In Canada, a Deputy Minister is the senior civil servant in a government department and assists the Minister of the department who is a member of the Canadian Cabinet.
The most senior deputy minister is the Clerk of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada who is also Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister of Canada. This should not be confused with the position of Deputy Prime Minister of Canada who is not a deputy minister at all but a politician and senior member of the Cabinet. The position of Deputy Minister is equivalent to the British position of Permanent Secretary made famous in the television satire, Yes, Minister.
There are several individuals who have deputy minister rank and are known by other titles such as president, secretary or commissioner.
Provincial governments also have deputy ministers who serve the same function as their federal counterparts.
Current deputy ministers are:
Clerk of the Privy Council (Deputy Minister to the PM) - Alexander Himelfarb
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food - Leonard Edwards
President of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency - Monique Collette
Commissioner of Customs and Revenue - Alan Nymark
Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage - Judith Anne Larocque
Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration - Michel Dorais
Deputy Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec - Michelle D'auray
Deputy Minister of the Environment - Samy Watson
Deputy Minister of Finance - Kevin G. Lynch
Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Oceans - Larry E. Murray
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs - Vernon Peter Harder
Deputy Minister of Health - Ian C. Green
Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development - Wayne G. Wouters
Deputy Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development - J. Michael Horgan
Deputy Minister of Industry - Suzanne Hurtubise
Deputy Head of the Office of Infrastructure of Canada - André Juneau
Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs - Marie E. Fortier
Deputy Minister for International Trade - Robert Fonberg
Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General - Morris A. Rosenberg
Deputy Minister of National Defence - Ward P.D. Elcock
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources - George R.M. Anderson
Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness - Margaret Bloodworth
Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services - I. David Marshall
Deputy Minister of Social Development - Nicole Jauvin
Deputy Minister of Transport - Louis Ranger
Secretary of the Treasury Board and Comptroller General of Canada - James A.J. Judd
Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs - Jack Stagg
Deputy Minister of Western Economic Diversification - Oryssia J. Lennie
A fundamental tenet of natural justice is contradicted if the deputyminister can, following a hearing to which he or she has been a party and without any other reasons than those he or she expressed at the hearings, reverse the decision that resulted from the hearing.
It was his opinion that the DeputyMinister was not entitled to "re‑make" a decision he had already rendered after the matter had become the subject of a "complaint" and of a "recommendation".
It follows that the DeputyMinister was under a duty to comply with the principles of procedural fairness in the context of security clearance decision-making.
In the provinces of Canada deaths and sudden resignations are more common, and in such cases it appears a constitutional convention has emerged in which an emergency party caucus will usually appoint the deputy premier to serve as premier on an interim basis until a permanent successor is chosen.
The official duties of the Deputy Prime Minister are to answer on behalf of overall government policy during Question Period and chair the Cabinet of Canada in the absence of the Prime Minister.
The deputyminister to the Prime Minister is the Clerk of the Privy Council.
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