| Post: | Secretary of State for Canada |
| Member Of: | Cabinet of Canada |
| Formation: | July 1, 1867 |
| First: | Hector-Louis Langevin |
| Last: | Lucienne Robillard |
| Abolished: | July 12, 1996 |
The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London.[1] [2]
As Canada became increasingly independent after World War I, and particularly with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, this role fell into disuse. The department was maintained, however, and was used to administer various aspects of government that did not have their own ministry. Accordingly, the Secretary of State for Canada was Registrar General of Canada, responsible as such for the Great Seal of Canada and various functions of state associated with it.
At various times the Secretary of State for Canada was responsible for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the civil service, the Queen's Printer for Canada, administration of Crown lands, and governance of Canadian Indians (as they were called at the time), as well as various ceremonial and state duties. Generally, any government role and responsibility which was not specifically assigned to a cabinet minister would be the de facto responsibility of the Secretary of State.
The department was eliminated in 1993 when the government was reorganized; however, the position of Secretary of State for Canada was not legally eliminated until 1996 when its remaining responsibilities were assigned to other cabinet positions and departments, particularly the newly created Minister of Canadian Heritage position.
The position of Secretary of State for Canada had no relation to that of Secretary of State for External Affairs except for the period from 1909 until 1912 when the Secretary of State for Canada (Charles Murphy under Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and William James Roche under Sir Robert Borden) was responsible for the newly created Department of External Affairs.
| No. | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sir Hector-Louis Langevin | July 1, 1867 | December 8, 1869 | Liberal-Conservative | 1 (Macdonald) | |
| 2 | James Cox Aikins | December 8, 1869 | November 5, 1873 | Liberal-Conservative | ||
| 3 | David Christie | November 7, 1873 | January 8, 1874 | Liberal | 2 (Mackenzie) | |
| 4 | Sir Richard William Scott | January 9, 1874 | October 8, 1878 | Liberal | ||
| (2) | James Cox Aikins | October 19, 1878 | November 7, 1880 | Conservative | 3 (Macdonald) | |
| 5 | John O'Connor | November 8, 1880 | May 19, 1881 | Conservative | ||
| 6 | Joseph-Alfred Mousseau | May 20, 1881 | July 28, 1882 | Conservative | ||
| 7 | Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau | July 29, 1882 | June 6, 1891 | Conservative | ||
| June 16, 1891 | January 24, 1892 | 4 (Abbott) | ||||
| 8 | James Colebrooke Patterson | January 25, 1892 | November 24, 1892 | Conservative | ||
| 9 | John Costigan | December 5, 1892 | December 12, 1894 | Conservative | 5 (Thompson) | |
| 10 | Arthur Rupert Dickey | December 21, 1894 | March 25, 1895 | Conservative | 6 (Bowell) | |
| 11 | Walter Humphries Montague | March 26, 1895 | December 20, 1895 | Conservative | ||
| – | Joseph-Aldric Ouimet (Acting) | December 21, 1895 | January 5, 1896 | Conservative | ||
| – | Thomas Mayne Daly (Acting) | January 6, 1896 | January 14, 1896 | Conservative | ||
| 12 | Sir Charles Tupper | January 15, 1896 | April 27, 1896 | Conservative | ||
| May 1, 1896 | July 8, 1896 | 7 (Tupper) | ||||
| (4) | Sir Richard William Scott | July 13, 1896 | October 8, 1908 | Liberal | 8 (Laurier) | |
| 13 | Charles Murphy | October 9, 1908 | October 6, 1911 | Liberal | ||
| 14 | William James Roche | October 10, 1911 | October 28, 1912 | Conservative | 9 (Borden) | |
| 15 | Louis Coderre | October 29, 1912 | October 5, 1915 | Conservative | ||
| 16 | Pierre Édouard Blondin | October 6, 1915 | January 7, 1917 | Conservative | ||
| 17 | Esioff-Léon Patenaude | January 8, 1917 | June 12, 1917 | Conservative | ||
| – | Albert Sévigny (Acting) | June 13, 1917 | August 24, 1917 | Conservative | ||
| 18 | Arthur Meighen | August 25, 1917 | October 12, 1917 | Conservative | ||
| 19 | Martin Burrell | October 12, 1917 | December 30, 1919 | Unionist | 10 (Borden) | |
| 20 | Arthur Sifton | December 31, 1919 | July 10, 1920 | Unionist | ||
| July 10, 1920 | January 21, 1921 | National Liberal and Conservative | 11 (Meighen) | |||
| – | Sir Henry Lumley Drayton (Acting) | January 24, 1921 | September 20, 1921 | National Liberal and Conservative | ||
| 21 | Rodolphe Monty | September 21, 1921 | December 29, 1921 | National Liberal and Conservative | ||
| 22 | Arthur Bliss Copp | December 29, 1921 | September 24, 1925 | Liberal | 12 (King) | |
| 23 | Walter Edward Foster | September 26, 1925 | November 12, 1925 | Liberal | ||
| – | Charles Murphy (Acting) | November 13, 1925 | March 23, 1926 | Liberal | ||
| – | Ernest Lapointe (Acting) | March 24, 1926 | June 28, 1926 | Liberal | ||
| 24 | George Halsey Perley | June 29, 1926 | September 25, 1926 | Conservative | 13 (Meighen) | |
| 25 | Fernand Rinfret | September 25, 1926 | August 7, 1930 | Liberal | 14 (King) | |
| 26 | Charles Cahan | August 7, 1930 | October 23, 1935 | Conservative | 15 (Bennett) | |
| (25) | Fernand Rinfret | October 23, 1935 | July 12, 1939 | Liberal | 16 (King) | |
| – | Ernest Lapointe (Acting - Second time) | July 26, 1939 | May 8, 1940 | Liberal | ||
| 27 | Pierre-François Casgrain | May 9, 1940 | December 14, 1941 | Liberal | ||
| 28 | Norman Alexander McLarty | December 15, 1941 | April 17, 1945 | Liberal | ||
| 29 | Paul Martin Sr. | April 18, 1945 | December 11, 1946 | Liberal | ||
| 30 | Colin W. G. Gibson | December 12, 1946 | November 15, 1948 | Liberal | ||
| November 15, 1948 | March 31, 1949 | 17 (St. Laurent) | ||||
| 31 | Frederick Gordon Bradley | March 31, 1949 | June 11, 1953 | Liberal | ||
| 32 | Jack Pickersgill | June 11, 1953 | June 30, 1954 | Liberal | ||
| 33 | Roch Pinard | July 1, 1954 | June 21, 1957 | Liberal | ||
| 34 | Ellen Fairclough[3] | June 21, 1957 | May 11, 1958 | Progressive Conservative | 18 (Diefenbaker) | |
| 35 | Henri Courtemanche | May 12, 1958 | June 19, 1960 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| – | Léon Balcer (Acting) | June 21, 1960 | October 10, 1960 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 36 | Noël Dorion | October 11, 1960 | July 5, 1962 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| – | Léon Balcer (Acting - Second time) | July 11, 1962 | August 8, 1962 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 37 | Ernest Halpenny | August 9, 1962 | April 22, 1963 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| (32) | Jack Pickersgill | April 22, 1963 | February 2, 1964 | Liberal | 19 (Pearson) | |
| 38 | Maurice Lamontagne | February 2, 1964 | December 17, 1965 | Liberal | ||
| 39 | Judy LaMarsh[4] | December 17, 1965 | April 9, 1968 | Liberal | ||
| – | John Joseph Connolly (Acting) | April 10, 1968 | April 20, 1968 | Liberal | ||
| 40 | Jean Marchand | April 20, 1968 | July 5, 1968 | Liberal | 20 (P. E. Trudeau) | |
| 41 | Gérard Pelletier | July 5, 1968 | November 26, 1972 | Liberal | ||
| 42 | Hugh Faulkner | November 27, 1972 | September 13, 1976 | Liberal | ||
| 43 | John Roberts | September 14, 1976 | June 3, 1979 | Liberal | ||
| 44 | David MacDonald | June 4, 1979 | March 2, 1980 | Progressive Conservative | 21 (Clark) | |
| 45 | Francis Fox | March 3, 1980 | September 21, 1981 | Liberal | 22 (P. E. Trudeau) | |
| 46 | Gerald Regan | September 22, 1981 | October 5, 1982 | Liberal | ||
| 47 | Serge Joyal | October 6, 1982 | June 29, 1984 | Liberal | ||
| June 30, 1984 | September 16, 1984 | 23 (Turner) | ||||
| 48 | Walter McLean | September 17, 1984 | April 19, 1985 | Progressive Conservative | 24 (Mulroney) | |
| 49 | Benoît Bouchard | April 20, 1985 | June 29, 1986 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 50 | David Crombie | June 30, 1986 | March 30, 1988 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 51 | Lucien Bouchard | March 31, 1988 | January 29, 1989 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 52 | Gerry Weiner | January 30, 1989 | April 20, 1991 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 53 | Robert de Cotret | April 21, 1991 | January 3, 1993 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 54 | Monique Landry | January 4, 1993 | June 24, 1993 | Progressive Conservative | ||
| June 24, 1993 | November 3, 1993 | 25 (Campbell) | ||||
| 55 | Sergio Marchi | November 4, 1993 | January 24, 1996 | Liberal | 26 (Chrétien) | |
| 56 | Lucienne Robillard | January 25, 1996 | July 12, 1996 | Liberal | ||