How long does parliament sit for

The House would then transact its business in the usual way and, unless a special adjournment motion is adopted, would continue to sit during the remaining days of that adjournment period and into the following sitting period as set out in the parliamentary calendar.

The next adjournment period would then begin at the end of that sitting period as specified in column A. The House meets five days a week, from Monday to Friday. This may be described as creating three distinct sitting periods: September to December, February to Easter, and Easter to June.

Three major adjournments are scheduled at Christmas approximately 7 weeks , Easter 2 weeks and the summer season approximately 12 weeks. Four additional adjournments, each about a week in duration, occur in mid-October, mid-November and at the midpoints of the second and third trimesters.

Although the span of time in which the House has operated under the fixed parliamentary calendar is relatively brief, it may be said that since its institution, the parliamentary calendar has enjoyed an appreciable level of compliance. Departure from the calendar can and does occur, however. The royal prerogatives of prorogation and dissolution, for example, are not in any way compromised by the existence of the parliamentary calendar. On occasion the House has been recalled during an adjournment, pursuant to Standing Order.

For most of its history, the House had no written rule identifying days during a session when it would not meet. This gave rise to a practice of irregular — if not haphazard — adjournments, mainly for observance of statutory holidays. The question of whether or not the House would adjourn on a particular day was dependent on such variables as:. In the early post-Confederation years, sessions tended to begin in mid-to late winter and end in late spring; consequently, the question of adjourning over Christmas, for example, did not arise.

In the absence of any written rule, the House tended to make its own decisions with regard to statutory or non-statutory holiday observances for example, Dominion Day [78] has been a statutory holiday since , but this has not prevented the House from sitting on that day [79]. In the early post-Confederation years, the House adjourned for the day when informed of the death of a sitting Member during the session; by the late nineteenth century this practice had all but disappeared [80] , and in the s and s, it was accepted practice that an adjournment for the remainder of the day would take place when news of the death of a sitting Member reached the House in the course of the sitting.

In , the Standing Orders were amended to include a list of the days on which the House would not sit during a session. John the Baptist Day, are statutory holidays as defined by the Interpretation Act. John the Baptist Day June 24 and Canada Day July 1 fall on Tuesday, the House does not sit on the preceding day; similarly, when they fall on Thursday, the House does not sit on the following day.

Since these non-sitting days typically fall within the periods of long adjournments, this Standing Order rarely comes into play. From time to time, the House may be called to reassemble during an adjournment period pursuant to the calendar for the sole purpose of participating in the ceremony granting Royal Assent to a bill or bills.

Parliamentary Business Parliamentary Business - Home. The House. Procedural Reference Material Library of Parliament. Parliamentary Diplomacy. Members - Home. Members and Roles. Related Information. Participate - Home. All members of the House of Commons must be sworn in before taking their seat, whether they are newly-elected or returning for a second or subsequent term.

As part of this ceremony, in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution Act, , members take part in an oath of allegiance oath of loyalty to the Sovereign or a solemn affirmation an alternative to the oath of allegiance and has the same effect. When members assemble on the appointed day for the opening of the new Parliament, the Constitution requires that their first item of business be the election of a Speaker.

Except for ministers and party leaders, all members are considered candidates for the position of Speaker unless they inform the Clerk of the House that they do not wish to stand for the office the day prior to the election. For more information and a video about how the House elects its Speaker, see the Our Procedure article about the Speaker and other presiding officers. Once a Speaker has been elected, the House suspends or adjourns until the time fixed for the Speech from the Throne.

After the claiming of privilege, the new Parliament is formally opened by the reading of the Speech from the Throne. Each subsequent session is opened by a new Speech from the Throne. Each time a session is opened, the House assembles with the Speaker in the Chair, receives the Usher of the Black Rod and proceeds in due course to the Senate for the reading of the Speech from the Throne. It is normally delivered by the Governor General or the Sovereign in the Senate Chamber with members of both Houses present.

After hearing the speech, the Speaker and members return to the House where they may proceed with other items of business. Prorogation of Parliament ends a session. Prorogation also refers to the period of time a Parliament stands prorogued. During a period of prorogation, the Speaker, the Prime Minister, ministers and parliamentary secretaries remain in office, and all members of the House retain their full rights and privileges.

All government bills that have not received royal assent prior to prorogation cease to exist; in order for government bills to be proceeded with in a new session, they must be reintroduced as new bills or they may be reinstated, if the House adopts a motion to this effect. Committees cease to sit after a prorogation. Committee work may also be revived either by motion in the House, or in committee, depending upon the nature of the study. Prorogation does not affect orders or addresses of the House for the tabling of government reports required by statute to be tabled.

Requests for responses to committee reports or petitions are still valid following a prorogation. These continue in force from one session to another but end upon dissolution of Parliament. Dissolution is the formal ending of a Parliament by proclamation of the Governor General. A general election must follow dissolution. The government must wait until the new Parliament is in session before tabling any document that is required pursuant to an act, resolution or standing order.

All orders of reference expire, and the chairs and vice-chairs of all committees are relieved of their duties. The government is no longer required to provide responses to committee reports that may have been requested in the previous session. Parliamentary Business Parliamentary Business - Home.

The House. Procedural Reference Material Library of Parliament. The most usual sitting week was of four days Tuesday to Friday although in some years three-day weeks usually Wednesday to Friday predominated. In the three-day, Tuesday to Thursday, sitting week was instituted, and in the following period the practice of the House rising periodically for short breaks became established.

Such breaks increased in frequency until a four-week cycle of three sitting weeks and one non-sitting week became the norm. This pattern continued to operate, with occasional experimental changes sometimes for extended periods , until At that time sessional orders came into effect which provided generally for a four-week cycle of two sitting weeks followed by two non-sitting weeks, with the House sitting four days per week from Tuesday to Friday in the first week and from Monday to Thursday in the second week.

Sessional orders in effect from September provided for Tuesday to Thursday sittings in the first sitting week of each cycle as it was considered that the Friday was in some ways a non-productive sitting day. The change resulted from a recommendation of the Procedure Committee, which saw advantages in providing consistency of timetabling as well as an additional sitting day per four week cycle.

When the House is sitting its meeting times can be changed by a motion moved by a Minister without notice to set the next meeting of the House, [] or by a Minister on notice to set a future meeting or meetings. A motion for the alteration of the day of next meeting may provide that the House not meet on a day laid down in the standing orders, [] or meet on a day other than those laid down in the standing orders.

It is not uncommon for the days and hours of meeting to be changed, especially towards the end of a sitting period when the business in hand may require an extra sitting day or two. Such additional sittings have occurred on a Saturday, although this is infrequent. In the past the House has frequently changed its hours of meeting by means of sessional order.

On one occasion when a sitting continued beyond the hour of meeting set down for the following sitting, it was considered that a motion for fixing the next meeting of the House for later the same day could not be moved unless by leave of the House or by the suspension of standing or sessional orders, [] but it is not clear whether this view would be taken if the situation arose again.

An amendment to a motion to alter the day or hour of next meeting may be moved [] but the terms of the amendment must be confined to the next sitting day, [] that is, be relevant to the motion.