatives (apart from the Speaker) based on the number of recognized opposition parties.

You choose the Government’s representatives on the Board which consists of:

•  Two members of the Ministry who are appointed to the Board by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. This has usually included the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, and another Minister.
• Additional members of the Government caucus (ministers and/or backbench members). This has usually included the Whip. If there are three recognized opposition parties, two additional Government members would be appointed, in addition to the two positions to be filled by ministers.

The Speaker normally announces the membership of the Board to the House on the day of the SFT.

Leader or Representative of the Government in the Senate

The Leader or Representative of the Government in the Senate, as appointed by the Prime Minister, has a parallel role in advancing the Government’s agenda in the Senate. The leadership in the Senate can be supported by a Deputy Leader or Representative and a Government Whip or Government Liaison.

Speaker of the Senate

Unlike in the House, where the Speaker is elected, the Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the Governor-in-Council on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and remains in office until a new one is appointed. Senator Raymonde Gagnon (non-affiliated – Manitoba) will continue to be the Speaker if a new one is not appointed. Should you wish to have a new Speaker appointed, you will be provided advice under separate cover.

The Speaker pro tempore (or Deputy Speaker) in the Senate is elected by secret ranked ballot at the start of the first session of each Parliament.

Legislative priorities

The early part of a new Parliament presents a key window for the Government to pass legislation linked to priority campaign commitments. The SFT and ministerial mandate letters represent key indicators of legislation that will be a focus early in the mandate.

The GHL will work with ministers and PCO to develop a legislative agenda for your approval and to prioritize bills that can be introduced early in the new Parliament to advance your Government’s agenda.

Policy, funding, and machinery decisions as well as legislative drafting will need to be prioritized for these bills to allow them to be introduced and debated early in the mandate.

With the support of PCO’s Legislation and House Planning Secretariat, the GHL’s Office (GHLO) will prepare a legislative agenda reflecting your new priorities for the new Parliament, to discuss with your office.

This will include Government bills that could be introduced and called for debate during the first sitting week. You will be briefed on this under separate cover.

Budget

Traditionally, the Budget is presented between February and March, however, the Government is under no obligation to do so. In three of the past four years, the Government has presented its annual budget in April. In light of the federal election, the Government will not be able to table a budget by end of April.

Several options are available for tabling of a first fiscal release. For example, the Government could table Budget 2025 before the house rises for the summer break. Given tight timelines for production, the Government could adopt an approach similar to 2020 when the budget process was interrupted by the pandemic. The Government published a streamlined fiscal release, known as the “Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020” focused primarily on pandemic responses and non-discretionary pressures.

Alternatively, the Government could table a Budget in the fall, similar to the approach the UK government has taken in recent years. The last UK budget was tabled on October 30, 2024, allowing for new investments and tax changes to be announced well in advance of the beginning of the UK’s new financial year (starting April 1). You will be briefed on the Budget process and proposals under separate cover.

The presentation of the Budget is followed by four days of debate on the general budget motion (“that this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government”). These days of debate need not be consecutive.

• Day 1 (Leaders’ Day) the Leader of the Opposition would move an amendment to the Budget motion, and the leader of the next largest opposition party would move a sub amendment.
• End of Day 2, the House would vote on the sub amendment.
• End of Day 3, the House would vote on the amendment.
• End of Day 4, the House would vote on the main motion. The vote on the main Budget motion is traditionally considered a matter of confidence.
• As early as the next sitting day, the House can vote on a Ways and Means motion for tax measures presented in the Budget, and, if adopted, the Government could introduce a Budget Implementation bill.

Parliamentary committees and their membership

As of the beginning of the 45th Parliament, the Standing Orders provide for 25 standing committees in the House of Commons and two joint House-Senate committees. They also define the mandates of standing committees, the total number of seats on each committee, the majority of which are comprised of 12 members.

Members of the Official Opposition chair the committees on Public Accounts, Government Operations and Estimates, Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, and Status of Women, and co-chair the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations.

Often, the number of members on each committee, and the share allocated to each recognized party, is agreed to by the party Whips and a Sessional Order is adopted to this effect.

Private members' business

The first 30 Private Members’ Business (PMB) items, i.e., bills or motions, that will be debated in the House of Commons, are confirmed approximately 25 sitting days after a new Parliament opens.

If the 45th Parliament resumes on May 26, 2025, as per the current proclamation, those items would be confirmed in September 2025. The first item would be debated approximately 10 sitting days later in early October 2025.

Each PMB item comes to a vote after a maximum of two hours of debate. Given the Government does not control the schedule for PMB items, and that they can have significant, policy, legal, and political consequences, it is important that the Government adopt clear positions on them, as well as fall-back positions, in a timely manner.

For more details on PMBs and SPBs, please see Annex D.

Statutory Tablings

Each year, there are a number of reports that have to be tabled in Parliament, as required by relevant statutes. These include, among others, Annual Reports on the administration of different Acts in Government departments and agencies.

Given there has not been a sitting of Parliament thus far in 2025, outstanding required tablings will need to occur, as appropriate, following the resumption of Parliament.

Ministers are responsible for tabling reports for their respective departments and agencies.

See Annex E for additional information on the tabling of Parliamentary Returns and Government Responses.

Managing the Government's agenda in the Senate

As of May 26, 2025, these are the current standings in the Senate:

• Independent Senators Group: 41
• Canadian Senators Group: 18
• Progressive Senate Group: 15
• Non-affiliated: 19
• Conservative Party of Canada: 12
• Vacant seats: 0

The Government’s agenda in the Senate is managed by the Leader or Representative of the Government in the Senate,

Proactive leadership by the Government Leader or Representative in the Senate, and attention by all ministers to the management of legislation in the Senate, including direct outreach to senators, is required to advance the Government’s legislative agenda. Ministers should consider the need for Senate support in planning legislative policy proposals, proactively engage with senators on their bills, and be responsive in appearing before Senate committees.

Ministers may also consider seeking Cabinet approval for negotiating mandates to allow some flexibility to support non-Government amendments through the legislative process.

The GHLO works closely with the Government Leader or Representative’s Office in the Senate to coordinate the sequencing of Government legislation between the two chambers. Their office works collaboratively with other senators to identify a sponsor for each Government bill in the Senate. Sponsors have played a crucial role in building support amongst their colleagues, particularly those who are considered to be subject matter experts on the bill.

Annex A: Daily order of business in the House of Commons

The House convenes on Mondays at 11:00 a.m., on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 10:00 a.m., and on Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. The House usually adjourns by 7:00 p.m., except for Fridays when the House adjourns at 2:30 p.m.

Daily House business includes:

• Routine Proceedings, where Ministers table documents and introduce bills; committee chairs present reports; other Members introduce PMBs and present petitions; and the Government tables responses to petitions and questions on the Order Paper;
• Government Orders, where Government bills and motions are debated and voted on;
• Statements by Members, a 15-minute period before Question Period where any Member of the House who is not a minister may address the House for up to one minute on a matter of concern;
• Question Period (also known as Oral Questions), a 45-minute period where Members of the opposition and governing parties may question the Government on any matter within its administrative responsibilities (see Annex A1 for more details); and
• Private Members’ Business Hour, where the House debates a bill or motion put forward by a Member who is not a minister or a parliamentary secretary. See Annex D for more details.

See Annex D for more details.

Annex A1: Question Period

PCO’s Communications and Consultations Secretariat prepares factual briefing material to support you at Question Period. Ministers are prepared for Question Period with factual information provided by their departments.

Political responses are developed by your office, Ministers, and their offices in discussion with your team. You may wish to convene a daily Question Period preparation meeting Mondays to Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. to confirm how to respond to potential questions and identify the lead Minister.

Annex B: The Speech from the Throne process

The SFT is delivered by the Governor General in the Senate on the first day of the new session. You will be briefed on the SFT under separate cover.

While the Government traditionally begins the debate on the SFT by having the mover and seconder make their speeches, there is no procedural requirement to debate or complete the Address in Reply to the SFT.

Should there be a desire to debate the Address in Reply to the SFT, the Standing Orders provide for up to six days of debate, which are scheduled at the discretion of the GHL in consultation with PMO and need not be consecutive.

• The first day of debate is traditionally devoted to speeches by leaders of the recognized parties. The Prime Minister’s speech follows that of the Leader of the Official Opposition and is a key opportunity to provide detail on the Government’s policy agenda. The leaders of the Official Opposition and the second largest opposition party move an amendment and sub-amendment respectively to the SFT.
• At the end of the second day, there is a vote on the sub-amendment.
• Debate may continue on the third and fourth days, and at the end of the fourth day, there is a vote on the amendment.
• Debate may continue on the fifth and sixth days and on the sixth day, there is a vote on the main motion.

The votes on the amendment and sub-amendment are not considered questions of confidence unless they explicitly propose that the House does not have confidence in the Government.

However, the vote on the main motion for the Address in Reply to the SFT is generally acknowledged to be a question of confidence.

Annex C: Questions of confidence

It is generally acknowledged that the following motions are questions of confidence:

• Explicit motions of confidence or non-confidence, which state in express terms that the House has, or has not, confidence in the Government. For example, in 2005 and 2011, the Prime Minister advised the Governor General to dissolve Parliament after Opposition Day motions stating that the House had lost confidence in the Government were adopted.
• mplicit motions of confidence traditionally deemed to be confidence matters. This includes votes on: the Address in Reply to the SFT, but not necessarily amendments to it; the Government’s budgetary policy, but not necessarily amendments to it; and supply, but not necessarily individual items of supply.
• Matters expressly declared by the Prime Minister in advance to be confidence questions.

Declaring, in advance, certain priority government bills to be confidence questions has been a tactic successfully used by Prime Ministers to help pass those bills because it signaled to the opposition that not supporting them would trigger an election.

Annex D: Private members' business and Senate public bills

Each sitting day, one hour is set aside to debate a bill or motion sponsored by a Member of the House who is not a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary. This provides a regular opportunity for Parliamentarians to bring sustained attention to issues that will either assist or hinder your agenda.

Private Members’ Bills (PMB) have the same force and effect as Government legislation. They can modify policy or create new rights or obligations by amending an existing statute or by enacting a new one. PMBs cannot impose, increase, or extend a tax; however, they can decrease or limit the application of a tax.

Private Members’ Motions typically express the opinion of the House on a matter within federal jurisdiction and, as such, are not binding on the Government. A Private Member’s Motion can amend the Standing Orders of the House and can impose obligations on the Government as a participant in House proceedings (e.g., require the Government to table a report on an issue).

PMB items are programmed, that is, the Standing Orders provide for a maximum number of hours of debate. PMBs pass through each stage of the legislative process on a shortened timeline: a maximum of two hours of debate at second reading, a maximum of 60 sitting days study at committee with the potential of a 30 sitting day extension, and a maximum of two hours of debate at report stage and third reading.

If passed by the House, a PMB is referred to the Senate to follow the legislative process in that Chamber. Neither PMBs nor SPBs are programmed in the Senate.

Private Members’ Motions are debated for a maximum of two hours after which they come to a vote.

On average, a new set of 15 PMBs and Motions is selected for debate three times a year. The process to add new PMBs for consideration is referred to as a replenishment.

Annex E: Tablings

Parliamentary Returns

Members of Parliament may ask questions to the Government, which are printed on the Order Paper. The Member may request that the Ministry respond either orally or in writing or may withdraw is question at anytime. The Member has a limit of four questions on the Order Paper at any one time. The Government has 45 days to respond to Order Paper Questions in the House.

Similarly, a Senator may submit written question that are placed on the Order Paper. On May 8, 2024, the Senate adopted a motion to amend the Rules of the Senate with respect to written questions. Changes included implementing a 60-calendar day deadline for the Government to provide responses.

Responses are tabled by the Government Representative in the Senate. Similar to Members in the House of Commons, a senator has a limit of four questions on the Order Paper at one time.

Petitions are typically used to draw Parliament's attention to an issue of public interest or concern, or to request that the government take a certain action within its authority. Ministers are responsible for tabling responses, without requiring Cabinet approval.

Government Responses to Committee Reports

Parliamentary committees table reports in the Senate and the House of Commons to present the findings and recommendations of the studies they undertake. Committees in the House may request that the Government respond to their recommendations, in which case the Government is required to table a response within 120 calendar days. Responses to Senate committee reports are required within 150 calendar days.