President of the King's Privy Council for Canada () is the title held by a member of the Canadian Cabinet who has the – largely ceremonial – duty of chairing meetings of the Privy Council. The Privy Council president often holds an additional portfolio, commonly minister of intergovernmental affairs, and is supported by the Privy Council Office.
Dominic LeBlanc has been President of the Privy Council since March 14, 2025; he previously held the role from 2018 to 2021. LeBlanc concurrently serves as the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, intergovernmental affairs and one Canadian economy. The officeholder is selected by the prime minister of Canada and appointed by the Crown.
The president of the Privy Council has additionally been designated as the minister responsible for the Major Projects Office since 2025.
Role The president of the Privy Council has the largely ceremonial duty of presiding over meetings of the Privy Council, a body which only convenes in full for affairs of state such as the accession of a new Sovereign or the marriage of the Prince of Wales or heir presumptive to the Throne. Accordingly, the last time the president of the Privy Council had to preside over a meeting of the Privy Council was in 2022 for the proclamation of the accession of King Charles III. It is the equivalent of the office of lord president of the council in the United Kingdom.
Under prime ministers Pierre Trudeau and Joe Clark, the position was synonymous with that of government house leader. In 1989, the government house leader became a separate position and the president of the Privy Council became a largely honorary title (not unlike that of deputy prime minister of Canada) given to a senior minister in addition to other portfolios. From 1993 it has regularly been held by whoever holds the portfolio of minister of intergovernmental affairs. In the past decade the position has generally been seen to be the closest thing to a sinecure posting within the Cabinet.
List of presidents of the Privy Council President of the Privy Council Term of office Concurrent Cabinet PostsMinistry Monarch1Adam Johnston Fergusson Blair1867 1867noneMacdonaldVictoria–John A. Macdonald1867 1869(acting)2Joseph Howe1869 1869none3Edward Kenny1869 1870none4Charles Tupper1870 1872none5John O'Connor1872 1873none–John A. Macdonald1873 1873(acting)6Hugh McDonald1873 |1873none–John A. Macdonald1873 1873(acting)–Alexander Mackenzie1873 1874(acting)Mackenzie7Lucius Seth Huntington1874 1875none–Alexander Mackenzie1875 1875(acting)8Joseph-Édouard Cauchon1875 1877none9Edward Blake1877 1878none–Alexander Mackenzie1878 1878(acting)(5)John O'Connor1878 1880noneMacdonald10Louis-Rodrigue Masson1880 1880none–John A. Macdonald1880 1880(acting)11Joseph-Alfred Mousseau1880 1881none12Archibald McLelan1881 1882none13John A. Macdonald1883 1889Prime Minister Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs (1878–87, 88)14Charles Carroll Colby1889 1891none–John A. Macdonald1891 1891(acting)15John Abbott1891 1892Prime MinisterAbbott–John Sparrow David Thompson1892 1892(acting)Thompson16William Bullock Ives1892 1894none17Mackenzie Bowell1894 1896Prime MinisterBowell18Auguste-Réal Angers1896 1896noneTupper19Wilfrid Laurier1896 1911Prime MinisterLaurierEdward VIIGeorge V20Robert Borden1911 1917Prime MinisterBorden21Newton Rowell1917 1920Minister presiding Department of Health (1919–20)22James Alexander Calder1920 1921Minister of Immigration and Colonization, Minister presiding Department of HealthMeighen23Louis-Philippe Normand1921 1921none24William Lyon Mackenzie King1921 1926Prime Minister, Secretary of State for External AffairsKing25Arthur Meighen1926 1926Prime Minister, Secretary of State for External AffairsMeighen(24)William Lyon Mackenzie King1926 1930Prime Minister, Secretary of State for External AffairsKing26R. B. Bennett1930 1935Prime Minister, Minister of Finance (until 1932), Secretary of State for External Affairs, Bennett(24)William Lyon Mackenzie King1935 1948Prime Minister, Secretary of State for External Affairs (until 1946)KingEdward VIIIGeorge VI27Louis St. Laurent1948 1957Prime MinisterSt. LaurentElizabeth II28Lionel Chevrier1957 1957none29John Diefenbaker1957 1961Prime MinisterDiefenbaker30Noël Dorion1961 1962none(29)John Diefenbaker1962 1963Prime Minister31Maurice Lamontagne1963 1964nonePearson32George McIlraith1964 1965none33Guy Favreau1965 1967Registrar General (from 1966)34Walter L. Gordon1967 1968none–Pierre Trudeau1968 1968(acting)P. Trudeau–Allan MacEachen1968 1968(acting)35Donald Stovel Macdonald1968 1970Government House Leader36Allan MacEachen1970 1974Government House Leader37Mitchell Sharp1974 1976Government House Leader(36)Allan MacEachen1976 1979Government House Leader38Walter Baker1979 1980Minister of National RevenueClark39Yvon Pinard1980 1984Government House LeaderP. Trudeau40André Ouellet1984 1984Minister of Labour Turner41Erik Nielsen1984 1985Deputy Prime MinisterMulroney42Ray Hnatyshyn1985 1986Government House Leader43Don Mazankowski1986 1991Deputy Prime Minister, Government House Leader44Joe Clark1991 1993Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs45Pierre Blais1993 1993Minister of Justice and Attorney GeneralCampbell46Marcel Massé1993 1996Minister of Intergovernmental AffairsChrétien47Stéphane Dion1996 2003Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs48Denis Coderre2003 2004Minister res. for La Francophonie, for the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution, Federal interlocutor for Métis and non-status IndiansMartin49Lucienne Robillard2004 2006Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs50Michael Chong2006 2006Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of State for SportHarper51Peter Van Loan2006 2007Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs52Rona Ambrose2007 2008Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs53Josée Verner2008 2011Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs54Peter Penashue2011 2013Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs55Denis Lebel2013 2015Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of Infrastructure56Maryam Monsef Monsef is subsequently listed as having assumed the office on November 4, 2015.2015 2017Minister of Democratic InstitutionsJ. Trudeau57Karina Gould2017 2018Minister of Democratic Institutions58Dominic LeBlanc2018 2021Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Northern Affairs and Internal Trade59Bill Blair2021 26 July 2023Minister of Emergency PreparednessCharles III 60 Harjit Sajjan 2023 2025Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (58) Dominic LeBlanc 2025 IncumbentMinister of Internal Trade, Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian EconomyCarney
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External links Privy Council Office