Federal Government: 1)Bills, byelections and bilats: what you need to know as MPs return to Parliament Hill; 2)Prime Minister Carney rallies Liberal MPs ahead of Parliament’s return

1)Bills, byelections and bilats: what you need to know as MPs return to Parliament Hill

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Sarah Ritchie, Sept. 20, 2026.

Members of Parliament are making their way back to Ottawa for the fall sitting of the House of Commons that gets underway on Monday.

It’s set to be a busy season with the release of the federal budget, debate on legislation and looming byelections.

Here are five things to watch for:

THE BUDGET

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government decided last year to buck tradition and move the release of its annual spending plan to the fall, rather than the spring. It also split the document into an operating budget and a capital budget.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has spent the summer consulting with a wide range of stakeholders about the budget but has not yet set a date to release the next fiscal plan.

The prime minister did offer a hint about what to expect from the coming budget. Carney told investors gathered for last week’s investment summit that his government plans to balance the operating budget next year, 12 months ahead of schedule.

The government projected a deficit of $65.3 billion for the current fiscal year in April’s spring economic update, though many economists expect high global oil prices will boost Ottawa’s bottom line in the fall budget.

BILLS

Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said Friday that “very significant economic legislation” will be the centrepiece of the fall sitting.

Carney said Friday the government will introduce legislation, to be called the Building Canada Strong Act, that will help speed up approval of new federal projects.

“One project, one review, one year,” the prime minister told reporters.

There will also be legislation to enact the fuel excise tax extension that Carney announced on Sept. 2. That bill will formalize the decision to extend the tax break on gas and diesel, introduced in response to higher oil prices caused by the ongoing conflict in Iran.

The federal government consulted with employers and unions over the summer about the state of labour relations following contract disputes at railways, ports and airlines in recent years.

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu would not say Friday whether the Liberals are planning to propose changes to the Labour Code this fall, though MacKinnon hinted “improvements” to the code are on the agenda.

Debate will also continue on some controversial government legislation. Bill C-22, the lawful access bill, is before the Senate. The digital safety bill, which seeks to regulate AI chatbots and restrict social media access for kids under 16, is before the House.

A First Nations water bill was reintroduced in the spring — though critics say it’s a weaker version of a previous bill that recognized First Nations’ right to clean water on their territories.

TARIFFS AND TRADE

Trade talks with the U.S. are off — at least for now — but that doesn’t mean the issue is going away. Conservatives have been calling on the government to release the deal that was hammered out with the Americans before the Canadian side walked away from the negotiating table.

Carney has said that Canada’s new alliance (or associate membership) with the European Union will come to Parliament for debate.

Conservatives have called for a Commons debate on the EU deal and are insisting that Canada should not import what they say are bad European policies on things like immigration and taxes.

BYELECTIONS

Three new Liberal MPs will take their seats for the first time this fall after winning byelections in late August.

Six more byelections are set to be called in the coming months in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.

In Yorkton-Melville, voters will replace longtime Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall. Her caucus colleague Larry Brock resigned Friday as the representative for Brantford-Brant South.

Two Liberals also stepped down: Shaun Chen left his seat in Scarborough North and former minister Steven Guilbeault made a high-profile decision to walk away from Carney’s caucus, leaving an opening in Laurier-Sainte-Marie.

Voters in two other Quebec ridings are also set to replace MPs who left federal politics to run provincially.

In Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, a vote will be held to replace New Democrat Alexandre Boulerice, and Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot-Acton will choose a new representative after Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay left the Bloc Québécois.

Carney has six months after a seat becomes vacant to set a date for a byelection. It’s likely the races in Quebec won’t happen before the provincial election on Oct. 5.

BILATERAL MEETINGS WITH WORLD LEADERS

Carney, who is fresh off a trip to France to speak to the European Parliament, is also expected to travel to the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York City.

Carney is set to host world leaders who are interested in his pledge to diversify trade beyond the U.S.

Vietnamese President To Lam will make a state visit to Ottawa next week, and Indian media reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit in December.

The prime minister typically attends a couple of big international summits that are held in November: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is being hosted by the Philippines this year, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum will be in China.

The summit of La Francophonie is being held in Cambodia, also in November, and the United States is playing host to the Group of 20 nations in December.

— With files from Dylan Robertson, Craig Lord and Alessia Passafiume

2)Prime Minister Carney rallies Liberal MPs ahead of Parliament’s return

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By David Baxter, September 18, 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday his government is focused on bringing down costs for Canadians and defending the country’s sovereignty, though he acknowledged that some of those efforts are in their early stages.

“As we build Canada strong, we remain laser focused on bringing down costs for Canadians and keeping Canadians safe. Because we know that the full benefits of our plan will take some time,” he said to a room full of Liberal MPs.

Speaking to the Liberal caucus on Friday as MPs prepared to return to the House of Commons next week, Carney welcomed three new members who won byelection races in August.

The Opposition Conservatives have been sharpening their lines of attack on the government. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asked at a press conference this week whether Canadians feel their lives have improved since Carney took office.

Carney, who just wrapped a busy week that included an investment summit in Toronto and a speech to the European Parliament in France, told MPs that “was just the warm-up.”

“This is a crucial session of the House of Commons,” he told the caucus. “We are going to introduce some of the most consequential legislation not just of this government, but in decades.”

Carney said the government will introduce legislation this fall to streamline project reviews, to be known as the Building Canada Strong Act.

“For projects and supply chains, our standard will be simple — one project, one review, one year,” he said.

“If we’re going to say no, say no quickly. If we are going to say yes, say yes on time. When Canada decides a project should go ahead, that project will go ahead.”

Canada can maintain its high standards for projects while moving quickly, he said.

Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said just before Carney’s speech that economic legislation will be the “centrepiece” of the session. 

He did not go into specifics, citing parliamentary privilege, but suggested there are plans for several different parts of the economy. 

“We’ve talked for a long time about several things, improvements to the Canada Labour Code, improvements to project reviews, and more generally making supply chains more certain and better planned across the board,” MacKinnon said. 

MacKinnon, who is also transport minister, said the government will advance plans to change how airports are operated. Carney said Tuesday he wants private investors to take over operations at airports in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

The minister said there is “intensive” interest from investors. 

The prime minister said the government will also push ahead with its social media and AI regulation bill this fall.

“We’ve been hearing the concerns of families and educators, medical practitioners in our community, children falling victims of sexual abuse, cyberbullying, and extreme violence online,” he said.

“The status quo is failing our kids. The tech companies won’t fix it. We will not stand by.”

The government is also set to release a new budget during this fall sitting, which is expected to run until December.

Carney said the government will “manage spending and optimize our balance sheet” through its fiscal plan.

He said the government is in a position now to add new supports for social programs and expand child care, but did not share specifics. 

— With files from Sarah Ritchie