First Session, Forty-fifth Parliament, 3-4 Charles III, 2025-2026

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-287 An Act to amend the National Research Council Act

FIRST READING, June 17, 2026

This enactment amends the National Research Council Act to provide that, in its role supporting the national model code development system, the National Research Council must prepare, maintain and publish the following:

(a) standardized housing cost and impact summaries for material housing-related model code proposals to be used in the public review of those proposals;

(b) governance transparency information respecting such proposals, including relevant committee memberships, roles and institutional or organizational affiliations; and

(c) an accessible public registry of such proposals and associated materials that includes edition-level and annual summaries of code development activities and impacts.

1st Session, 45th Parliament, 3-4 Charles III, 2025-2026

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-287

An Act to amend the National Research Council Act

His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

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material housing-related model code proposal means a proposed change to a national model code that could materially affect residential construction costs, housing delivery timelines, approval timelines or compliance complexity or add an administrative burden to residential construction. It does not include a proposed change that is solely editorial, corrective or consequential in nature.‍ (proposition de modification importante touchant un code modèle lié au logement)

national model code means a code respecting building, fire, plumbing, energy efficiency and related matters that is developed under the national model code development system and published by or under the authority of the Council.‍ (code modèle national)

public review means the component of the national model code development system that enables proposed changes to a national model code to be made publicly available in both official languages for comment.‍ (examen public)

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National model codes

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(1.‍1) Without limiting the general powers conferred on or vested in the Council by this Act, the Council may undertake, assist in and promote scientific and industrial research and provide technical and administrative support for the development of Canada’s national model codes and must publish the codes.

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For greater certainty

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(1.‍2) For greater certainty, the Council is to carry out its role supporting the national model code development system without infringing the jurisdiction and powers of the provinces, territories and municipal and local authorities, which have sole authority over matters related to codes, including code adoption, construction permitting, building inspection, development approvals, code compliance, code enforcement, zoning, property subdivision, development planning, land use and property servicing.

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Housing cost and impact summary

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5.‍2 (1) The Council must prepare, maintain and publish on its website, in both official languages and in an accessible format, a housing cost and impact summary for each material housing-related model code proposal.

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Publication

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(2) The housing cost and impact summary, along with any relevant materials, must be published when the proposal is first made available for public review.

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Content

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(3) The housing cost and impact summary must include the following information about the proposal:

• (a) the nature and intent of the proposal and the problem it is intended to address;

• (b) a plain-language summary of the proposal, including what is its practical effect, its estimated costs for a typical house or other representative dwelling unit, such as individual single-family homes and multiple unit residential complexes, and its main expected benefits and drawbacks;

• (c) any expected implications of the proposal for residential construction costs, timing and complexity and for the administrative burden on residential construction;

• (d) a detailed quantitative estimate of the incremental initial costs, material operating costs and savings and other quantifiable benefits of the proposal, which uses ranges and clearly stated assumptions where quantification is possible, including the detailed costs for a typical house or other representative dwelling unit, such as individual single-family homes and multiple unit residential complexes;

• (e) the party who is expected to bear the costs referred to in paragraph (d);

• (f) the main uncertainties, data limitations and underlying assumptions that affect the estimate referred to in paragraph (d); and

• (g) the name of every individual recorded by the Council as having initiated, requested, sponsored, submitted or formally advanced the proposal on their own behalf or on behalf of a body, committee, organization, association, government department or other entity, together with each individual’s relevant committee membership position, role and institutional or organizational affiliation at the time of that action.

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Qualitative description

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(4) If it is not possible for the Council to provide a detailed quantitative estimate of the costs of the material housing-related model code proposal under paragraph (3)‍(d), the Council must provide the best available qualitative description of the expected costs, together with an explanation as to why a quantitative estimate is not practicable in the circumstances.

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List of relevant governance bodies and committees

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5.‍3 For each material housing-related model code proposal, the Council must prepare, maintain and publish on its website, in both official languages and in an accessible format

• (a) the list of relevant governance bodies and committees involved in the proposal, including their members’ name, position, role and, where appropriate, institutional or organizational affiliation; and

• (b) the point of contact for technical and process-related questions during the public review of the proposal.

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Public registry

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5.‍4 The Council must prepare, maintain and publish on its website, in both official languages and in an accessible format, a public registry of material housing-related model code proposals that contains

• (a) the housing cost and impact summary — including key process milestones achieved during the public review of the proposal — list of relevant governance bodies and committees — including the governance body or committee responsible for each proposal — publication date, version date and up-to-date status information for each material housing-related model code proposal;

• (b) for each new national model code edition, an estimate of the combined net impact of the material housing-related model code proposals incorporated into that edition for a typical house or other representative dwelling unit, such as individual single-family homes and multiple unit residential complexes; and

• (c) an annual summary describing the national model codes developed or updated, the number and types of proposals received and any recurring issues encountered in estimating costs and relating to process transparency.

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Failure to publish

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5.‍5 A failure by the Council to publish, maintain or update the housing cost and impact summaries under section 5.‍2, the list of relevant governance bodies and committees under section 5.‍3 or the public registry, including annual summaries, under section 5.‍4 does not invalidate any national model code or any action or legislative measure taken by provinces, territories or municipal or local authorities in relation to a national model code.

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