Principal Secretary (Canada)

In Canada, the principal secretary is a senior aide, often the most senior political aide, to a head of government. Formerly, the position of principal secretary was the most senior one in the Canadian Prime Minister's office (PMO). However, since 1987, it has been second to the chief of staff position.

The Leader of the Official Opposition and most Premiers also have a principal secretary.

The role of the principal secretary may vary, depending on how the prime minister or premier structures the workflow in their office. This has sometimes led to ambiguity in clearly defining the distinction between the roles of principal secretary and chief of staff to the general public.<ref>Shannon Proudfoot, "In Trudeau’s PMO, what exactly is a principal secretary?". Maclean's, February 20, 2019.</ref>

List of principal secretaries to the prime minister

The organizational structure of the Prime Minister's office has traditionally been hierarchical. Depending on the personal approach of the Prime Minister, the duties of managing, administrating and co-ordinating the activities of the PMO may belong to the Principal Secretary, the Chief of Staff, or another key advisor.

The Government of Canada does not maintain an official, complete list of persons that have held leadership positions in the PMO. The following list includes persons that have held the position of Principal Secretary, Private Secretary, Principal Private Secretary, Personal Secretary, or Secretary.

No.	Name	Title	Term of Office		Political Party		Ministry
1	Hewitt Bernard	Private Secretary	1867	1873	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal-Conservative	1 (Macdonald)
2	William Buckingham	Secretary	1873	1878	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	2 (Mackenzie)
3	Fred White	Private Secretary	1878	1882	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal-Conservative	3 (Macdonald)
4	Joseph Pope	Private Secretary	1882	1891	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal-Conservative
—	Vacant				Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal-Conservative	4 (Abbott)
5	Douglas Stewart	Secretary	1892	1894	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal-Conservative	5 (Thompson)
—	Vacant				Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative	6 (Bowell)
6	Austin Ernest Blount	Private Secretary	1896	1896	Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative	7 (Tupper)
7	Ernest Joseph Lemaire	Private Secretary	1904	1912	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	8 (Laurier)
8	Austin Ernest Blount	Private Secretary	1911	1917	Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative	9 (Borden)
—	Vacant				Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative (Unionist)	10 (Borden)
9	Arthur Merriam	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1920	1921	Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative (Unionist)	11 (Meighan)
10	Laurent Beaudry	Private Secretary	1921	1922	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	12 (King)
	Fred A. McGregor	Secretary	1921	1922	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
11	Leslie Clare Moyer	Private Secretary	1922	1926	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
12	Ralph Campney	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1925	1926	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
—	Vacant				Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative	13 (Meighan)
13	Howard Measures	Personal Secretary	1925	1930	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	14 (King)
14	Leslie Clare Moyer	Private Secretary	1926	1927	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
15	Harry Baldwin	Principal Private Secretary	1929	1930	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
16	Rob Finlayson	Principal Senior Secretary	1930	1935	Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative	15 (Bennett)
17	Howard R. L. Henry	Private Secretary	1935	1935	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	16 (King)
18	Arnold Heeney	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1938	1940	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
19	Walter J. Turnbull	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1940	1945	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
20	Gideon Matte	Private Secretary	1945	1948	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
21	Pierre Asselin	Private Secretary	1952	1958	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	17 (St-Laurent)
	Dale Thomson	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1952	1953	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
22	Derek Bedson	Private Secretary	1957	1958	Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative	18 (Diefenbaker)
23	Marc Lalonde	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1967	1968	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	19 (Pearson)
24	John Hodgson	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1966	1967	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
25	Marc Lalonde	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1968	1972	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	20 (Trudeau)
26	Martin O'Connell	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1973	1974	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
27	Jack Austin	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1974	1975	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
28	Jim Coutts	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1975	1979	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
—	Vacant				Template:Canadian party colour|	Progressive Conservative	21 (Clark)
29	Jim Coutts	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1980	1981	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	22 (Trudeau)
30	Tom Axworthy	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1981	1984	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
31	John Swift	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1984	1984	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	23 (Turner)
32	Bernard A. Roy	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1984	1988	Template:Canadian party colour|	Progressive Conservative	24 (Mulroney)
33	Peter G. White	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1988	1989	Template:Canadian party colour|	Progressive Conservative
34	Jean Riou	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1993	1993	Template:Canadian party colour|	Progressive Conservative	25 (Campbell)
—	Vacant				Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	26 (Chrétien)
35	Francis Fox	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2004	2004	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	27 (Martin)
36	Ray Novak	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2008	2013	Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative	28 (Harper)
37	Gerald Butts	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2015	2019	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	29 (Trudeau)
—	Vacant				Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal
38	Tom Pitfield	Interim Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2025	present	Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	30 (Carney)

See also

• Canadian Secretary to the King
• Secretary to the Governor General of Canada

External links

• Principal Secretaries to the Prime Minister – Parliament of Canada website