Participating
A "participating" committee refers to a technical committee in which Canada participates actively, and in which Canada has an obligation to vote on all submitted questions.
Observing
When a committee has "observing" status, it means that Canada follows the work of the committee as an observer and cannot make any comments about the development process or vote on any of the submitted questions.
Standby
Committees that are in "standby" status have no work item in progress, nor foreseen for the future, but are required to continually review the standards for which they are responsible.