About

45th Parliament, 1st Session
(May 26, 2025 - Present)
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The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology, established by the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, examines and reports on matters referred to it by the House of Commons and undertakes studies on its own initiative. Bills, departmental activities and spending, and other matters related to the mandate of the committee may be referred to it. Such matters include:

  • innovation, industry and technology capability;
  • telecommunications and digital policy;
  • intellectual property;
  • investment, competition, trade, small business and tourism; and
  • rules and services that support the effective operation of the marketplace.

The committee reviews the performance and policies of the Department of Industry and the federal entities which operate within its portfolio:

The following entities are also associated with the Department of Industry’s portfolio:

For a more detailed overview of the role and powers of committees, please consult Our Procedure.

Parliamentary oversight of industry, science and commerce has evolved through various committee structures over the decades. In earlier sessions of Parliament, these matters were addressed by House of Commons committees such as the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, Regional and Northern Development during the 34th Parliament (1989–1993) and the Standing Committee on Industry during the 35th Parliament (1994–1997). During the 37th Parliament (2001–2004), the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology was established with a mandate that included business innovation, telecommunications, consumer affairs and federal science policy. In 2021, during the 43rd Parliament, the committee was retitled the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology to reflect the growing significance of emerging technologies and digital transformation in Canada’s industrial landscape and to accommodate the creation of the Standing Committee on Science and Research.

Staff Assigned to the Committee

In the execution of its functions, each committee is normally assisted by a committee clerk, a committee assistant, and one or more analysts. Occasional assistance is also provided by legislative clerks and lawyers from the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel. These individuals are non-partisan and serve all members of the committee and representatives of all parties equally.

Committee Clerk

The clerk performs their duties and responsibilities under the direction of the committee and its Chair. As an expert in the rules of the House of Commons, the clerk may be requested to give advice to the Chair and members of the committee should a question of procedure arise. The clerk is the coordinator, organizer and liaison officer for the committee, and as such, is in frequent contact with Members’ staff. The clerk is also responsible for inviting witnesses and dealing with all the details regarding their appearance before the committee.

Committee Assistant

The committee assistant provides a wide range of specialized administrative services for the organization of committee meetings and the publishing of documents on the committee’s website. The committee assistant works with the clerk to meet the needs of the committee.

Committee Analyst

The Library of Parliament’s analysts, who are subject-matter experts, provide authoritative, substantive, and timely research, analysis and information to all members of the committee. They are part of the committee’s institutional memory and are a unique resource for parliamentarians. Supported by research librarians, the analysts work individually or in multidisciplinary teams. Analysts can prepare briefing notes on the subjects being examined, detailed study plans, lists of proposed witnesses, analyses of an issue with a list of suggested questions, background papers, draft reports, news releases, and formal correspondence.

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE AS REQUIRED

Parliamentary Counsel

Within the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, parliamentary counsel (Legislation) are available to assist Members who are not in Cabinet with the preparation of private Members’ bills or of amendments to government bills or other bills.

At various stages of the legislative process, Members may propose amendments to bills. Amendments may first be proposed at the committee stage, during a committee’s clause-by-clause review of a bill. Amendments may also be proposed at the report stage, once a bill returns to the House.

Once a bill is sent to committee, the clerk of the committee provides Members the name of the parliamentary counsel (Legislation) responsible for drafting the amendments for that bill.

Legislative Clerk

The legislative clerk serves all members of the committee as a specialist of the process by which a bill becomes law. They are available to give, upon request from Members and their staff, advice on the admissibility of amendments when bills are referred to committee. The legislative clerk organizes the amendments into packages for committee stage, reviews all the committee amendments for procedural admissibility and prepares draft rulings for the Chair.

During clause-by-clause consideration of bills in committee, a legislative clerk is in attendance to assist the committee with any procedural issues that may arise. The legislative clerk can also provide Members with advice regarding the procedural admissibility of report stage amendments. When a bill is sent to committee, the clerk of the committee provides Members the name of the legislative clerk assigned to the bill.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO)

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is an officer of Parliament created by the Parliament of Canada Act who supports Parliament by providing analysis, including analysis of macroeconomic and fiscal policy, for the purposes of raising the quality of parliamentary debate and promoting greater budget transparency and accountability.

The Parliament of Canada Act also provides the PBO with a mandate to, if requested by a committee, estimate the financial cost of any proposal over which Parliament has jurisdiction. Certain committees, including the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, can also request research and analyses of the nation’s finances or economy, or of the estimates.

Further information on the PBO may be found at:http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/en/.

In previous years, the committee has studied and reported on numerous issues within its mandate. During the 44th Parliament, the committee presented the following reports to the House of Commons:

In addition to its studies, the committee examined main and supplementary estimates and considered the following government and private member’s bills: