Opening of new parliamentary session

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Key priorities

The second session of the 44^th Parliament is set to begin on March 24, 2025, following prorogation which began on January 6, 2025. The opening date can be moved earlier or later through advice to the Governor General.

Securing interim supply for the 2025-26 fiscal year will be a key priority early in the new session. It will be necessary for Parliament to approve the Government’s interim spending proposals and pass the associated appropriation bill by March 31, 2025, to ensure that government programs and operations can continue in the new fiscal year until full supply is considered by Parliament in June 2025.

An opposition day which must be scheduled by March 26, 2025, will be the first opportunity for opposition parties to move a motion of non‑confidence. As well, votes on supply and the appropriations bill, although not necessarily votes on individual items of supply, are generally acknowledged to be questions of confidence.

The vote on the House of Commons’ Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne is also generally acknowledged to be a question of confidence. However, there is no procedural requirement to debate or vote on the Address in Reply; debate is called at the discretion of the Government.

Subject to your path forward, early discussions and decisions will be needed to manage questions of privilege, production of documents, legislative priorities, and tablings in Parliament.

Background

On January 6, 2025, the 1st session of the 44th Parliament ended following a proclamation by the Governor General proroguing Parliament until March 24th, 2025.

The start date of the new session can be modified to an earlier or later date. This 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.

On February 13 and 14, 2025, the Federal Court heard a challenge to your predecessor’s advice to the Governor General to prorogue Parliament. The case was dismissed on March 6, 2025. It is unknown if the decision will be appealed.   

See Annex A for a detailed review of the effects of prorogation on business before Parliament.

Immediate decisions

Managing Parliament

Given the current seat alignment in the House of Commons (LPC: 153, CPC: 120, BQ:33, NDP: 24, GP: 2, Independent: 3, vacancies: 3) in this minority Parliament, the Government requires the support of at least one of the three recognized parties in order to secure majority support for votes.

The daily business of House of Commons is set out in the Standing Orders and can be found in Annex B. Day to day management of the House of Commons and its committees is the responsibility of the Government House Leader (GHL), who leads a team comprising the Deputy GHL, the Chief Government Whip, the Deputy Whip, and, should you appoint one, the Parliamentary Secretary to the GHL. You will be briefed separately on these appointments.

Speech from the Throne

The first business of the new session will be the Speech from the Throne (SFT) given by the Governor General in the Senate. PCO’s Priorities and Planning Secretariat will support your office in preparing for the SFT.

While not required by the Standing Orders, the House of Commons may debate and vote on an Address in Reply to the SFT, which could begin during the first sitting week. The debate allows the Government to outline its parliamentary agenda to implement the SFT. Debate can extend for a maximum of six sitting days; the days need not be consecutive. The GHL will consult your office to determine whether and when to call the Address in Reply for debate.

Over the course of debate, the leaders of the Official Opposition (CPC) and the second largest opposition party (BQ) 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 is generally acknowledged to be a confidence matter as it signals support for the Government’s agenda.

See Annex C for a more detailed description of the SFT process.

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 question of confidence such as motions that explicitly state that the House does not have confidence in the Government, and, implicit motions of confidence that seek approval of the Government’s overall agenda, e.g., the final vote on the Address in Reply to the SFT, although not necessarily the votes on the amendment and sub‑amendment.

See Annex D 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 the Parliament authorizes expenditures from the 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 the first sitting week will be securing interim supply for the 2025-26 fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2025. Interim supply provides the federal government authority to draw from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) to pay for government operations until full supply is considered by Parliament in June 2025.

There will be a truncated winter supply period that must conclude on or before March 26:

• The Government must table the 2025-26 Main Estimates as early as possible after the SFT and give notice for a motion to concur in interim supply (as early as March 24, 2025).
• Opposition parties would have 24 hours to give notice of opposed items contained in interim supply (i.e., votes).  
• One sitting day must be designated by the Government to debate and vote on a motion selected by an opposition party (i.e., an opposition day.) The opposition day will need to be scheduled on or before March 26. This will be the first opportunity for an opposition party to propose a motion of non‑confidence in the Government. The motion will be selected by the Conservative Party. The GHL will consult with your office on the decision to designate the opposition day.
• At the end of the opposition day, the House will have the votes on:
  • the opposition motion; 
  • any opposed votes;
  • a motion to concur in interim supply; and,
  • the appropriation bill at all stages before the end of the sitting day.

If there are many opposed votes, voting could extend for a number of hours.

Once passed by the House, the appropriation bill would be referred to Senate, which would need to consider and pass the bill no later than March 31, 2025.

Legislative priorities

In December 2024, the Government House Leader’s Office (GHLO) canvassed ministers for their legislative priorities for the winter and spring sitting periods and is continuing to do so to identify legislative priorities that have emerged since that time.

Based on this outreach and with the support of PCO’s Legislation and House Planning Secretariat, the GHLO will prepare a legislative agenda for the new session to discuss with your office that will reflect your priorities.

This will include Government bills that could be introduced and called for debate during the first sitting week. In doing so, the GHL will consider whether to reintroduce Government bills that died on the Order Paper with prorogation and new initiatives to respond to emerging issues. You will be briefed on this separately following consultation with the GHL. 

See Annex E for a list of Government Bills before the House at prorogation.

You will also need to confirm an approach for managing Private Members Bills’ and Senate Public Bills. See Annex F for details on this. 

Tablings

There are a number of documents with deadlines unaffected by prorogation that will need to be tabled by ministers on the first day of the new session. This includes Government responses to committee reports from the House, responses to Order Paper questions and to petitions from the House. See Annex G for an overview of tablings.

Short to medium-term priorities

Tabling Reasons for Prorogation

Communicating reasons for prorogation is instrumental to ensuring transparency and maintaining public trust.

In June 2017, Parliament adopted a change to the Standing Orders (S.O. 32(7)), which requires the Government to table a document within 20 sitting days after the beginning of the new session, which outlines the reasons for the prorogation.

The document is then deemed referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, which can choose to study the document and produce a report to the House.

Given the current Parliamentary calendar, this would require that the document be tabled on or before May 2, 2025.

The GHLO will work with your office for the preparation and tabling of this document.

Budget

Typically, the Budget is presented between February and March, however, the Government is under no obligation to do so and has presented a Budget as late as April or not at all in some circumstances. 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 Conservative Party (CPC) would move an amendment to the Budget motion, and the Bloc Québécois (BQ) would move a sub amendment.
• End of Day 2, the House would vote on the BQ sub amendment.
• End of Day 3, the House would vote on the CPC 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.

Managing the Government's agenda in the Senate

The Senate is scheduled to return on March 24, 2025, for the purpose of the SFT.

In 2014, your predecessor, then leader of the Liberal Party removed Liberal Senators from the National Caucus. In 2015, the Government implemented a new appointment process and established the Independent Advisory Board for Senate appointments.

This changed the composition of the Senate and resulted in the formation of new groups. In 2017, the Senate updated the Rules of the Senate to recognize a caucus as a group of nine or more senators and remove the requirement that a caucus must be formed by members of a political party. In 2022, the Parliament of Canada Act was amended through Bill C-19 to recognize three groups beyond the Government and Opposition for the purposes of: additional allowances; consultations on the appointments of certain officers and agents of Parliament; and, membership of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.

The Government’s agenda in the Senate is managed by the Government Representative in the Senate, a senator without party or group affiliation acting as the Senate equivalent of the GHL.  [ * ]

At the time of writing, these are the current standings in the Senate:

• Independent Senators Group: 41
• Canadian Senators Group: 18
• Progressive Senate Group: 15
• Non-affiliated: 14
• Conservative Party of Canada: 12
• Affiliation to be confirmed: 5
• Vacant seats: 0

The GHLO works closely with the Government Representative’s Office (GRO) in the Senate to coordinate the sequencing of Government legislation between the two chambers. The GRO 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.

Ministers have appeared at Senate Question Period on a regular basis (i.e., weekly), to respond to questions about their portfolio. Continuing this practice would further strengthen relationships with senators.

Annex A: Effects of prorogation on business before the House

Effects of Prorogation

A new Parliament starts after a federal election when new Members of Parliament are elected. Within a Parliament, there may be one or more sessions, each starting with a Speech from the Throne (SFT). A session may end by prorogation or by dissolution (which in turn would end a Parliament).

Prorogation effectively ends proceedings before Parliament. With only certain exceptions, items that were on the Order Paper die and must be restarted in the next session.

Legislation

All Government bills die on the Order Paper upon prorogation, but they can be reintroduced in the next session.

See Annex E for a List of Government bills that were before Parliament upon prorogation.

Private Members’ Business

Private Members’ Business (PMBs) survive prorogation. All bills are reintroduced at the beginning of the same stage they were at when Parliament was prorogued.  See Annex F for background and a strategy for managing PMBs. 

Committees

Committees, other than the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, cease to exist upon prorogation and must be reconstituted at the beginning of the new session. The first business for committees will be to elect chairs and vice chairs. They can then also choose to resume studies that were ongoing prior to prorogation.

Requests for government responses to committee reports are carried over between sessions. 13 will be due on March 24 when the House opens with additional reports due over the subsequent week. See Annex G for information on managing these.

Petitions

Responses to 126 petitions that would have been due during the period of prorogation will need to be tabled at the first sitting of the new session. See Annex G for general information on responding to petitions. 

Annex B: 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 Private Members’ Bills (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 jurisdiction (see Annex B1 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 F for more details.

Annex B1: 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.  For example, your predecessor’s office convened 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 C: The Speech from the Throne

The Speech from the Throne (SFT) is delivered by the Governor General in the Senate on the first day of the new session. You are being briefed separately on development of the Speech. 

Once the House resumes business, the Government traditionally begins the debate on the SFT by having the mover and seconder make his or her speeches. The Prime Minister normally selects the mover and seconder, often from among the backbench with consideration to linguistic representations, 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.

The Standing Orders provide for up to six days of debate on the Address in Reply to the SFT, 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 generally not considered questions of confidence unless they explicitly propose that the House does not have confidence in the Government. However, given that the main motion is considered to signal support for the Government’s overall agenda, this vote is generally acknowledged to be a question of confidence.

There is no procedural requirement to debate or complete the Address in Reply to the SFT.

Annex D: 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.
• Implicit 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 E: Government Bills before the House before prorogation

Awaiting First Reading

• S-15, Animals in Captivity (ECCC) - Creates offences related to keeping elephants and great apes in captivity.
• S-17, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023 (JUS) - Amends 58 Acts and three related regulations to correct errors in grammar, spelling, terminology and punctuation, and discrepancies between English and French versions.

Second Reading

• S-11, Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 4 (JUS) - Harmonizes Canadian federal laws with civil law principles in Quebec to improve consistency and clarity in legal interpretation.
• S-14, Protecting Canada’s Natural Wonders Act (ECCC) - Aims to establish stronger protections for Canada's national parks and natural heritage sites to preserve their ecological integrity.
• C-23, Historic Places of Canada Act (PCH) - Provides for the designation of places, persons and events that are of national historic significance or national interest.
• C-38, An Act to amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements) (ISC) - Provides new entitlements to registration to address inequities in registration and band membership.
• C-52, Enhancing Transparency and Accountability in the Transportation System Act (TC) - Creates a statutory framework to increase transparency and accountability in the air transportation sector.
• C-63, Online Harms (PCH) - Promotes the online safety of persons and reduce harms caused to persons in Canada as a result of harmful content online.
• C-66, Military Justice System Modernization Act (DND) - Seeks to update and strengthen the military JUStice system to align more closely with civilian legal standards.
• C-71, Lost Canadians (IRCC) - Aims to restore Canadian citizenship to individuals who lost it due to outdated laws or bureaucratic gaps.
• C-72, Connected Care for Canadians Act (HC) - Seeks to improve access to virtual healthcare and digital health services across Canada.
• C-73, Nature Accountability Act (ECCC) - Aims to establish a framework for tracking and ensuring Canada’s progress in meeting biodiversity and conservation goals.
• C-77, Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation Act (ISC) - Provides for the appointment of a Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation to conduct reviews and performance audits of the activities of government institutions related to the implementation of modern treaties.

Committee Consideration

• S-6, Regulatory Modernization (Industry Committee) TBS - Seeks to streamline and improve the regulatory process to enhance efficiency and reduce unnecessary burdens on businesses.
• C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022 (Industry Committee) ISED - Aims to strengthen privacy protections and enhance data governance in the digital economy in Canada.
• C-65, Electoral Participation Act (Procedure and House Affairs Committee) DI - Aims to improve transparency and integrity in the electoral process.

Report Stage

• C-33, Strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada Act (TC) - Aims to enhance the safety and efficiency of Canada's port and railway systems.
• C-53, Recognition of Certain Métis Governments in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan and Métis Self-Government Act (ISC) - Seeks to formally recognize specific Métis governments in these provinces and affirm Métis self-governance rights.
• C-61, First Nations Clean Water Act (ISC) - Aims to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation services on First Nations lands by establishing stronger regulatory frameworks and enforcement mechanisms.

Consideration of Senate amendments

• C-26, Cybersecurity (PS) - Seeks to enhance Canada’s cyber security framework by establishing new requirements for critical infrastructure protection and government accountability.

Annex F: 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 (PMBs) 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. Issues under consideration through PMBs include supply management, the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, and natural health products. 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).

Private Members’ Business items are programed, 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 their Senate equivalents, Senate Public Bills (SPBs), are programmed in the Senate. All Senate business died on the Order Paper at prorogation; therefore, Senators will need to reintroduce any bills they wish to pursue in the new session.

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. This is referred to as a replenishment of Private Members’ Business. The next replenishment is currently forecasted for late May 2025.

The GHL, supported PCO’s Legislation and House Planning Secretariat, coordinates the Government’s management of Private Members Business items and Senate Public Bills (SPB)s. Lead ministers are responsible for proposing a Government position (i.e., support, support with amendments, oppose) and for executing a strategy to achieve that position in the House and Senate.

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Annex G: Tablings

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.

Reports that were due during the prorogation period will have to be tabled on March 24. Ministers are responsible for tabling reports for their respective departments and agencies, without requiring Cabinet approval.

Parliamentary Returns

Members of Parliament may ask a question 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.

This is a similar process to Senate except they do not have the option of an oral response. During Question Period, Oral questions in the Senate can be taken on notice by the Government Representative/ Leader in the Senate and a written response can be provided at a later time.

The Government has a minimum of 45 days to respond to Order Paper Questions in the House and 60 days in the Senate.

Questions on the Order Paper (OPQ) in the House of Commons or in the Senate at the time of prorogation or dissolution die on the Order Paper. However, there is nothing that would restrict the ability of Members or Senators to retable their questions in the new session.

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 survive prorogation. 126 responses that would have been due during the period of prorogation will need to be tabled at the first sitting of the new session. Ministers are responsible for tabling responses, without requiring Cabinet approval. Departments have prepared responses to petitions for the approval of their ministers prior to tabling when Parliament resumes. 

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.

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