Editing Receiver General for Canada

{{Short description|Canadian government position}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Receiver General for Canada
| insignia = 
| insigniasize = 
| insigniacaption = 
| image = 
| incumbent = [[Joël Lightbound]]
| incumbentsince = May 13, 2025
| department = [[Department of Public Works and Government Services (Canada)|Public Services and Procurement Canada]]
| style = [[The Honourable]]
| member_of = {{hlist|[[Parliament of Canada|Parliament]]|[[Privy Council of Canada|Privy Council]]|{{nowrap|[[Cabinet of Canada|Cabinet]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/About/OurProcedure/ParliamentaryFramework/c_g_parliamentaryframework-e.htm|title=The Canadian Parliamentary system - Our Procedure - House of Commons|website=www.ourcommons.ca|access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref>}}
| reports_to = {{hlist|[[Parliament of Canada|Parliament]]|{{nowrap|[[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/report/rev-exa/ar-er-eng.pdf|title=Review of the Responsibilities and Accountabilities of Ministers and Senior Officials}}</ref>}}
| residence = 
| seat = 
| appointer = [[Monarchy of Canada|Monarch]] (represented by the [[Governor General of Canada|governor general]]);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/role/responsibilities/constitutional-duties|title=Constitutional Duties|last=|first=|date=|website=The Governor General of Canada|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423211544/https://www.gg.ca/en/role/responsibilities/constitutional-duties|archive-date=2020-04-23|access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref>
| appointer_qualified = on the [[Advice (constitutional)|advice]] of the prime minister<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure-book-livre/Document.aspx?sbdid=73CC891E-0676-4773-850B-CCDCB472AD8C&sbpid=BE842475-5632-4969-835B-FC015CE50169&Language=E&Mode=1|title=House of Commons Procedure and Practice - 1. Parliamentary Institutions - Canadian Parliamentary Institutions|website=www.ourcommons.ca|access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref>
| termlength = [[At {{ucfirst:{{Canadian monarch, current|genderp=~}}}} Majesty's pleasure]]
| termlength_qualified = 
| formation = September 14, 1764
| inaugural = [[Walter Murray (Quebec colonial politician)|Walter Murray]]
| salary = {{nowrap|[[Canadian dollar|CA$]]299,900 (2024)<ref name="salary">{{cite web |url = https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Salaries?ggCheckbox=false&senateCheckbox=false&HocCheckbox=true |title=Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances |date=April 1, 2024 |access-date=March 15, 2025 }}</ref>}}
| website = {{url|http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/recgen/}}
| body = 
| native_name = {{small|{{nobold|{{lang|fr|Receveur général du Canada}}}}}}
}}

The '''receiver general for Canada''' ({{langx|fr|receveur général du Canada}}) is responsible for making payments to the [[Government of Canada]] each [[fiscal year]], accepting payments from [[financial institution]]s and preparing the Public Accounts of Canada, containing annual [[audit]]ed [[financial statements]] of the Government of Canada. The receiver general deposits and withdraws funds from the [[Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada]].

The [[Minister of Public Works and Government Services|minister of public services and procurement]] is the receiver general for Canada. The ''Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, 1996'' states: "In the Minister's capacity as Receiver General, the Minister shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties and functions assigned to the receiver general by law."

==Receivers General== 
The first holder was Walter Murray, who was related to then Governor of Quebec [[James Murray (British Army officer, born 1721)|James Murray]] from 1764.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/murray_walter_4E.html|title = Biography – MURRAY, WALTER – Volume IV (1771-1800) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography}}</ref> Murray was succeeded by Sir Thomas Mills from 1765 to 1777. Mills was often absent thus his office was held in acting by subordinates: Hector Theophilus Cramahe from 1766 to 1770 and Thomas Dunn from 1770 to 1777<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cramahe_hector_theophilus_4E.html | title=Biography – CRAMAHÉ, HECTOR THEOPHILUS – Volume IV (1771-1800) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography }}</ref>). Mills was returned to the post from 1777 until he was forced out in 1789<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mills_thomas_4E.html|title=Biography – MILLS, Sir THOMAS – Volume IV (1771-1800) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography}}</ref> The office was replaced by the division of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada in 1791.

Pre-Confederation colonies of [[Lower Canada]], [[New Brunswick]], [[Nova Scotia]], [[Prince Edward Island]], [[Upper Canada]] and the [[Province of Canada]] each had this post.

From 1867 to 1879 it was a standalone position with minister of finance as ''ex officio''. R.B. Bennett (1926, 1930–32) and Mackenzie Bowell (1896) are the only Prime Ministers to hold the title (Tupper held post before becoming a Prime Minister as Minister of Finance). From 1879 to 1968 it was held mainly by the minister of finance. Reverting as standalone in 1968 and transferred to the minister of supply and services in 1979. From 1980 to 1984 there was no cabinet title but under the authority of the minister of supply and services before reappearing in 1984. In 1996 the role was merged into the minister of public works with new title as minister of public works and government services and then as minister of public services and procurement since 2015.

List of receivers general since 1867:
* [[Edward Kenny]] 1867–1869, as Senator
* [[Jean-Charles Chapais]] 1869–1873, as Senator
* [[Théodore Robitaille]] 1873, as Senator 
* [[Thomas Coffin (Nova Scotia politician)|Thomas Coffin]] 1873-1878
* [[John Mortimer Courtney]] 1878, as acting (Deputy RG and non MP)
* [[Alexander Campbell (Canadian senator)|Alexander Campbell]] 1878–1879, as Senator
* [[Samuel Leonard Tilley]] 1879-1885
** John Mortimer Courtney 1885 as acting (Deputy RG and non MP)
** [[Archibald McLelan]] 1885-1887
** [[Charles Tupper]] 1887-1888
** [[George Eulas Foster]] 1888–1891, 1891-1896
* [[Mackenzie Bowell]] 1896
* John Mortimer Courtney 1896 as acting
* [[William Stevens Fielding]] 1896-1911
* [[William Thomas White]] 1911-1919
* [[Henry Lumley Drayton]] 1919-1920
* William Stevens Fielding 1921-1925
* [[James Robb (politician)|James Robb]] 1925-1926
* Henry Lumley Drayton 1926 as acting
* [[Richard Bedford Bennett]] 1926
* James Robb 1926-1929
* John C. Saunders  1929
* [[Charles Avery Dunning]] 1929-1930
* Richard Bedford Bennett 1930-1932
* [[Edgar Nelson Rhodes]] 1932-1935
* Charles Avery Dunning 1935-1939
* [[James Ralston]] 1939-1940
* [[James Lorimer Ilsley]] 1940-1946
* [[Douglas Abbott]] 1946-1954
* [[Walter Edward Harris]] 1954-1957
* [[Donald Fleming]] 1957-1962
* [[George Nowlan]] 1962-1963
* [[Walter L. Gordon]] 1963-1965
* [[Mitchell Sharp]] 1965-1968
* [[Edgar Benson]] 1968-1969
* [[Don Jamieson (politician)|Don Jamieson]] 1969
* [[James Armstrong Richardson]] 1969-1972
* [[Jean-Pierre Goyer]] 1972-1978
* [[Pierre de Bané]] 1978-1979
* [[Roch La Salle]] 1979
* [[Charles Lapointe]] 1984
* [[Harvie Andre]] 1984-1985
* [[Stewart McInnes]] 1985-1986
* [[Monique Vézina]] 1986-1987
* [[Michel Côté (MP)|Michel Côté]] 1987-1988
* Stewart McInnes 1988 as acting
* [[Lucien Bouchard]] 1988-1989
* [[Paul Dick]] 1989-1993
* [[David Dingwall]] 1993-1996
* [[Diane Marleau]] 1996-1997
* [[Alfonso Gagliano]] 1997-2002
* [[Don Boudria]] 2002
* [[Ralph Goodale]] 2002-2003
* [[Stephen Owen (politician)|Stephen Owen]] 2003-2004
* [[Scott Brison]] 2004-2006
* [[Michael Fortier]] 2006-2008
* [[Christian Paradis]] 2008-2010
* [[Rona Ambrose]] 2010-2013
* [[Diane Finley]] 2013-2015
* [[Judy Foote]] 2015-2017
* [[Carla Qualtrough]] 2017-2019
* [[Anita Anand]] 2019-2021
* [[Filomena Tassi]] 2021-2022
* [[Helena Jaczek]] 2022-2023
* [[Jean-Yves Duclos]] 2023-2025
* [[Ali Ehsassi]] 2025-2025
* [[Joël Lightbound]] 2025-

==See also==

The position of [[Receiver General|receiver general]] existed in the [[United Kingdom]] and in various [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, and still exists in [[Massachusetts]] and provincially within Canada.

==External links==
* [http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/recgen/txt/index-eng.html Receiver General for Canada Official Website]

==References==
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[[Category:Federal departments and agencies of Canada]]
[[Category:Ministerial offices in Canada]]