Canadian order of precedence

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This article is about the order of precedence for Canadian dignitaries. For the list of precedence for medals, honours and post-nominals, see Canadian order of precedence (decorations and medals).
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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,[1] 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,[2] 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 Armed 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. Queen of Canada (Elizabeth II)[3]
  2. Governor General of Canada (Mary Simon)
  3. Prime Minister of Canada (Justin Trudeau)
  4. Chief Justice of Canada (Richard Wagner)
  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)
    4. David Johnston (2010–2017)
    5. Julie Payette (2017–2021)
  6. Widows of Governors General of Canada (as former Viceregal Consorts 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. Brian Mulroney (1984–1993)
    3. Kim Campbell (1993)
    4. Jean Chrétien (1993–2003)
    5. Paul Martin (2003–2006)
    6. Stephen Harper (2006–2015)
  8. Former Chief Justices of Canada, in order of their appointment
    1. Beverly McLachlin (2000–2017)
  9. Speaker of the Senate of Canada (George Furey)
  10. Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (Anthony Rota)
  11. Representatives to Canada of foreign governments
    Ambassadors and High Commissioners come first, in order of the presentation of their credentials; then come Ministers Plenipotentiary, and then Chargés d'affaires.
  12. Members of the Canadian Ministry
    1. Members of the Cabinet:
      The Table of Precedence for Canada prescribes that order of precedence within this group be determined 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] However, the current Canadian Ministry opted to used an alternative order that is determined by the Prime Minister.[4]
    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.[5]
  13. Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (Erin O'Toole)
  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 (Arthur Joseph LeBlanc)
    4. Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (Brenda Murphy)
    5. Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (Janice Filmon)
    6. Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (Janet Austin)
    7. Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (Antoinette Perry)
    8. Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan (Russell Mirasty)
    9. Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (Salma Lakhani)
    10. Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador (Judy Foote)
  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.[6]
    1. 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 (Doug Ford)
    2. Premier of Quebec (François Legault)
    3. Premier of Nova Scotia (Iain Rankin)
    4. Premier of New Brunswick (Blaine Higgs)
    5. Premier of Manitoba (Brian Pallister)
    6. Premier of British Columbia (John Horgan)
    7. Premier of Prince Edward Island (Dennis King)
    8. Premier of Saskatchewan (Scott Moe)
    9. Premier of Alberta (Jason Kenney)
    10. Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador (Andrew Furey)
  17. Commissioners of the Territories
    1. Commissioner of the Northwest Territories (Margaret Thom)
    2. Commissioner of Yukon (Angélique Bernard)
    3. Commissioner of Nunavut (Eva Aariak)
  18. Premiers of the Territories
    1. Premier of the Northwest Territories (Caroline Cochrane)
    2. Premier of Yukon (Sandy Silver)
    3. Premier of Nunavut (Joe Savikataaq)
  19. Religious leaders, equally, by seniority
    Limited to "senior Canadian representatives of faith communities having a significant presence in a relevant jurisdiction".
  20. Puisne Judges of the Supreme Court
  21. Superior court justices
    1. Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada
    2. Associate Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada
    3. Chief Justices of the highest court of each province and territory in order of date of appointment as chief justice
      • Chief Justice of Ontario
      • Chief Justice of Quebec
      • Chief Justice of Nova Scotia
      • Chief Justice of New Brunswick
      • Chief Justice of Manitoba
      • Chief Justice of British Columbia and Yukon
      • Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island
      • Chief Justice of Saskatchewan
      • Chief Justice of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut
      • Chief Justice of Newfoundland and Labrador
    4. Chief Justices and Associate Chief Justices of other superior courts, in order of appointment as chief justice
      • Associate Chief Justice of Ontario
      • Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
      • Associate Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
      • Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec
      • Senior Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec
      • Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec
      • Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
      • Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
      • Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Family Division
      • Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick
      • Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba
      • Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba
      • Associate Chief Justice, Family Division, of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba
      • Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia
      • Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia
      • Chief Justice of the Trial Division, Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island
      • Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan
      • Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
      • Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
      • Chief Justice of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland
      • Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
      • Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory
      • Senior Judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice
    5. Federal and provincial superior court puisne justices
  22. Senators
    See List of current Canadian senators
  23. Members of the House of Commons
    See List of House members of the 43rd Parliament of Canada
  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 (Wayne Eyre, Acting)
  27. Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Brenda Lucki)
  28. Speakers of the Legislative Assemblies of the Provinces and Territories
    1. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Ted Arnott)
    2. President of the National Assembly of Quebec (François Paradis)
    3. Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (Kevin Murphy)
    4. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick (Bill Oliver)
    5. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (Myrna Driedger)
    6. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (Raj Chouhan)
    7. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (Colin LaVie)
    8. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (Randy Weekes)
    9. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (Nathan Cooper)
    10. Speaker of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly (Scott Reid)
    11. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories (Frederick Blake, Jr.)
    12. Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly (Nils Clarke)
    13. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut (Paul Quassa)
  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

See also[]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Department of Canadian Heritage: Table of Precedence for Canada
  2. ^ The Honours, Flags and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces Archived March 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Footnote 1 of the Table of Precedence for Canada Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine issued by the Department of Canadian Heritage states that the Queen is to be afforded precedence immediately before the Governor General. No other members of the Royal Family are listed in the table or mentioned in the footnotes. The Canadian Armed Forces protocol places members of the royal family immediately after the Governor General when they are in Canada. That protocol does not list a precedence within the royal family.
  4. ^ "The Canadian Ministry (by order of precedence)". Archived from the original on 2017-09-01. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  5. ^ The Ministry in order of precedence
  6. ^ "Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada". Archived from the original on 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2020-07-12.

External links[]

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