The Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada () is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who served as the chief executive of Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD). The post was traditionally held by an MP from Western Canada, although occasionally the responsibilities were accorded to a more senior cabinet minister, such as the Industry minister.
As of November 4, 2015, WD, along with Canada's other regional development agencies, is operated as part of the Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) portfolio, led by Minister Navdeep Bains.
Related regional development posts include Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, positions which have also been folded into ISED under Minister Bains.
On August 5, 2021, the Government of Canada announced that Western Economic Diversification would be divided into two new agencies—PacifiCan for BC; and PrairiesCan for Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.West at aglance wd-deo.gc.ca
Ministers Key:
No.NameTerm of officePolitical partyMinistryMinister of Western Economic Diversification 1 Bill McKnight June 28, 1988 January 29, 1989 Progressive Conservative24 (Mulroney) 2 Charlie Mayer January 30, 1989 January 3, 1993 Progressive Conservative 3 Mary Collins January 4, 1993 June 24, 1993 Progressive Conservative 4 Larry Schneider June 25, 1993 November 3, 1993 Progressive Conservative 25 (Campbell) 5 Lloyd Axworthy November 4, 1993 January 24, 1996 Liberal26 (Chrétien) 6 John Manley January 25, 1996 October 16, 2000 Liberal 7 Brian Tobin October 17, 2000 January 14, 2002 Liberal 8 Allan Rock January 15, 2002 December 11, 2003 Liberal 9 Rey Pagtakhan December 12, 2003 July 20, 2004 Liberal27 (Martin) 10 Stephen Owen July 20, 2004 February 6, 2006 Conservative 11 Carol Skelton February 6, 2006 January 4, 2007 Conservative28 (Harper) 12 Rona Ambrose January 4, 2007 October 30, 2008 Conservative 13 Jim Prentice October 30, 2008 November 5, 2010 Conservative (12) Rona Ambrose November 5, 2010 May 18, 2011 Conservative 14 Lynne Yelich May 18, 2011 July 16, 2013 Conservative 15 Michelle Rempel July 16, 2013 November 4, 2015 Conservative 16 Navdeep Bains November 4, 2015 October 26, 2021 Liberal29 (Trudeau)Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada 17 Dan Vandal October 26, 2021 December 20, 2024 Liberal29 (Trudeau) 18 Terry Duguid December 20, 2024 Incumbent Liberal
References