The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is served by Episcopal Commissions and Standing Committees, in addition to the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council.

The Commissions and Standing Committees cover particular pastoral areas identified by the Bishops as requiring attention. In this way, the Commissions and Standing Committees exist to respond to specific needs within the Church in Canada.

In terms of membership, Bishops alone may constitute and chair the Commissions, while consecrated and lay persons with specific expertise may be included in Standing Committees, which are nevertheless under the chairmanship of a Bishop. The Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council, which includes both Bishops and lay Catholic Indigenous representatives, is the only structure of the CCCB co-chaired by a non-Bishop, who in this case is an Indigenous person. The members of each Commission and Standing Committee as well as of the Indigenous Council are appointed by the Permanent Council on the recommendation of the Executive Committee.

Of the six Commissions, three are referred to as “national” because they are formed by Bishops equally distributed between the English and French sectors. The remaining three are referred to as “sectoral” because they exclusively serve either the English or French sector of the CCCB.