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Canadian order of precedence

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The Canadian order of precedence is a nominal and symbolic hierarchy of important positions within the governing institutions of Canada. It has no legal standing but is used to dictate ceremonial protocol.

The Department of Canadian Heritage issues a Table of Precedence for Canada, which does not include members of the Royal Family, save for the sovereign, mentioned in a note as preceding the governor general. The Department of National Defence issues near identical guidelines, with the primary difference being the inclusion of members of the Canadian Royal Family, specifying that they take precedence after the governor general. The provinces and territories of Canada also have their own orders of precedence for events of a provincial or territorial nature. They serve the same purpose and are structured similarly, but place an emphasis on provincial or territorial offices.

All units of the Canadian Forces also have an order of precedence that determines seniority; it often decides such matters as which unit forms up to the right (senior side) of other units on a ceremonial parade, or the order in which marches or calls are played at a mess dinner.

  1. The Queen of Canada (Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
  2. Governor General of Canada (David Johnston)
  3. Prime Minister of Canada (Justin Trudeau)
  4. Chief Justice of Canada (Beverley McLachlin)
  5. Former Governors General of Canada in order of their departure from office:
    1. Ed Schreyer (1979–1984)
    2. Adrienne Clarkson (1999–2005)
    3. Michaëlle Jean (2005–2010)
  6. Surviving spouses of deceased Governors General of Canada:
    1. Gerda Hnatyshyn, widow of Ray Hnatyshyn
    2. Diana Fowler LeBlanc, widow of Roméo LeBlanc
  7. Former Prime Ministers of Canada in order of their first assumption of office:
    1. Joe Clark (1979–1980)
    2. John Turner (1984)
    3. Brian Mulroney (1984–1993)
    4. Kim Campbell (1993)
    5. Jean Chrétien (1993–2003)
    6. Paul Martin (2003–2006)
    7. Stephen Harper (2006–2015)
  8. Former Chief Justices of Canada, in order of their appointment
  9. Speaker of the Canadian Senate (George Furey)
  10. Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (Geoff Regan)
  11. Representatives to Canada of foreign governments
  12. Ministers of the Crown
    1. Members of the Cabinet in order of appointment to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada with ties broken by order of election to the House or appointment to the Senate
      1. Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (4 November 1993, MP in 1974)
      2. Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (4 November 1993, MP in 1988)
      3. Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs (12 December 2003, MP in 1997)
      4. Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board (12 December 2003, MP in 1997)
      5. Dominic Leblanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard (20 July 2004)
      6. Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (7 October 2005)
      7. Judy Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement (4 November 2015, MP in 1996)
      8. Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport (4 November 2015, MP in 2008)
      9. Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science (4 November 2015, MP in 2008)
      10. Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade (4 November 2015, MP in 2013)
      11. Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      12. Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      13. Jane Philpott, Minister of Health (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      14. Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      15. Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for La francophonie (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      16. Jim Carr, Minister of Natural Resources (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      17. Mélanie Joly, Minister of Heritage (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      18. Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      19. Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      20. Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      21. Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      22. Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      23. Maryam Monsef, Minister of Democratic Institutions (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      24. Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      25. Patty Hajdu, Minister responsible for the Status of Women (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      26. Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism & Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (4 November 2015, MP in 2015)
      27. Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade (10 January 2017, MP in 2015)
      28. Karina Gould, Minister of Democratic Institutions (10 January 2017, MP in 2015)
      29. Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (10 January 2017, MP in 2015)
    2. Ministers of State in order of appointment to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada with ties broken by order of election to the House or appointment to the Senate
  13. Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (Rona Ambrose)
  14. Lieutenant Governors of the provinces, in the order their province joined Confederation and by population at joining to break ties
    1. Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (Elizabeth Dowdeswell)
    2. Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (J. Michel Doyon)
    3. Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (John James Grant)
    4. Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau)
    5. Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (Janice Filmon)
    6. Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (Judith Guichon)
    7. Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (Frank Lewis)
    8. Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan (Vaughn Solomon Schofield)
    9. Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (Lois Mitchell)
    10. Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador (Frank Fagan)
  15. All other Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in order with the date of their appointment to the Privy Council, but with precedence given to those who bear the title "Right Honourable" in accordance with the date of receiving the honorary title.
    1. Don Mazankowski PC OC AOE (1992) (the only person with the title "Right Honourable" who is not higher on the list)
    2. List of current members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
  16. Premiers of the Provinces, in the order their province joined confederation and by population at joining to break ties
    1. Premier of Ontario (Kathleen Wynne)
    2. Premier of Quebec (Philippe Couillard)
    3. Premier of Nova Scotia (Stephen McNeil)
    4. Premier of New Brunswick (Brian Gallant)
    5. Premier of Manitoba (Brian Pallister)
    6. Premier of British Columbia (Christy Clark)
    7. Premier of Prince Edward Island (Wade MacLauchlan)
    8. Premier of Saskatchewan (Brad Wall)
    9. Premier of Alberta (Rachel Notley)
    10. Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador (Dwight Ball)
  17. Commissioners of the Territories
    1. Commissioner of the Northwest Territories (George Tuccaro)
    2. Commissioner of the Yukon Territory (Doug Phillips)
    3. Commissioner of Nunavut (Nellie Kusugak)
  18. Premiers of the Territories
    1. Premier of the Northwest Territories (Bob McLeod)
    2. Premier of Yukon (Darrell Pasloski)
    3. Premier of Nunavut (Peter Taptuna)
  19. Religious leaders, equally, by seniority
  20. Puisne Judges of the Supreme Court
    1. Rosalie Abella
    2. Thomas Cromwell
    3. Michael J. Moldaver
    4. Andromache Karakatsanis
    5. Richard Wagner
    6. Clément Gascon
    7. Suzanne Côté
    8. Russell Brown
    9. Malcolm Rowe
  21. Superior court justices
    1. Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada (Paul S. Crampton)
    2. Associate Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada (None currently)
    3. Chief Justices of the highest court of each province and territory in order of date of appointment as chief justice
      1. Catherine Fraser, Chief Justice of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut (12 March 1992)
      2. Ernest Drapeau, Chief Justice of New Brunswick (2003)
      3. Michael MacDonald, Chief Justice of Nova Scotia (2005)
      4. David H. Jenkins, Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island (1 February 2008)
      5. Derek Green, Chief Justice of Newfoundland and Labrador (2009)
      6. Nicole Duval Hesler, Chief Justice of Quebec (7 October 2011)
      7. Richard J. Chartier, Chief Justice of Manitoba (8 March 2013)
      8. Robert J. Bauman, Chief Justice of British Columbia and Yukon (16 June 2013)
      9. Robert Richards, Chief Justice of Saskatchewan (2013)
      10. George Strathy, Chief Justice of Ontario (13 June 2014)
    4. Chief Justices and Associate Chief Justices of other superior courts, in order of appointment as chief justice
      1. David Smith, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick (1998)
      2. Heather Forster Smith, Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice (2002)
      3. Lori Douglas, Associate Chief Justice, Family Division, of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba (14 May 2009)
      4. Glenn Joyal, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba (4 February 2011)
      5. Alexandra Hoy, Associate Chief Justice of Ontario (6 June 2013)
      6. Frank Marrocco, Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice (2013)
      7. François Rolland, Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec
      8. Robert Pidgeon, Senior Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec
      9. André Wery, Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec
      10. Joseph Kennedy, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
      11. Deborah K. Smith, Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
      12. Lawrence I. O'Neil, Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Family Division
      13. Shane Perlmutter, Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba
      14. Christopher E. Hinkson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia
      15. Austin F. Cullen, Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia
      16. Jacqueline Matheson, Chief Justice of the Trial Division, Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island
      17. Martel Popescul, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan
      18. Neil Wittmann, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
      19. J.D. Rooke, Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
      20. David B. Orsborn, Chief Justice of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland
      21. Virginia Schuler, Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
      22. Ronald Veale, Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory
      23. Robert Kilpatrick, Senior Judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice
    5. Federal and provincial superior court puisne justices
  22. Senators
  23. Members of the House of Commons
  24. Consuls General of Countries Without Diplomatic Representation
  25. Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet (Janice Charette)
  26. Chief of the Defence Staff (Jonathan Vance)
  27. Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Bob Paulson)
  28. Speakers of the Legislative Assemblies of the Provinces and Territories
    1. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Dave Levac)
    2. President of the National Assembly of Quebec (Jacques Chagnon)
    3. Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (Kevin Murphy)
    4. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick (Chris Collins)
    5. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (Daryl Reid)
    6. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (Linda Reid)
    7. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (Buck Watts)
    8. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (Dan D'Autremont)
    9. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (Bob Wanner)
    10. Speaker of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly (Tom Osborne)
    11. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories (Jackie Jacobson)
    12. Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly (David Laxton)
    13. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut (George Qulaut)
  29. Members of the Executive Councils of the Provinces and Territories
  30. Judges of Provincial and Territorial Courts
  31. Members of the Legislative Assemblies of the Provinces and Territories
  32. Chairperson of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians

References

Canadian order of precedence Wikipedia
(Text) CC BY-SA


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