| Post: | Leader |
| Body: | the Government in the House of Commons |
| Flagsize: | 200px |
| Incumbent: | Karina Gould |
| Incumbentsince: | July 26, 2023 |
| Department: | Privy Council Office |
| Style: | The Honourable |
| Reports To: | Prime Minister |
| Appointer: | Monarch (represented by the governor general);[1] |
| Appointer Qualified: | on the advice of the prime minister[2] |
| Termlength: | genderp=~}}}} Majesty's pleasure |
| Formation: | October 14, 1944 |
| Inaugural: | Ian Alistair Mackenzie |
| Deputy: | Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons |
The leader of the government in the House of Commons of Canada, more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. Despite the name of the position it does not refer to the prime minister of Canada, who is the head of government.
From 1867 until World War II, prime ministers took upon themselves the responsibilities of being leader of the government in the House of Commons, organizing and coordinating House of Commons business with the other parties. The expansion of government responsibilities during the war led to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King deciding to delegate the House leadership to one of his ministers. In 1946, the position of government house leader was formally recognized.
In 1968, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau designated the government house leader as president of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. Under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, the roles of government house leader and president of the Privy Council were separated in 1989. Under Mulroney and his successors, the position of house leader would often be held by someone who was named a minister of state without any portfolio responsibilities specified. Since 2003, this minister of state status has been obscured in all but the most official circumstances by the use of a "Leader of the Government in the House of Commons" style in its place.
Prime Minister Paul Martin's first House Leader, Jacques Saada was also the minister responsible for democratic reform; however, with the election of a minority government in the 2004 election, Martin appointed Tony Valeri to the position of leader of the government in the House of Commons with no additional responsibilities.
Until 2005, the position of government house leader was not technically a cabinet-level post, but rather a parliamentary office, so to qualify for cabinet membership, an individual had to be named to cabinet in some other capacity. For a time, with the position having evolved into a full-time job, government house leaders have been named to cabinet as ministers of state with no portfolio specified. The Martin government created these positions so that the minister of state title is effectively invisible. An amendment to the Salaries Act made this unnecessary by listing the government house leader as a minister.[3]
Key:
| Portrait | Name Electoral district (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Party | Prime minister (Ministry) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term start | Term end | |||||
| Ian Alistair Mackenzie MP for Vancouver Centre (1890–1949) | October 14, 1944 | April 30, 1948 | Liberal | William Lyon Mackenzie King (16th) | ||
| Alphonse Fournier MP for Hull (1893–1961) | May 1, 1948 | May 8, 1953 | Liberal | |||
| Louis St. Laurent (17th) | ||||||
| Walter Edward Harris MP for Grey—Bruce (1904–1999) | May 9, 1953 | April 12, 1957 | Liberal | |||
| Howard Charles Green MP for Vancouver Quadra (1895–1989) | October 14, 1957 | July 18, 1959 | Progressive Conservative | John Diefenbaker (18th) | ||
| Gordon Churchill MP for Winnipeg South Centre (1898–1985) | January 14, 1960 | February 5, 1963 | Progressive Conservative | |||
| Jack Pickersgill MP for Bonavista—Twillingate (1905–1997) | May 16, 1963 | December 21, 1963 | Liberal | Lester B. Pearson (19th) | ||
| Guy Favreau MP for Papineau (1917–1967) | February 18, 1964 | October 29, 1964 | Liberal | |||
| George McIlraith MP for Ottawa West (1908–1992) | October 30, 1964 | May 3, 1967 | Liberal | |||
| Allan MacEachen MP for Inverness—Richmond (1921–2017) | May 4, 1967 | April 23, 1968 | Liberal | |||
| Donald Stovel Macdonald MP for Rosedale (1932–2018) | September 12, 1968 | September 23, 1970 | Liberal | Pierre Trudeau (20th) | ||
| Allan MacEachen MP for Cape Breton Highlands—Canso (1921–2017) | September 24, 1970 | May 9, 1974 | Liberal | |||
| Mitchell Sharp MP for Eglinton (1911–2004) | August 8, 1974 | September 13, 1976 | Liberal | |||
| Allan MacEachen MP for Cape Breton Highlands—Canso (1921–2017) | September 14, 1976 | March 26, 1979 | Liberal | |||
| Walter Baker MP for Nepean—Carleton (1930–1983) | June 4, 1979 | March 2, 1980 | Progressive Conservative | Joe Clark (21st) | ||
| Yvon Pinard MP for Drummond (born 1940) | March 3, 1980 | June 29, 1984 | Liberal | Pierre Trudeau (22nd) | ||
| André Ouellet MP for Papineau (born 1939) | June 30, 1984 | November 4, 1984 | Liberal | John Turner (23rd) | ||
| Ray Hnatyshyn MP for Saskatoon West (1934–2002) | November 5, 1984 | June 29, 1986 | Progressive Conservative | Brian Mulroney (24th) | ||
| Don Mazankowski MP for Vegreville (1935–2020) | June 30, 1986 | April 2, 1989 | Progressive Conservative | |||
| Doug Lewis MP for Simcoe North (born 1938) | April 3, 1989 | February 22, 1990 | Progressive Conservative | |||
| Harvie Andre MP for Simcoe North (1940–2012) | February 23, 1990 | June 24, 1993 | Progressive Conservative | |||
| Doug Lewis MP for Simcoe North (born 1938) | June 25, 1993 | November 3, 1993 | Progressive Conservative | Kim Campbell (25th) | ||
| Herb Gray MP for Windsor West (1931–2014) | November 4, 1993 | April 27, 1997 | Liberal | Jean Chrétien (26th) | ||
| Don Boudria MP for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell (born 1949) | June 11, 1997 | January 14, 2002 | Liberal | |||
| Ralph Goodale MP for Wascana (born 1949) | January 15, 2002 | May 25, 2002 | Liberal | |||
| Don Boudria MP for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell (born 1949) | May 26, 2002 | December 11, 2003 | Liberal | |||
| Jacques Saada MP for Brossard—La Prairie (born 1947) | December 12, 2003 | July 20, 2004 | Liberal | Paul Martin (27th) | ||
| Tony Valeri MP for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek (born 1957) | July 20, 2004 | January 23, 2006 | Liberal | |||
| Rob Nicholson MP for Niagara Falls (born 1952) | February 6, 2006 | January 4, 2007 | Conservative | Stephen Harper (28th) | ||
| Peter Van Loan MP for York—Simcoe (born 1963) | January 4, 2007 | October 29, 2008 | Conservative | |||
| Jay Hill MP for Prince George—Peace River (born 1952) | October 30, 2008 | August 6, 2010 | Conservative | |||
| John Baird MP for Ottawa West—Nepean (born 1969) | August 6, 2010 | May 18, 2011 | Conservative | |||
| Peter Van Loan MP for York—Simcoe (born 1963) | May 18, 2011 | November 4, 2015 | Conservative | |||
| Dominic LeBlanc MP for Beauséjour (born 1967) | November 4, 2015 | August 19, 2016 | Liberal | Justin Trudeau (29th) | ||
| Bardish Chagger MP for Waterloo (born 1980) | August 19, 2016 | November 20, 2019 | Liberal | |||
| Pablo Rodriguez MP for Honoré-Mercier (born 1967) | November 20, 2019 | October 26, 2021 | Liberal | |||
| Mark Holland MP for Ajax (born 1974) | October 26, 2021 | July 26, 2023 | Liberal | |||
| Karina Gould[4] MP for Burlington (born 1987) (on parental leave January 8—late July 2024) | July 26, 2023 | January 8, 2024 | Liberal | |||
| Steven MacKinnon (interim) MP for Gatineau (born 1966) | January 8, 2023 | July 19, 2024 | Liberal | |||