Ontario. Premier

• Office of the Premier

• Ontario. Prime Minister

• Ontario. Dept. of the Prime Minister and President of the Executive Council

• Ontario. Office of the Premier

• Ontario. Premier's Office

• Ontario. Prime Minister's Dept.

• Ontario. Office of the Premier and Cabinet Office

When the British North America Act was passed in 1867, it established five executive officers of the civil government of Ontario (the Attorney General, the Treasurer, the Secretary and Registrar, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works). However, it made no specific mention of, or provision for, the Premier or Premier's office. Until 1905, therefore, it was customary for the leader of the governing party to take the portfolio of the Attorney General (except for the period 1871-1872, when the Hon. Edward Blake, opted not to take one of the five portfolios and instead styled himself as "President of the Executive Council").

In 1905, however, Premier Whitney brought into legal existence a new portfolio titled the "Department of the Prime Minister and President of the Executive Council" (later known as the Office of the Premier, or Premier's Office). With this change, the Executive Council Office was transferred to the new Department from the Department of the Attorney General. Additionally, the term "Prime Minister" began to be used to indicate the first minister, instead of "Premier" which had been used up until 1905. Use of this term continued until 1983, when legislation changed the title back to that of "Premier".

The Department was responsible for providing administrative support to the Prime Minister of Ontario, and was one of the smallest agencies of the Ontario Government, consisting of just two Chief Clerks (one for the Premier and one for the Executive Council), one Assistant Clerk and a Stenographer.

The Department, however, quickly expanded and acquired responsibility for the Hydro Electric Power Commission, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, the Agent General for Ontario, and the Public Service Superannuation Commission, in 1919; the Office of the Civil Service Commissioner, in 1920; the King's Printer, and the Ontario Research Foundation, in 1928; and the Travel and Publicity Bureau, in 1929.

In 1946, the Executive Council Office was transferred out of the Premier's Office to the Department of the Provincial Secretary, where, in 1948, it became a unit of the newly established Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office was, in turn, attached to the Premier's Office in 1949.

Since the early 1970s the Premier has operated in an increasingly structured environment due, in part, to the adoption of recommendations of the Committee on Government Productivity and because one individual can no longer effectively manage all the business of governing Ontario.

The Premier of the Government of Ontario is the leader of the governing political party. He or she is the First Minister of Cabinet and President of the Executive Council, the chief government spokesperson in the Legislative Assembly, and an elected representative of a specific constituency. The Premier is the ultimate authority on government policy and the principal advisor to the Lieutenant Governor.

Specific duties of the Premier include: making formal recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor on the appointment of Cabinet ministers; approving the appointment of deputy ministers and members of the governing boards of Crown corporations, agencies, boards and commissions; and determining the portfolio structure of the Government and the organization of Cabinet.

An Act to amend the Act respecting the Executive Council, Statutes of Ontario 1905, Chap. 5

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

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Canadiana Name Authorities, 1996-12- 24

Simeon, James C. "Policy-Making in the Cabinet" in MacDonald, Donald C., ed. The Government and Politics of Ontario, 2nd Edition (Toronto: Van Nostrand Reinhold Ltd., 1980).

Stewart, Edward E. Cabinet Government in Ontario: A View from Inside (Halifax: The Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1989).

White, Graham. "Governing from Queen's Park: The Ontario Premiership" in Pal, Leslie A., and David Taras, ed. Prime Ministers and Premiers. Political Leadership and Public Policy in Canada (Scarborough: Prentice-Hall Canada, Inc., 1988).

Archivist(s):
R. Anger / Hopp / Sadinsky