Participate in a public Commission meeting

The Commission holds public meetings to facilitate the conduct of its affairs. The Commission meeting process is governed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission By-laws under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act. This page provides general information about how you can observe and participate in CNSC public meetings.

Observe or actively participate

Attend in person

Members of the public are welcome to attend public Commission meetings. You do not need to give advance notice or request to attend. Location information can be found in the notice of public meeting.

Watch online

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) offers live webcasts of public Commission proceedings. You can tune in live on the day of a meeting or watch the archived webcasts at a later date. You can also follow the highlights of the proceedings live on the CNSC Twitter page.

Participate in a public meeting

The Commission may invite public participation for specific meeting items of public interest. Check the notice of public meeting to verify if any meeting items allow public participation.

Members of the public, Indigenous Nations and communities, and other stakeholders who have an interest or expertise in the matter being considered, or who have information that may be useful to the Commission can formally participate as intervenors in public meetings where public participation has been invited. Interventions may be made in English or French, via a written submission or, in some cases, a written submission accompanied by an oral presentation during the meeting.

Public Commission meetings can accommodate participation by teleconference or videoconference. Arrangements for remote participation must be made through the Commission Registry.

The CNSC has a Participant Funding Program (PFP) to assist members of the public, Indigenous Nations and communities, and other stakeholders in bringing value-added information to the Commission. Learn more about PFP funding opportunities, eligibility and the PFP application.

How to participate

Anyone wishing to intervene at a meeting must submit a request to participate to the Commission Registry by using the online request form, by sending an email to the Commission Registry or by submitting a request via fax or mail.

Submitting a request to participate does not automatically grant intervenor status, as the request must be accepted by the Commission. The Registry will inform you of the Commission's decision.

Request to participate

The request to participate must include:

• the meeting date and the subject of the meeting item
• a written submission of the comments to be presented to the Commission
• a statement of whether you wish to intervene with a written submission only, or with a written submission and oral presentation
• your name, address, telephone number and email address

The aforementioned required information is also listed in the notice of public meeting. Please note that your intervention should be specific to the meeting item for which public intervention has been invited. Please also note that all submissions are made available to the public. Personal information, such as address and telephone number, is essential for linking the submission to its author. If you wish to ensure the confidentiality of your personal information, please submit it on a separate page.

Your request, which includes your written submission, must be received by the Commission Registry by the date indicated in the notice of public meeting.

Acknowledgement and confirmation

The Commission Registry will acknowledge receipt of your request to intervene, and will later confirm if your intervention has been accepted by the Commission.

If your request is accepted, your intervention will be given a Commission member document reference number and will be added to the public record. Submissions from the public and CNSC staff are publicly available on the CNSC website.

Interventions

Participation in a public meeting is called an intervention, whether done by written submission only, or by both a written submission and an oral presentation.

By written submission only

Commission members read all written submissions before a public meeting. During the meeting, Commission members have an opportunity to raise specific concerns or questions they might have for CNSC staff or meeting participants.

By both written submission and oral presentation

In some cases, the Commission may allow an intervenor to make an oral presentation that summarize the key points of a written submission. An oral presentation is not possible without a written submission. A presentation is typically limited to about 10 minutes and is followed by an opportunity for the Commission members to ask questions. Commission members will have read written submissions beforehand, and the question period will help to ensure a clear understanding of the matters raised. There is no time limit for the question period.

Criteria for oral presentations

The Commission determines the format of an intervention – in writing only or both in writing and orally. The Commission can accept a written submission, but deny a request to make an oral presentation.
If you wish to give an oral presentation, please include the following information in your request to participate. Please note that this list is non-exhaustive and is meant to assist you in filing your request:

• your specific interest in the matter
• your expertise in the matter, or the specific information you can bring to the Commission's consideration
• your unique perspective
• the value your oral submission would add to the Commission's consideration of issues
• how the Commission would benefit from an oral exchange on the issues you wish to raise and the questions the Commission may wish to ask meeting participants
• if you have received participant funding to present a submission to the Commission

Here are some additional points that you may wish to consider when submitting a request for an oral presentation:

• If a request to intervene reflects a letter-writing campaign, the Commission will generally consider it as a written intervention only.
• If several interventions that express the same views are received, the Commission may consider them as written interventions only to avoid repetition during the public meeting.
• If several interventions expressing the same views and common interests are received, the Commission may consider selecting a single representative to present on behalf of a group of intervenors.
• If an intervention is partially out of scope and contains some information that may be useful to the Commission, it may be considered as a written intervention only.
• If granted oral intervenor status, you may give your presentation or have a representative of your choice present on your behalf.

Confidential filings

For information on confidential filings, please see the Guidance Document on Confidential Filings. This document establishes uniform procedures for filing confidential materials for matters that come before the Commission.

Notices of meetings and agendas

Notices of public meeting that invite public participation, are available on the CNSC website and sent to CNSC email subscribers before the meeting. When there is no public participation, notices of meeting are only available on the CNSC website.

Notices of meetings include information about:

• the purpose of the meeting
• when and where the meeting will be held
• the form of intervention, if interventions are invited (written submission only, or both written submission and oral presentation on the day of the meeting)
• deadlines for submitting requests to participate to the Commission Registry, if public intervention is permitted

A public meeting agenda is available on the CNSC website beforehand. The agenda lists the times that meeting items are scheduled to be heard and the order of the interventions, if applicable. Note: The Commission Registry sets the order in which the interventions will be heard.

To receive an email when opportunities to participate or public meeting agendas are posted, register for the CNSC's email subscription service.

Other meeting documents

• Browse meeting documents
• Search meeting documents

Contact

For further information about participating in a public meeting or other Commission information, contact the Commission Registry.