Bill C-15 Update: House Finance Committee amendment reinstates protection for Library Book Rate

February 24, 2026

During its clause-by-clause review of the Budget Implementation Act (Bill C-15), the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance adopted an amendment put forward by the government to reinstate protections for free literature for the blind and reduced postage rates for library materials in the Canada Post Corporations Act.

The committee’s report to the House of Commons includes:

In accordance with its Order of Reference of Wednesday, December 10, 2025, your committee has considered Bill C-15, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on November 4, 2025, and agreed on Monday, February 23, 2026, to report it with the following amendments:

Clause 196

That Bill C-15, in Clause 196, be amended by adding after line 30 on page 296 the following:

“(3.1) The Corporation must provide for

(a) the transmission by post, free of postage, of letters, books, tapes, records and other similar material for the use of the blind; and

(b) a reduced rate of postage for library materials lent by a library to a borrower, including by means of an interlibrary loan.”

News of the amendment was shared by the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) and the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) in an email to their stakeholders:

Update Feb 24: repealing Free Literature for the Blind in Bill C-15 (Budget Implementation Act)

Hello friends,

Good news! Yesterday, the House of Commons Finance Committee approved amendments to Bill C-15 (2025 Budget Implementation Act) that reinstates the protections for free literature for the blind and reduced postage rates for library materials in the Canada Post Corporations Act.

The new wording reads:

Exceptions — rates

(3.1) The Corporation must provide for

(a) the transmission by post, free of postage, of letters, books, tapes, records and other similar material for the use of the blind; and

(b) a reduced rate of postage for library materials lent by a library to a borrower, including by means of an interlibrary loan.

Bill C-15 must now be sent back to the House of Commons for Report Stage and 3rd Reading. Once passed, it will proceed to the Senate. We do not expect any major changes to this section and certainly none that should cause further harm to Canada Post rates for library materials or materials for the use of the blind.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported and helped in this important advocacy work. NNELS and CELA worked collaboratively with the Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), and Public Library InterLINK on this issue. We also worked alongside CNIB, Braille Literacy Canada and other disability partners – all of our voices together have collectively made a difference.

Please feel free to share this update with others. We will keep you updated as we know more and will also post to the CELA website and the NNELS website.

Sincerely,

Kevin Millsip (NNELS), Laurie Davidson (CELA) and Daniella Levy-Pinto (NNELS) – on behalf of the organizing group

(Via House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance)