The committee's work this session has been dominated by clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-16, the government's sentencing and bail reform package, alongside study of several private members' bills on restitution, parole ineligibility, and youth justice. A recurring theme across these files is the tension between tough-on-crime measures and Charter compliance. On Bill C-16, Department of Justice officials repeatedly explained the "safety valve" allowing judges to depart from mandatory minimums where a sentence would be cruel and unusual, and defended the revival of child pornography MMPs following the Senneville decision. Conservative members pressed for additional mandatory minimums and restrictions on the safety valve, while the Canadian Bar Association warned that the safety valve still requires imprisonment and that delay-remedy changes could weaken incentives to address trial delays. Similar Charter caution surfaced on Bill C-235, where officials and the CACP's legal counsel noted that a 40-year parole ineligibility period could face section 12 scrutiny, even as victims' advocates and police supported the measure.

Witnesses have come from a consistent set of constituencies: Department of Justice counsel (Taylor, Burt, Levman, Ellison, Sigouin, Wells, Kelly, Godlewski), police representatives (Inspector Gates, Chief Truong, Superintendent Weidman), victim-serving organizations (Angels of Hope, The Go-Give Project, Child and Youth Advocacy Centres, Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario), and affected families. Victim-centred testimony recurred across files—Jo-Anne Landolt on the trauma of repeated parole hearings, Caroline Levesque and Justine Berthold on their son's death, and Cristina Scarpellini on human trafficking survivors. On Bill C-16, witnesses largely supported recognizing coercive control but disagreed on scope: Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario argued the intimate-partner limitation leaves a gap for elder abuse, the CBA questioned the precision of the offence and warned against capturing high-conflict family conduct, and police called for training, risk-assessment tools, and information-sharing authority. On Bill C-231, the family of David urged support while criminologist Angy Riendeau cautioned that the Youth Criminal Justice Act already contains underutilized tools and that resources, not legislation, are the real gap.

The committee also handled a Supreme Court appointment and ministerial appearances. The Joyal nomination study featured the advisory board chair and Federal Judicial Affairs commissioner describing a nine-applicant pool from western and northern Canada, a shortened list of two recommended candidates, and bilingualism verification, while Minister Fraser defended the process against questions about political donations and the Liberalist database. Minister Fraser's earlier appearance on mandate and estimates set out a three-pillar public safety strategy and defended Bill C-14's residual discretion clause and Bill C-22's metadata retention. Procedural friction has been a constant: members repeatedly clashed over scope, with the chair ruling numerous Conservative and NDP amendments out of order on Bill C-16 and Bill C-238, and divisions over French-English precedence and provincial jurisdiction arising on the annual reporting amendment and the restitution bill.

Over time, the committee's attention has shifted from the broad study of Bill C-16 through spring, with extensive witness panels and amendment battles, toward clause-by-clause completion of that bill and then to a cluster of private members' bills—C-231, C-235, and C-238—in late spring and early fall. Bill C-235 was reported back to the House with amendments, and Bill C-231 was reported as amended, while Bill C-238 remained in clause-by-clause with the sponsor, MP Lapointe, signalling openness to amendments prioritizing victim restitution and to expanding scope. Scheduling itself became contested, with a Conservative motion to prioritize Bill S-233 on assaults against health workers deferred amid government insistence on proceeding with C-238. Leadership changed mid-session with the resignation of Chair James Maloney and election of Iqra Khalid, and a vice-chair was elected in the fall.