Order of Reference

Most Senate committees need permission from the Senate before they can start their work or hear from people on a subject. This permission is called an order of reference. It is how the Senate gives work to its committees. Usually, the Senate asks a committee to study:

• a proposed law,
• how the government is spending money, or
• a topic related to what the committee usually studies.

An order of reference might say:

• what a study should look at
• how long it should work on the study and
• other important details.

Brief

People and organizations can share their opinions, comments and advice with a committee by writing to it. These written documents are called briefs. Briefs can take many forms, such as a letter or an essay. Anyone can submit a brief.

Notice of Meeting

A notice of meeting tells people that a Senate committee will meet. It lists the time, location and what the senators will be talking about during the meeting. It may also include a list of witnesses who will attend.

Notices of meeting are posted on the Senate of Canada website. You can also sign up to receive a notice of meeting by email. If you are interested in what a committee is studying or you want to hear what a witness will say, you can watch committee meetings in person or online.

Transcript

A transcript is written text of what senators and witnesses said during a committee meeting.

It shows what a senator said about a bill or issue, and what questions they asked. You can read the transcripts on the Senate website.

A person called an editor makes sure the transcripts are easier to read. Senators can speak in French or English and their words are translated. Transcripts show what was said in both French and English.

Minutes of Proceedings

Minutes of proceedings are the official record of the meeting. Minutes show important information about what happened during a committee meeting. They usually show:

• the date, time and location of the meeting,
• who was there,
• the topic of the meeting,
• and what decisions were made.

Minutes are written by the clerk of the committee. The clerk is a Senate employee.

Committee Report (Legislative)

After a committee studies a bill, it writes a legislative committee report. The report shows what senators decided based on the information they gathered during their study.

This report explains any changes the committee suggests making to the bill. If the committee didn’t make changes, the report says that the senators accept the bill the way it is.

The report could also say that the committee thinks the bill should not go ahead. This doesn’t happen very often.

The committee members can also agree to add their opinions or comments at the end of the report. These are called “observations.”

More than half of the committee members must agree with what is in the report.

When the report doesn’t propose changes, the bill moves automatically to the next stage of the law-making process.

When the report proposes changes or says that a bill should not move forward, senators talk about the report in the Senate Chamber. Then senators vote on the report.

• If the Senate votes to agree with the report, the bill — with the committee’s changes — moves to the next stage of the law-making process.
• If the Senate votes against the report, the committee’s changes are removed from the bill. Instead, the original version of the bill moves to the next stage of the law-making process.
• If the report suggested that the bill should not move forward and the Senate votes for the report, the bill is defeated. If the Senate votes against the report, the bill moves to the next stage in the law-making process.

Committee Report (Special study)

When a Senate committee studies an important issue instead of a bill, it writes a report about what it learned. People interested in the issue can read the report to learn what senators did with the information they gathered during their study.

Most committee reports include an executive summary, which lists the key points. Reports usually have a list of recommendations. Recommendations are things the committee wants the government to do. The rest of the report is usually divided into chapters about specific topics.

Senators talk about these reports when they meet in the Senate Chamber. The senators can vote to adopt the report. If the Senate adopts the report, it means the Senate wants people to know it agrees with what is written in the report. Once a report is adopted, the Senate can ask the government to write a response to the report.

Budget Report

Committees have money to pay for the expenses of the witnesses they invite. If a committee needs extra money to do its work, it must ask the Senate. A committee does this by writing a budget report  and presenting it to the Senate for approval.

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Interested in learning more about how the Senate works? There are more resources to explore on The Senate Explained page or the Chamber Documents Explained page.