Cabinet (Plain-Language Summary)

The Cabinet is a committee of ministers. It holds executive power in government. This means it has the power to execute, or carry out, the government’s plans. Cabinets are chaired by the prime minister. In the provinces, they are chaired by the premier. Ministers typically come from the party with the most seats. They oversee major departments, such as finance, health, natural resources, etc. Cabinets are usually strong and driven by agreement. But some believe they have grown weaker as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has grown stronger.

This article is a plain-language summary of Cabinet. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: Cabinet.

How Cabinets Work

The Cabinet is also known as the “government-of-the-day.” It introduces and passes laws. It manages policies and goals. It also oversees government finances. The federal Cabinet gets its legal powers from the Privy Council. Cabinet acts in the name of the Crown. It consists of Members of Parliament (MPs). They are appointed by the prime minister to head departments. The Treasury Board is the only Cabinet committee formed by Parliament.

Cabinets have grown from 12 members to around 40. Various “junior ministers” are appointed to help ministers. The junior ministers are also called Secretaries of State. The Privy Council Office (PCO) provides the secretariat for Cabinet and its committees. Senior public servants also work in Cabinet. They are, however, excluded from Cabinet meetings.

Provincial Cabinets are formally known as executive councils. They follow the federal model except for some powers of appointment.

How Cabinets Are Made

Choosing a Cabinet is highly political. A PM tries to ensure that it represents the country’s different regions, languages and ethnic groups. If a ruling party fails to elect MPs in certain regions, the PM can appoint members of the Senate. A PM is also sure to include women, francophones, and Indigenous people. Major figures within the governing party are given high-profile roles in Cabinet. The PM seeks to maintain power by sharing it. They seek consensus within their party.

Current Federal Cabinet

Ministry	Minister		Constituency
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau		Papineau, QC
Finance and Deputy Prime Minister	Chrystia Freeland		University-Rosedale, ON
Treasury Board President	Anita Anand		Oakville, ON
Crown-Indigenous Relations	Gary Anandasangaree		Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON
Citizens’ Services	Terry Beech		Burnaby North—Seymour, BC
National Revenue	Marie-Claude Bibeau		Compton—Stanstead, QC
National Defence	Bill Blair		Scarborough Southwest, ON
Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages	Randy Boissonnault		Edmonton Centre, AB
Innovation, Science and Industry	François-Philippe Champagne		Mississauga–Malton, ON
Public Services and Procurement	Jean-Yves Duclos		Québec, QC
Housing, Infrastructure and Communities	Sean Fraser		Central Nova, NS
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons	Steven MacKinnon		Burlington, ON
Environment and Climate Change	Steven Guilbeault		Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Indigenous Services and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario	Patty Hajdu		Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
Health	Mark Holland		Ajax, ON
International Development	Ahmed Hussen		York South—Weston, ON
Rural Economic Development and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency	Gudie Hutchings		Long Range Mountains, NL
Women and Gender Equality and Youth	Marci Ien		Toronto Centre, ON
Foreign Affairs	Mélanie Joly		Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities	Kamal Khera		Brampton West, ON
Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs	Dominic LeBlanc		Beauséjour, NB
Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard	Diane Lebouthillier		Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Agriculture and Agri-Food	Lawrence MacAulay		Cardigan, PEI
Tourism and the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec	Soraya Martinez Ferrada		Hochelaga, QC
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship	Marc Miller		Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, QC
Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development	Mary Ng		Markham–Thornhill, ON
Labour and Seniors	Seamus O'Regan Jr.		St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence	Ginette Petitpas Taylor		Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB
Sport and Physical Activity	Carla Qualtrough		Delta, BC
Transport	Pablo Rodriguez		Honoré-Mercier, QC
Emergency Preparedness, Pacific Economic Development Agency, and President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada	Harjit Sajjan		Vancouver South, BC
Canadian Heritage	Pascale St-Onge	Brome—Missisquoi, QC
Families, Children and Social Development	Jenna Sudds	Kanata—Carleton, ON
Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario	Filomena Tassi		Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
Small Business	Rechie Valdez		Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Northern Affairs, Prairies Economic Development Canada, and Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency	Dan Vandal	Saint Boniface–Saint Vital, MB
Justice and Attorney General of Canada	Arif Virani		Parkdale—High Park, ON
Energy and Natural Resources	Jonathan Wilkinson		North Vancouver, BC
Mental Health and Addictions, Associate Minister of Health	Ya’ara Saks		York Centre, ON

Secrecy

All Cabinet members are bound for life by the Privy Council oath of secrecy. Public statements by a minister are those of Cabinet. Ministers may disagree in public only after resigning from Cabinet.

The Official Secrets Act makes it illegal for public employees, opposition critics and journalists to go public with information seen as harmful to the state. The Act has also been used to protect Cabinet members.

Cabinet Power on the Rise

A Cabinet relies on its control over the governing party. Prime ministers often use patronage to ensure party loyalty. This includes appointment to Cabinet and committees.

The Cabinet has the power, through its majority in the House, to prevent votes to bring down the government. But the House’s ability to hold the executive to account is the basis of responsible government. The Cabinet can also govern by order-in-council. This began under Pierre Trudeau. It has only gained strength since then.

A large reason for such changes is the growing size of government. The idea that ministers are responsible for every facet of their department has come to be seen as unreasonable. As a result, some of that power is now given to unelected public servants. They do not sit in the House and cannot be held to account by its members.

Steps have been taken to address the power imbalance between Cabinet and Parliament. Committees have been given more power to track government activity. Freedom of Information laws have been passed. And in 2006, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) was created. The PBO gives Parliament oversight on government spending.

Privy Council Office on Metcalfe Street in Ottawa.

Cabinet Power in Decline

Some fear that Cabinet has grown too powerful. But others believe that Cabinet is too heavily controlled by the PM and his office. Critics argue that plans and priorities are set in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) by the leader and his unelected staff. They are then given to Cabinet members for rubber-stamping.

Stephen Harper was often criticized for keeping too much power in the PMO. His Cabinet ministers and their staffs could not speak to the media without approval from the PMO. The power balance between Cabinet and the PMO also came under scrutiny under PM Justin Trudeau. This was most true during the SNC-Lavalin affair. In February 2019, Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott resigned from Cabinet. Wilson-Raybould claimed the PMO and other staff pressured her to work out a deal with SNC-Lavalin. The ethics commissioner found that Trudeau had breached conflict of interest law.