Royal assent
The final stage of the legislative process at which a bill, having passed both chambers in identical form, becomes an Act of Parliament.
What it means
A federal bill becomes law when it has passed third reading in both the House of Commons and the Senate in identical wording and then receives royal assent from the Governor General or a deputy of the Governor General, usually a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.
There are two ways it happens. The traditional ceremony takes place in the Senate chamber with members of both houses present. The Royal Assent Act also allows assent by written declaration, which is how most bills now receive it — a signed declaration, notice to both chambers, and the bill is an Act.
Royal assent and coming into force are different events, and conflating them is a common error. Assent makes the bill an Act; the Act then comes into force on the day of assent, on a date fixed in the Act itself, or on a day set later by order of the Governor in Council. A statute can sit assented to but not in force for years, or come into force in sections.
Assent is not a veto point in practice. The convention that assent is granted on the advice of ministers is settled, and it has not been refused federally in Canada. The decisions that determine whether a bill becomes law are taken in the two chambers, not at assent.
Provincial bills follow the same shape in a single chamber, with the Lieutenant Governor of the province granting assent.
A bill that reached assent
Bill C-20, the Build Canada Homes Act, received royal assent on 18 June 2026 in the 45th Parliament. Its LEGISinfo record shows the full sequence — first reading, second reading, committee, third reading, Senate consideration, assent — which is the same six-stage shape our bill pages draw.
Following one bill end to end on the official record is the fastest way to internalise the process, because the dates show you where the real delays are. They are almost never at assent.
How it shows up in our data
Every bill page draws a six-stage timeline — first reading, second reading, committee, third reading, Senate, royal assent — marking which stages the bill has reached and the date of each, and carries the royal assent date where the source records one.
Coming-into-force dates are carried in the underlying data but are frequently null at source, so treat an assented Act on this site as assented, not necessarily as in force.
Related on Integrity Index
Sources
- Royal Assent Act (S.C. 2002, c. 15)
- LEGISinfo — Bill C-20 (45-1)
- House of Commons Compendium — the legislative process
Last reviewed: