A standing committee is a permanent Committee established by the Standing Orders of the Canadian House Of Commons . It may study matters referred to it by special order or, within its area of responsibility in the Standing Orders, may undertake studies on its own initiative. There are currently 22 standing committees (including two standing Joint Committee s), many with particular Responsibilities to examine the Administration , Policy development, and Budget ary estimates of certain Government Departments And Agencies . Certain standing committees are also given Mandate s to examine matters that have government-wide implications (e.g. Official Languages policy, Multiculturalism policy) or that may not relate to a particular department (e.g. procedure of the House of Commons).
The standing committee decides if a specific legislation should be proposed. Investigators and researchers are assigned to the committee in order to help reach a decision. The Senate holds 16 such committees while House of Representatives holds 19.
Committee sizes range from 6 to 50 members per committee, where one person may not be on more than 6 committees at one time. The Committee On Committees assigns Republican representatives to their committee(s), while the Steering And Policy Committee is in charge of assigning Democratic representatives to committees.
