Explanatory Note
At the start of every session of Parliament, the Law Clerk of the House of Commons is required, under Standing Order 153 of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, to prepare a list of required reports and other periodical statements.
List of documents to be tabled.
153.At the commencement of every session of Parliament, the Law Clerk of the House shall make available to each member, in printed or electronic form, a list of the reports or other periodical statements which it is the duty of any officer or department of the government, or any bank or other corporate body to make to the House, referring to the Act or resolution, and page of the volume of the laws or Journals wherein the same may be ordered and placing under the name of each officer or corporation a list of reports or returns required to be made, and the time when the report or periodical statements may be expected.
The List brings together reports and other documents that must be tabled in the House of Commons under an Act of Parliament or a resolution of the House. It does not indicate whether a document has been tabled in a timely manner.
Most of the time, it is up to a minister to ensure the tabling of documents. The List sets out each minister in alphabetical order using the minister’s legal title. If an Act does not name a specific minister, the document is found under the name of the minister who is responsible for the Act. Documents to be tabled by ministers of State assigned to assist other ministers (currently styled as secretaries of State) are listed under the minister responsible for the department. Documents to be tabled by ministers of State presiding over ministries of State are grouped under the heading “State, Ministers of.” For additional information on a particular report, please contact the minister or other officer responsible for tabling the report.
For the convenience of Members of Parliament and other users of the List, documents to be tabled by the Speaker are also included.
The List includes two schedules. Schedule 1 sets out the reports and other documents that have been tabled under a one-time statutory requirement and that do not need to be tabled again. Schedule 2 lists the reports and other documents that were tabled for a time but that no longer need to be tabled because the requirement is now spent. It also lists the documents for which the statutory requirement has been discontinued by order of the Governor in Council because they contain the same information as or less information than the Public Accounts or any estimates of expenditures. For ease of reference, these reports and documents are listed separately from those for which the tabling requirement is still current.
The information relating to each document is presented in four columns, as in the following example:
1
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants2
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On any of the first 15 days on which the House is sitting after September 1 of the year in which the report is prepared4
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8560 13006
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Access to Information Act7 R.S., 1985, c. A-1, s. 94(2)
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1. Person responsible for tabling the document in the House of Commons
2. Officer, government department or organization responsible for preparing the document
3. Description of the document and its subject matter
4. Timeframe for tabling the document
5. Timeframe for preparing the document
6. Sessional paper number assigned when the document is first tabled (see below)
7. Title of Act (short title when possible) and provision under which the document is to be tabled
Note 6 – Sessional paper number: The sessional paper number is the number assigned to a document when it is tabled for the first time. To indicate that a number has not yet been assigned, the abbreviation “n/a” (not applicable) is used. When a number has been assigned but some digits vary from one tabling to another, the letter “X” replaces those digits.
In the Journals of the House of Commons, this number is accompanied by a number representing the parliamentary session in which the document was tabled. For example, to indicate that a document was tabled during the 1st Session of the 44th Parliament, “441” is added to it: 8560 441 1300. In addition, the Journals include a sequential number (01, 02, 03, etc.) if more than one of the same type of report is tabled in a single session. For example, the third document numbered 8560 441 1300 that is tabled during the 1st Session of the 44th Parliament would be followed by “03”: 8560 441 1300 03. However, the List includes only the permanent sessional paper number, so the example report is numbered as follows: 8560 1300.
Provision in quotation mark: Provision of the embedded Act under which the document is to be tabled (embedded Act: an Act enacted in another Act), as in the example below.
Tabling requirement not in force: When a tabling requirement or a part of it is not in force, the entire entry, or that part, is shaded, as in the following example, and the phrase “not in force” is added at the end of the reference to the Act.
When a tabling requirement is not in force
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On any of the first 15 days on which the House is sitting after the day on which the Minister receives the report (within 120 days after the end of each of the College's fiscal years5)
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n/a
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College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act 2019, c. 29, s. 292 "15(2)"(not in force)
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Any other questions may be directed to:
Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel
House of Commons
131 Queen Street, Room 7-02
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Tel.: 613-996-6063 or 613-943-2333
Email: OLCPCLegislationBLCP@parl.gc.ca
The List of Reports and Returns may be consulted at the following address:
https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/list-of-reports-and-returns