The position of Minister of Mines was a Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for the mining industry. The Department of Mines was created by the government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier by Statute 6-7 Edw,. VII, c. 29. and assented to on 27 April 1907. The department was to be presided over by the minister of another department who was to be named by the Governor in Council and who was to be called "The Minister of Mines". The Minister of Inland Revenue was the first to be named Minister of Mines. In 1936, the mines portfolio became part of the Minister of Mines and Resources, in 1950, Minister of Mines and Technical Surveys, in 1966 the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, and since 1995 the Minister of Natural Resources.
The offices of Minister of Immigration and Colonization, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Mines and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs were abolished and the office of Minister of Mines and Resources was created by Statute 1 Edw. VIII, c. 33, assented to on 23 June 1936 and proclaimed in force on 1 Dec. 1936.