List of joint premiers of the Province of Canada explained

This is a list of the joint premiers of the Province of Canada, who were the heads of government of the Province of Canada from the 1841 unification of Upper Canada and Lower Canada until Confederation in 1867.

Each administration was led by two men; after Sydenham's Ministry, one from Canada West (now Ontario) and one from Canada East (now Quebec). Officially, one of them at any given time had the title of Premier, while the other had the title of Deputy.

Colour key

Green – reformers (Reform Party, Rouges Party, etc.)
Yellow – conservatives (see Family Compact, Château Clique)
Red – Liberal Party, Clear Grits
Blue – Liberal-Conservative Party, Parti bleu

Sydenham's Ministry

Conservative leader			Reform leader			Term of office
bgcolor=#ffffe0 rowspan="2" align="center"	1 (1 of 2)		Deputy premier William Draper (1801–1877)
bgcolor=#90ee90 align="center"	1		Deputy premier William Draper (1801–1877)		Premier Samuel Harrison^[1] (1802-1867)	5 February 1841	12 January 1842

Premiers: before responsible government

Premier from Canada West			Premier from Canada East			Term of office
bgcolor=#ffffe0 rowspan="2" align="center"	1 (1 of 2)		Premier William Draper (1801–1877)
bgcolor=#ffffe0 align="center"	2		Premier William Draper (1801–1877)		Deputy premier Charles Richard Ogden (1791–1866)	12 January 1842	14 September 1842
bgcolor=#90ee90 align="center"	2 (1 of 2)		Deputy premier Robert Baldwin (1804–1858)	bgcolor=#90ee90 align="center"	3 (1 of 2)		Premier Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (1807–1864)	26 September 1842	27 November 1843
3		Acting premier^[2] Sir Dominick Daly (1789–1868)	4		Acting premier Sir Dominick Daly (1789–1868)	27 November 1843	12 December 1843
4 (2 of 2)		Premier William Draper (1801–1877)	5		Deputy premier Denis-Benjamin Viger (1774–1861)	12 December 1843	17 June 1846
4 (2 of 2)		Premier William Draper (1801–1877)	6		Deputy premier Denis-Benjamin Papineau (1789–1854)	17 June 1846	27 May 1847
5		Premier Henry Sherwood (1807–1855)	6		Deputy premier Denis-Benjamin Papineau (1789–1854)	28 May 1847	7 December 1847
5 continued		Premier Henry Sherwood (1807–1855)			vacant^[3]	7 December 1847	10 March 1848

Premiers: after responsible government

Premier from Canada West			Premier from Canada East			Term of office
bgcolor=#90ee90 align="center"	6 (2 of 2)		Deputy premier Robert Baldwin (1804–1858)	bgcolor=#90ee90 align="center"	7 (2 of 2)		Premier Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (1807–1864)	11 March 1848	28 October 1851
bgcolor=#90ee90 align="center"	7		Premier Sir Francis Hincks (1807–1885)	bgcolor=#90ee90 rowspan="2" align="center"	8		Deputy premier Augustin-Norbert Morin (1803–1865)	28 October 1851	11 September 1854
bgcolor=#bbddff rowspan="2" align="center"	8		Premier Sir Allan Napier MacNab (1798–1862)	11 September 1854	27 January 1855		Deputy premier Augustin-Norbert Morin (1803–1865)
9 (1 of 2)			Premier Sir Allan Napier MacNab (1798–1862)	Deputy premier (until 1856) / Premier Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (1795–1865)	27 January 1855	24 May 1856
9 (1 of 2)		bgcolor=#BBDDFF rowspan="2" align="center"	9 (1 of 3)			Deputy premier (until 1857) / Premier Sir John A. Macdonald (1815–1891)	24 May 1856	26 November 1857
bgcolor=#BBDDFF align="center"	10 (1 of 2)		Deputy premier Sir George-Étienne Cartier (1814–1873)	26 November 1857			2 August 1858
bgcolor=#FFCCCC align="center"	10		Premier George Brown (1818–1880)----Clear Grit Party	bgcolor=#FFCCCC align="center"	11 (1 of 2)		Deputy premier Antoine-Aimé Dorion (1818–1891)----Rouge Party	2 August 1858	6 August 1858
bgcolor=#BBDDFF align="center"	11 (2 of 3)		Deputy premier Sir John A. Macdonald (1815–1891)	bgcolor=#BBDDFF align="center"	12 (2 of 2)		Premier Sir George-Étienne Cartier (1814–1873)	6 August 1858	24 May 1862
bgcolor=#FFCCCC rowspan="2" align="center"	12		Premier John Sandfield MacDonald (1812–1872)----Liberal Party	bgcolor=#FFCCCC align="center"	13		Deputy premier Louis-Victor Sicotte (1812–1889)----Liberal Party	24 May 1862	15 May 1863
bgcolor=#FFCCCC align="center"	14 (2 of 2)				Deputy premier Antoine-Aimé Dorion (1818–1891)----Liberal Party	15 May 1863	30 May 1864
bgcolor=#BBDDFF rowspan="2" align="center"	13 (3 of 3)		Deputy premier Sir John A. Macdonald (1815–1891)----Liberal-Conservative Party	bgcolor=#BBDDFF align="center"	15 (2 of 2)		Premier Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (1795–1865)----Liberal-Conservative Party	30 May 1864	30 July 1865
bgcolor=#BBDDFF rowspan="1" align="center"	16				Premier Sir Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau (1808–1894)----Liberal-Conservative Party	30 July 1865	30 June 1867

Notes and References

This was a coalition of the moderate wings of the conservative and reform factions, rather than a regionally-based one; French-Canadians were deliberately excluded. Also, given Lord Sydenham's preponderant role in assembling this ministry, it might be more accurate to describe Harrison and Draper as co-leaders rather than co-premiers.
All members of the governing Lafontaine-Baldwin coalition, except Daly, resigned in a protest over unapproved patronage appointments by the British-appointed governor: "the Metcalfe crisis". Daly would continue on as a member of the successor cabinet, headed by Draper.
While Sherwood had some Franco support in Canada East, none rise to the level of co-Premier after Papineau's departure 7 December 1847