| High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom Haut-commissariat du Canada au Royaume-Uni | |
|---|---|
 Canada House in 2004 | |
 | |
| Location | London, England |
| Address | Trafalgar Square |
| High Commissioner | Ralph Goodale |
| Website | Official website |
The High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom (French : Haut-commissariat du Canada au Royaume-Uni) is the diplomatic mission of Canada to the United Kingdom. [1] It is housed at Canada House on Trafalgar Square in central London.
The Canadian high commission in London is Canada's oldest diplomatic posting, having been established in 1880. Canada House, in Trafalgar Square, became the site of the mission in 1923. In 1962, Canada also acquired the former American Embassy at 1, Grosvenor Square in London's Mayfair district, and it was renamed Macdonald House. Macdonald House was the official residence of the Canadian High Commissioner until the building was vacated in mid-December 2014, after having been sold for redevelopment.
Canada's presence in London goes back to 1869, when Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet was appointed as Canada's informal representative in Britain. This was the first Canadian diplomatic posting and the first from any British colony to the motherland. Since Canada did not have a foreign ministry, Rose acted as the personal representative of Canada's prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Rose's position was retained despite a change of government in Canada, and his position was given the title "Financial Commissioner for the Dominion of Canada". Additionally, in 1874, the government of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie named Edward Jenkins as Canada's Agent-General in London. Jenkins, a British Liberal Party Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, had grown up in Quebec. His duties in that role were clarified to the House of Commons of Canada in May 1874 by Canadian Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie, who said that Jenkins would have surveillance of the Canadian emigration business in London and occasionally be asked to attend to other business of a confidential nature. [2] In addition, he would be "expected to give some little attention to Canadian gentlemen sojourning in London". [2] Jenkins held the post for two years. [3] Mackenzie then appointed former Nova Scotia premier William Annand as agent general in 1876; he held the position until Mackenzie's government was defeated. [4]
When Macdonald returned to power in 1878, he wanted to elevate the office of Financial Commissioner to "resident minister", but this was disallowed by Britain, who offered the title of high commissioner instead. This was the origin of the practice, which continues to this day, whereby members of the Commonwealth send high commissioners rather than ambassadors to each other.
The first official high commissioner was Alexander Tilloch Galt, appointed in 1880. The office remained the most important in Canadian diplomacy until well after World War Two and was generally filled by political appointees rather than career diplomats.
As the high commission's role grew, it needed to expand its facilities, and on 29 June 1925, King George V and Queen Mary officiated at the dedication of Canada House on Trafalgar Square. The mission's needs continued to expand, however, and Canada acquired the former American embassy on Grosvenor Square, renaming it Macdonald House, in honour of Canada's first prime minister. Macdonald House opened on Canada Day (1 July) in 1961.
Canada House was refurbished in 1997–98. After years of operating from two buildings, in mid-December 2014, all of the activities of the High Commission were regrouped in the expanded and fully refurbished Canada House on Trafalgar Square. In order to expand the historic Canada House, the Government of Canada had purchased the adjoining building at 2-3-4 Cockspur Street, originally built as the British head office of the Sunlife Assurance Company of Canada in 1927. It is remarkable that the Sunlife building had been built to match the architecture of Canada House. For that reason, it does look, from the outside, as if the building was built from the start as an extension of Canada House, although this is not the case. The historic Canada House and the former Sunlife head office now form a very coherent ensemble.[ citation needed ]
| Representative of the prime minister/ Financial commissioner of the Dominion of Canada | Start of term | End of term |
|---|---|---|
| Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet | 1869 | 1880 |
| Agent-General | Start of term | End of term |
| Edward Jenkins | 1874 | 1876 |
| William Annand | 1876 | 1878 |
| High Commissioner | Start of term | End of term |
| The Hon. Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt | 1880 | 1883 |
| The Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Tupper | 1883 | 1896 |
| The Rt. Hon. Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal | 1896 | 1914 |
| The Rt. Hon. Sir George Perley | 1914 | 1922 |
| The Hon. Peter C. Larkin | 1922 | 1930 |
| Lucien Turcotte Pacaud (acting) | 1930 | 1930 |
| The Hon. Howard Ferguson | 1930 | 1935 |
| The Rt. Hon. Vincent Massey | 1935 | 1946 |
| Norman Robertson | 1946 | 1949 |
| L. Dana Wilgress | 1949 | 1952 |
| Norman Robertson (second time) | 1952 | 1957 |
| The Hon. George Drew | 1957 | 1964 |
| The Hon. Lionel Chevrier | 1964 | 1967 |
| Charles Ritchie | 1967 | 1971 |
| Jake Warren | 1971 | 1974 |
| The Rt. Hon. Paul Martin Sr. | 1974 | 1979 |
| Jean Casselman Wadds | 1979 | 1983 |
| The Hon. Donald Jamieson | 1983 | 1985 |
| The Hon. Roy McMurtry | 1985 | 1988 |
| The Hon. Donald Stovel Macdonald | 1988 | 1991 |
| Fredrik S. Eaton | 1991 | 1994 |
| The Hon. Royce Frith | 1994 | 1996 |
| The Hon. Roy MacLaren | 1996 | 2000 |
| Jeremy Kinsman | 2000 | 2002 |
| Mel Cappe | 2002 | 2006 |
| James R. Wright | 2006 | 2011 |
| Gordon Campbell | 2011 | 2016 |
| Janice Charette | 2016 | 2021 |
| The Hon. Ralph Goodale | 2021 | present |
Alexander Mackenzie was a Canadian politician who served as the second prime minister of Canada, in office from 1873 to 1878.
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, M.D. was a Canadian Father of Confederation who served as the sixth prime minister of Canada from May 1 to July 8, 1896. As the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He briefly served as the Canadian prime minister, from seven days after parliament had been dissolved, until he resigned on July 8, 1896, following his party's loss in the 1896 Canadian federal election. He is the only medical doctor to have ever held the office of prime minister of Canada and his 68-day tenure as prime minister is the shortest in Canadian history.
Sir John Alexander Macdonald was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political career that spanned almost half a century.
The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving large sums of money being paid by private interests to the Conservative party to cover election expenses in the 1872 Canadian federal election, to influence the bidding for a national rail contract. As part of British Columbia's 1871 agreement to join the Canadian Confederation, the federal government had agreed to build a transcontinental railway linking the seaboard of British Columbia to the eastern provinces.
Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minister, his 15-year tenure remains the longest uninterrupted term of office among Canadian prime ministers and his nearly 45 years of service in the House of Commons is a record for the House. Laurier is best known for his compromises between English and French Canada.
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of the Conservative Party.
Charles Vincent Massey was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as the 18th governor general of Canada from 1952 to 1959. Massey was the first governor general of Canada who was born in Canada.
Events from the year 1873 in Canada.
Events from the year 1874 in Canada.
Events from the year 1875 in Canada.
The 1874 Canadian federal election was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald, who had recently been forced out of office as prime minister, and his Conservatives were defeated by the Liberal Party under their new leader Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie.
Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable residences in the 18th century. In the 20th it had an American and Canadian diplomatic presence, and currently is mixed use, commercial.
The High Commission of South Africa in London is the diplomatic mission from South Africa to the United Kingdom. It is located at South Africa House, a building on Trafalgar Square, London. As well as containing the offices of the High Commissioner, the building also hosts the South African consulate. It has been a Grade II* listed building since 1982.
The High Commission of Australia in London is the diplomatic mission of Australia in the United Kingdom. It is located in Australia House, a Grade II listed building. It was Australia's first diplomatic mission and is the longest continuously occupied diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom.
Canada House is a Greek Revival building on Trafalgar Square in London. It has been a Grade II* Listed Building since 1970. It has served as the chancery of the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom since 1925.
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.
The bilateral relations between Canada and the United Kingdom have yielded intimate and frequently-co-operative contact since Canada gained independence in 1931. Canada was previously self-governing since 1 July 1867, the date that became Canada's independence day.
Macdonald House was a seven-storey Neo-Georgian style building on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London. It was part of the High Commission of Canada from 1961 to 2014. Macdonald House was used for the High Commission's cultural and consular functions, trade and administrative sections, immigration section, and as the High Commissioner's official residence. From 1938 to 1960, the building was the Embassy of the United States.
The High Commission of India in London is the diplomatic mission of India in the United Kingdom. It is located in India House on Aldwych, between Bush House, what was Marconi House and Australia House. It faces both the London School of Economics and King's College London. Since 1981, India House is a Grade II listed building.
Embassies are shown in regular font, while consulates-general are shown as sub entries. | |
| Americas | |
| Asia | |
| Europe | |
| Oceania | |
| International organisations | |
| Trade offices | |
| Former |
|
| Africa | |
|---|---|
| Americas | |
| Asia |
|
| Europe |
|
| Oceania | |
| De facto | |
| British Overseas Territories | |
| Autonomous regions | |
| International organisations |
|
