The Ministry of Finance () is a ministry of the Government of Ontario responsible for managing the province's fiscal policy, developing the provincial budget, and financial sector regulation. The minister of finance – called the treasurer before 1993 – leads the ministry and is responsible to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
History For most of the period from 1867 until 1993, the minister was called the treasurer or provincial treasurer.
The ministry were renamed the Ministry of Economics in 1956 and the minister became known as Minister in charge of Economics instead of treasurer. From January to December 1961, the ministry became the Ministry of Economics and Federal and Provincial Relations. The title of treasurer was revived in December 1961 with the minister also often holding the secondary title of minister of economics or some variation after 1968. Frank Miller had the sole title of minister of economics from 1978 until 1981 when he was given the additional title of treasurer. At various times in the 1960s and 1970s the minister also held the titles of chairman of the management board of cabinet, chairman of the treasury board and/or minister of revenue. This practice was revived in recent years with Greg Sorbara acting as finance minister and chair of both the management board and the treasury board. It has ended as there is now a different person holding the position of chair of the management and treasury board.
In 1993, the positions of treasurer and minister of economics were formally combined and renamed the minister of finance.
In early 2007, Premier Dalton McGuinty split the province's revenue collection function from the Ministry of Finance and resurrected the Ministry of Revenue, a portfolio that had not been used since the Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae in 1993. Following the 2011 Ontario general election, the Ministry of Revenue was merged back into the Ministry of Finance.
List of ministers Portrait NameTerm of office Tenure Political party(Ministry) NoteTreasurer Edmund Burke WoodLiberalConservative(MacDonald) Alexander Mackenzie Liberal(Blake) Adam Crooks Liberal(Mowat) Samuel WoodConcurrently Commissioner of Agriculture James YoungConcurrently Commissioner of Agriculture Alexander RossConcurrently Commissioner of Agriculture (November 2, 1883 - May 1, 1888) Richard Harcourt Liberal(Hardy) George William Ross Liberal(Ross)While Premier Arthur MathesonConservative(Whitney) Died in office Isaac Lucasacting Conservative(Hearst) Thomas McGarry Peter SmithUnited Farmers(Drury) William Herbert PriceConservative(Ferguson) Joseph Monteith Edward Arunah Dunlop Conservative(Henry) George Stewart HenryWhile Premier Mitchell Hepburn Liberal(Hepburn) While Premier Liberal(Conant) Arthur Gordon Liberal(Nixon) Leslie Frost(first instance)PC(Drew) Concurrently Minister of Mines PC(Kennedy) Concurrently Minister of Mines PC(Frost) While Premier Dana PorterMinister in Charge of the Department of Economics Dana Porter Leslie Frost(second instance)(12 years, 84 days in total)While Premier James AllanConcurrently Minister of Public Works (May 14, 1958 – December 22, 1958)Minister of Economics and Federal and Provincial Relations James AllanTreasurer PC(Robarts) James AllanAlso Chair of the Treasury Board Charles MacNaughton(first instance)Also Chair of the Treasury Board Treasurer and Minister of Economics Charles MacNaughtonAlso Chair of the Treasury Board Darcy McKeough(first instance) PC(Davis)Also Chair of the Treasury Board Treasurer and Minister of Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs Darcy McKeough Charles MacNaughton(second instance)(4 years, 286 days in total) John White Darcy McKeough(second instance)(4 years, 249 days in total) Frank MillerTreasurer and Minister of Economics Frank Miller Larry GrossmanTreasurer PC(Miller) Larry Grossman Bette StephensonWhile Deputy PremierTreasurer and Minister of Economics Liberal(Peterson) Robert Nixon Concurrently Minister of Revenue (June 26, 1985 – September 29, 1987) Interim Chair of Management Board of Cabinet (June 17, 1986 – September 29, 1987) Minister of Financial Institutions (September 29, 1987 – August 16, 1988) Floyd Laughren NDP(Rae)Minister of Finance Floyd Laughren Ernie Eves PC(Harris)While Deputy Premier Jim FlahertyWhile Deputy Premier Janet Ecker PC(Eves) Greg Sorbara(first instance) Liberal(McGuinty) Concurrently Chair of Management Board of Cabinet Dwight Duncan(first instance)Concurrently Chair of Management Board of Cabinet Greg Sorbara(second instance)(3 years, 148 days in total)Interim minister; Concurrently Chair of Management Board of Cabinet Dwight Duncan(second instance)(5 years, 328 days in total)Concurrently Chair of Management Board of Cabinet; Concurrently Minister of Revenue (September 18, 2008 – June 24, 2009); Concurrently Deputy Premier (October 20, 2011 – February 11, 2013) Interim Minister of Government Services (November 27, 2012 – February 11, 2013) Charles Sousa Liberal(Wynne) Concurrently Chair of Management Board of Cabinet; Associate Ministers of Finance (Ontario Retirement Pension Plan) are: Mitzie Hunter (June 24, 2014 – June 13, 2016)Indira Naidoo-Harris (June 13, 2016 – August 24, 2016) Vic FedeliPC(Ford) While Chair of Cabinet Rod Phillips Peter Bethlenfalvypresent
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