Structure of the Canadian federal government

Last updated

The following list outlines the structure of the federal government of Canada, the collective set of federal institutions which can be grouped into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. In turn, these are further divided into departments, agencies, and other organizations which support the day-to-day function of the Canadian state.

Contents

The list includes roughly 130 departments and other organizations, with nearly 300,000 employees, who collectively form the Public Service of Canada. Special Operating Agencies (which are departmental organizations), and non-departmental organizations such as Crown corporations, administrative tribunals, and oversight organizations are parts of the public service operating in areas seen as requiring a higher level of independence from it and the direct political control of ministers. Public servants are agents of the Crown and responsible to Parliament through their relevant minister.

This list is organized according to functional grouping and is further subdivided by category such as offices, departments, agencies, and Crown corporations:

The Crown

Regal and vice-regal offices

King's Privy Council

Executive

Public Service

Central agencies

AgencyAbbreviationEstablishedMinistersDeputy headsAssociated entities
Finance FIN1867 Chrystia Freeland (Minister of Finance)Michael Sabia (Deputy Minister)
Central bank
Intelligence agency
Crown corporations
Non-profit organization
Regulators
Review body
Privy Council Office PCO1867 Justin Trudeau ( Prime Minister )

Chrystia Freeland ( Deputy Prime Minister )

Harjit Sajjan ( President of the Privy Council )

Dominic LeBlanc ( Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs )

Karina Gould ( Leader of the Government in the House of Commons )

John Hannaford ( Clerk of the Privy Council )
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat TBS1867 Anita Anand ( President of the Treasury Board )Catherine Blewett (Secretary of the Treasury Board)

Ministerial departments

DepartmentAbbreviationEstablishedMinistersDeputy headsAssociated entities
Agriculture and Agri-Food AAFC1868 Lawrence MacAulay ( Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food ) Stefanie Beck (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
Special Operating Agency
Crown corporations
Review Body
Canadian Heritage PCH1993 Pascale St-Onge ( Minister of Canadian Heritage )Isabelle Mondou (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
Special Operating Agencies
Crown corporations
Regulator
Review Body
  • Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs CIRNAC2019

1880 (historic)

Gary Anandasangaree ( Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations )

Dan Vandal ( Minister of Northern Affairs )

Daniel Quan-Watson (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
  • Cree-Naskapi Commission
  • Nunavut Wildlife Management Board
Crown corporation
  • Corporation for the Mitigation of Mackenzie Gas Project Impacts
Departmental corporation
Employment and Social Development ESDC2003 Jenna Sudds ( Minister of Families, Children and Social Development )

Randy Boissonnault ([[Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages])

Seamus O'Regan ( Minister of Seniors )

Seamus O'Regan ( Minister of Labour )

Jean-François Tremblay (Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development)

Sandra Hassan (Deputy Minister of Labour
Associate;
Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development)

Agencies
Programs
Joint Program
Crown Corporation
Review Bodies
Environment and Climate Change ECCC1971 Steven Guilbeault ( Minister of Environment and Climate Change )Chris Forbes (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
Enforcement Agency
  • Parks Canada Wardens
  • Environmental Enforcement
  • Wildlife Enforcement
Review body
  • Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada
Fisheries and Oceans DFO1868 Diane Lebouthillier ( Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard )Timothy Sargent (Deputy Minister)
Enforcement Agency
  • Fishery Officers
Special Operating Agency
Crown Corporation
  • Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
Global Affairs GAC1909 Mélanie Joly ( Minister of Foreign Affairs )

Ahmed Hussen ( Minister of International Development )

Mary Ng ( Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development )

David Morrison (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs)

John Hannaford (Deputy Minister of International Trade)

Leslie MacLean (Deputy Minister of International Development)

Agencies
Crown corporations
Review body
  • Office of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor
Health HC1993

1919 (historic)

Mark Holland ( Minister of Health )Stephen Lucas (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
Funding Agency
Regulator
Review Body
Housing, Infrastructure and Communities HICC2002 Sean Fraser ( Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities )

Gudie Hutchings ( Minister of Rural Economic Development )

Kelly Gillis (Deputy Minister)
Crown corporations
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship IRCC1994 Marc Miller ( Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship )Catrina Tapley (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
  • Citizenship Commission
Programs
Review Body
Indigenous Services ISC2019 Patty Hajdu ( Minister of Indigenous Services )Christiane Fox (Deputy Minister)
Special Operating Agency
  • Indian Oil and Gas
Review Body
  • Specific Claims Tribunal
Innovation, Science and Economic Development ISED1993 François-Philippe Champagne ( Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry )Paul Thomson (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
Funding agencies
Regional Economic Development Agencies
  • Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
  • Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
  • Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
  • Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
  • Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
  • Pacific Economic Development Canada
  • Prairies Economic Development Canada
Enforcement agency
Special Operating Agencies
Crown corporations
Non-profit organizations
Regulator
Review Body
Justice JUS1868 Arif Virani ( Minister of Justice and Attorney General )François Daigle (Deputy Minister andDeputy Attorney General)
Agencies
Review body
  • Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime
National Defence DND1923 Bill Blair ( Minister of National Defence )

Ginette Petitpas Taylor ( Associate Minister of National Defence )

Bill Matthews (Deputy Minister)

General Wayne Eyre (Acting Chief of Defence Staff )

Agency
Intelligence agency
Special Operating Agencies
Program
Review bodies
  • Military Police Complaints Commission
  • Military Grievances External Review Committee
  • Independent Review Panel for Defence Acquisition
  • Office of the National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman
Natural Resources NRCan1994 Jonathan Wilkinson ( Minister of Natural Resources )Jean-François Tremblay (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
Crown corporation
Petroleum Boards
  • Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board
  • Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board
Regulators
Public Safety PS2003 Dominic LeBlanc ( Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs )

Harjit Sajjan ( Minister of Emergency Preparedness )

Rob Stewart (Deputy Minister)
Agency
Enforcement agencies
Intelligence agency
Review bodies
Public Services and Procurement PSPC1996 Jean-Yves Duclos ( Minister of Public Services and Procurement; Receiver General )Bill Matthews (Deputy Minister;Deputy Receiver-General)
Agency
Special Operating Agency
  • Translation Bureau
Crown corporations
Review Body
  • Office of the Procurement Ombudsman
Transport TC1935 Pablo Rodriguez ( Minister of Transport )Michael Keenan (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
Crown corporations
Enforcement Agency
Funds
  • Fund for Railway Accidents Involving Designated Goods
  • Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund
Review bodies
Veterans Affairs VAC1944 Ginette Petitpas Taylor ( Minister of Veterans Affairs )Peter Ledwell (Deputy Minister)
Agencies
Review bodies
Women and Gender Equality WAGE2018

1976 (historic)

Marci Ien ( Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth )Gina Wilson (Deputy Minister)None

Separate agency with direct ministerial oversight

AgencyAbbreviationEstablishedMinisterDeputy headAssociated entity
Canada Revenue Agency CRA2003

1867 (historic)

Diane Lebouthillier (Minister of National Revenue)Bob Hamilton (Commissioner of Revenue)
Review body
  • Office of the Taxpayers Ombudsperson

Independent agencies and offices

Independent review bodies

Canadian Armed Forces

BranchAbbreviationEstablishedMinisterCommander
Canadian Army CA1855Anita Anand Jocelyn Paul
Canadian Forces Intelligence Command CFINTCOM2013M.C. Wright
Canadian Joint Operations Command CJOC2012Bob Autchterlonie
Canadian Special Operations Forces Command CANSOFCOM2006Steve Boivin
Royal Canadian Air Force RCAF1914 Eric Kenny
Royal Canadian Navy RCN1910 Angus Topshee
Canadian Forces Military Police CFMP1917Simon Trudeau

Parliament

Senate of Canada

Procedural officers

Standing committees

House of Commons of Canada

Procedural officers

Standing committees

Joint Standing Committees

Officers of Parliament

Agencies

Review bodies

Courts

See also

Provincial and territorial equivalents

Related Research Articles

In Canada, a deputy minister is the senior civil servant in a government organization, who acts as deputy head. Deputy ministers take political direction from a minister of the Crown, who is typically an elected member of Parliament and responsible for the department.

The court system of Canada is made up of many courts differing in levels of legal superiority and separated by jurisdiction. In the courts, the judiciary interpret and apply the law of Canada. Some of the courts are federal in nature, while others are provincial or territorial.

An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is a judge and trier of fact who both presides over trials and adjudicates claims or disputes involving administrative law. ALJs can administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evidence, and make factual and legal determinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public bodies of the Scottish Government</span>

Public bodies of the Scottish Government are organisations that are funded by the Scottish Government. They form a tightly meshed network of executive and advisory non-departmental public bodies ("quangoes"); tribunals; and nationalised industries. Such public bodies are distinct from executive agencies of the Scottish Government, as unlike them they are not considered to be part of the Government and staff of public bodies are not civil servants, although executive agencies are listed in the Scottish Government's directory of national public bodies alongside other public bodies.

A quasi-judicial body is a non-judicial body which can interpret law. It is an entity such as an arbitration panel or tribunal board, which can be a public administrative agency but also a contract- or private law entity, which has been given powers and procedures resembling those of a court of law or judge and which is obliged to objectively determine facts and draw conclusions from them so as to provide the basis of an official action. Such actions are able to remedy a situation or impose legal penalties, and they may affect the legal rights, duties or privileges of specific parties.

.gc.ca is a privately held second-level domain in the .ca top-level domain. It is used by the Government of Canada and operated by Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services, which holds all third level domains under the .gc.ca banner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Vermont</span> Government of the U.S. state of Vermont

The government of Vermont is a republican form of government modeled after the Government of the United States. The Constitution of Vermont is the supreme law of the state, followed by the Vermont Statutes. This is roughly analogous to the Federal United States Constitution, United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations respectively. Provision is made for the following frame of government under the Constitution of the State of Vermont: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. All members of the executive and legislative branch serve two-year terms including the governor and senators. There are no term limits for any office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of the District of Columbia</span>

The District of Columbia has a mayor–council government that operates under Article One of the United States Constitution and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The Home Rule Act devolves certain powers of the United States Congress to the local government, which consists of a mayor and a 13-member council. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.

Dan Gregory Blair currently serves as an independent senior consultant to the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Formerly, Blair served in senior positions in the nonprofit sector. He served as a senior counselor examining and recommending reforms on the presidential appointments process for the Center on Presidential Transition. He also served as Fellow and Senior Counselor at the Bipartisan Policy Center and led a task force of government and private sector management experts charged with examining government oversight issues. He also advises private sector clients on a broad array of government management and postal issues.

Following the 2010 United Kingdom general election, the UK Government under the Cameron–Clegg coalition announced plans to curb public spending through the abolition of a large number of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations (quangos). This was styled in the national press as a "bonfire of the quangos", making reference to Girolamo Savonarola's religiously inspired Bonfire of the Vanities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government agencies in Bangladesh</span>

The Government agencies in Bangladesh are state controlled organizations that act independently to carry out the policies of the Government of Bangladesh. The Government Ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to control agencies by policy decisions. Some of the work of the government is carried out through state enterprises or limited companies.

<i>Accessible Canada Act</i> Legislation to prohibit disability discrimination

The Accessible Canada Act is a Canada-wide accessibility act that applies to the federal public sector, Crown corporations, and all federally-regulated organizations, building on the Canadian Human Rights Act and focuses on the prohibition of discrimination based on disability.

References

  1. "Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board". www.fpslreb-crtespf.gc.ca. Retrieved 8 January 2023.