Canada (Province). Inspector General's Office

• Inspector General's Office

With the passing of the Union Act and the creation of the Province of Canada in 1841, the separate Inspector General's Offices for the former provinces of Upper and Lower Canada were united to form one Inspector General's Office for the new Province of Canada. This occurred with the appointment of Francis Hincks as the first Inspector General for the Province of Canada, in June of 1842.

The Office consisted of the Inspector General, the Deputy Inspector General, and the Commissioner of Customs.

Prior to 1855, responsibility over the auditing of the public accounts was the jurisdiction of the Deputy Inspector General. On May 19, 1855, however, a Board of Audit was established to assume this function. The Board consisted of the Deputy Inspector General, the Commissioner of Customs, and an Auditor General, and was attached to the Inspector General's Office.

Several prominent changes with respect to the keeping of the accounts of the Province occurred within the Inspector General's Office between 1841 and 1859. First, in 1841, the Consolidated Revenue Fund was established, through which the salaries of government officials and the administration costs of the civil government were to be paid. Second, in 1849, legislation was passed in the Province which required the use of the double entry method for keeping, and therefore balancing, accounts. And, third, in 1857, the decimal system of accounting was adopted, replacing the use of pounds, shillings and pence with dollars and cents.

On May 4, 1859, legislation was passed which changed the title of the Inspector General to that of Minister of Finance. With this change, the Inspector General's Office was also renamed the Department of Finance.

The Inspector General's Office was responsible for the examination and inspection of the accounts of the Province of Canada. Activities of the Office included ensuring that all moneys issued were applied to the purposes for which they were intended; that all claims against the Government were supported by proper vouchers; examining, entering and countersigning all warrants for the issue of public money; and preparing statements and reporting upon the receipts and expenditures of the Public revenue.

Union Act, Statutes of Great Britain 1840, Chap. 35

RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Armstrong, Frederick. Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology and Territorial Legislation (1967)

Bishop, Olga. Publications of the Government of the Province of Canada, 1841-1867 (1963)

Canadiana Name Authorities, 1996-12- 24

Public Accounts, 1852-1859

Archivist(s):
R. Anger