Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations on a particular topic. A committee can only make recommendations; it cannot issue orders to the House or to the Government.

Some reports have a standard format. For instance, reports on bills contain nothing more than the amendments adopted by the committee, and reports on order-in-council appointments either find the appointee qualified or not qualified. These kinds of reports will be prepared by the committee clerk based on what the committee has agreed to.

Substantive reports on a subject-matter study do not have a standard format.   They usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. A draft of this type of report is prepared by the analysts from the Library of Parliament and is reviewed in detail by the committee.

Reports can only be presented to the House after they have been adopted by the committee. Dissenting or supplementary opinions (i.e., a brief text providing additional comment) may be attached to subject-matter reports with the agreement of the committee. The committee may ask the Government to respond to its recommendations within 120 days after the presentation of the report.

The Chair of the committee presents the report to the House during Routine Proceedings. If the Chair is unavailable, any member of the committee may present the report.