Ontario. Treasury Dept.

• Treasury Department

• Ontario. Dept. of the Provincial Treasurer.

The Treasury Department for the Province of Ontario was established in 1867 under the terms of the British North America Act. This Act established a Treasurer for the Province, who assumed the rights, powers, and duties of both the Minister of Finance and the Receiver General of the former Province of Canada (1841-1867).

No specific Act delineating the authority of the Treasurer, and thereby the Treasury Department, however, was passed until the adoption of the Financial Administration Act of 1954.

Early offices established within the Treasury Department included the Audit Branch in 1869 (which by 1886 had become the Office of the Provincial Auditor), and the Office of the Inspector of Insurance in 1879. The Office of the Inspector of Insurance was transferred to the Department of the Provincial Secretary in 1889. In 1950, the Office of the Provincial Auditor was removed from the Treasury Department and established as an independent office of the Legislative Assembly.

In addition to his regular responsibilities, the Treasurer acted as the Registrar General from 1891 to 1896.

Other branches and offices established within, or transferred to, the Treasury Department included the Board of Censors of Motion Pictures (1911), the Motion Picture Bureau (1917), the Office of the Comptroller of Revenue (1926), the Motion Picture Censorship and Theatre Inspection Branch (1938), the Bureau of Statistics and Research (1943), the Office of the Provincial Economist (1951), and the Theatres Branch (1954).

Responsibility over the Theatres Branch was transferred to the Department of Travel and Publicity in 1958, while the Office of the Provincial Economist was removed from the Treasury Department and established as the Department of Economics in 1956.

In 1963, the various branches of the Department were organized into two main divisions - the Accounts Division and the Revenue Division. By 1967, a Finance Division was also established.

Agencies which reported to the Department included the Ontario Racing Commission, the Public Service Superannuation Board, the Treasury Board, the Ontario Universities Capital Aid Corporation, the Pension Commission of Ontario, and the Bureau of Archives.

In 1968, the Treasury Department was replaced by two new departments: the Department of Revenue and the Department of Treasury and Economics.

The Treasury Department was responsible for managing and controlling the revenues and expenditures of the Government of Ontario and for supervising, controlling and directing all matters relating to the financial affairs of Ontario. Activities included: managing the Consolidated Revenue Fund; examining and controlling Departmental accounting methods with respect to disbursements of public money; studying and advising upon trends in the fields of economics, finance, and taxation, and recommending policies in these areas; provincial tax administration and collection; and development of provincial budgets.

Constitution Act (British North America Act), Statutes of Great Britain 1867, Chap. 3

Financial Administration Act, Statutes of Ontario 1954, Chap. 30

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

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Bishop, Olga. Publications of the Government of Ontario, 1867-1900 (1976)

Canadiana Name Authorities, 1996-12- 24

MacTaggart, Hazel. Publications of the Government of Ontario, 1901-1955 (1964)

Directories and Guides to Services of the Government of Ontario, 1948-1967

Variant form found in Canadiana Name Authorities

Archivist(s):
R. Anger, R. Coram