In Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 the Privy Council Office is the secretariat of the federal cabinet, providing officially non-partisan advice and support to the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 and leadership, coordination, and support to the departments and agencies of the government. It is presently located in the Langevin Block

Langevin Block

The Langevin Block is an office building facing Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. As the home of the Privy Council Office and Office of the Prime Minister, it is the working headquarters of the executive branch of the Canadian government...

 of the Parliament buildings

Parliament Hill

Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...

.

Overview

Although the PCO has grown in size and complexity over the years, its main pillars remain the operations and plans secretariats. The former is primarily concerned with coordinating the day-to-day issues of government while the latter takes a medium-term view to the evolution of the Canadian federation. Each incoming Prime Minister will re-organize the PCO to suit the policy agenda of his government. Today, the PCO also includes a department of intergovernmental affairs, secretariats for communications, foreign and defence policy, security and intelligence, social affairs, economic affairs, legislation and house planning and machinery of government.

Traditionally, the PCO has served as a "finishing school" for civil servants destined for executive positions within government. Officials who spend several years gaining experience at the PCO, and working on policy matters from the perspective of the Prime Minister, return to their home departments with a greater appreciation of government operations at the corporate level. Aside from senior positions within the civil service, PCO alumni have gone on to pursue successful careers in business and politics, including Paul Tellier

Paul Tellier

Paul Mathias Tellier, PC, CC is a Canadian businessman and former public servant. Born in Joliette, Quebec, Tellier was educated at Laval University and the University of Oxford.- Biography :Tellier entered Canada's civil service in the 1970s...

, former CEO of Bombardier; Michael Sabia

Michael Sabia

Michael John Sabia, is a Canadian businessman. He is the current CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Sabia formerly served as CEO of Bell Canada from 2002 through 2008.-Personal life:...

, CEO of Bell Canada

Bell Canada

Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...

; Robert Rabinovitch

Robert Rabinovitch

Robert Rabinovitch is a Canadian public servant and businessman, and he served as the President and CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1999 to 2007....

, CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

; former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

Pierre Trudeau

Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

; and former Minister of Foreign Affairs

Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's international relations section of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada....

 Pierre Pettigrew

Pierre Pettigrew

Pierre Stewart Pettigrew, PC is a Canadian politician.Born in Quebec City, Pettigrew has a BA in Philosophy from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and an M.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University...

.

The head of the civil service has the title of Clerk of the Privy Council

Clerk of the Privy Council (Canada)

The Clerk of the Privy Council is the senior civil servant in the Canadian government. The Title and Office is in fact "Clerk of the Privy Council and the Secretary to the Cabinet"...

, and also serves as the Secretary to the Cabinet and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister. The current Clerk of the Privy Council is Wayne Wouters

Wayne Wouters

Wayne G. Wouters is a Canadian public servant and Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. Canada’s most senior civil servant....

, who succeeded Kevin G. Lynch

Kevin G. Lynch

Kevin G. Lynch, is a Canadian economist and former Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Canada's most senior civil servant....

 in 2009.

The Privy Council Office should not be confused with the Prime Minister's Office, which is a personal and partisan office. It is understood that the Prime Minister should not receive advice from only one institutionalized source. To that end, the PCO serves as the policy oriented but politically sensitive advisory unit to the Prime Minister, while the PMO is politically oriented but policy sensitive.

Current structure of the Privy Council Office

• Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet
  Clerk of the Privy Council (Canada)
  The Clerk of the Privy Council is the senior civil servant in the Canadian government. The Title and Office is in fact "Clerk of the Privy Council and the Secretary to the Cabinet"...
  
  
  • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Plans and Consultations
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Priorities and Planning
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Communications and Consultations
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy
  • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Operations
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Social Policy
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Economic and Regional Development Policy
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Operations
    • Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council, Order-in-Council
    • Director, Cabinet Papers System
  • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Legislation & Housing Planning, & Machinery of Government, Counsel to the Clerk of the Privy Council
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Legislation and House Planning
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government.
    • Director of Legal Operations, Legal Operations/Counsel
    • Director, Cabinet Confidences/Counsel
  • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Public Service Renewal
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Public Service Renewal
  • Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services Branch
• National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet
  National Security Advisor (Canada)
  The National Security Advisor is an associate secretary in the Privy Council Office responsible for Security and Intelligence...
  
  
  • Associate Deputy National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister and Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet
  • Coordinator for the 2010 Olympics and G8 Security
  • Foreign and Defense Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister and Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Foreign and Defence Policy
    • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Security and Intelligence
    • Executive Director, International Assessment Staff
• Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
  Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat (Canada)
  The Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat in Canada is part of the Privy Council Office. Directed by a deputy minister, it supports the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and, through the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, the Prime Minister of Canada and Cabinet, with...
  
  
  • Assistant Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Operations
  • Assistant Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Policy and Planning
• Deputy Minister, Afghanistan Task Force
  Afghanistan Task Force
  The Afghanistan Task Force is responsible for inter-agency/department coordination and cooperation on Canadian diplomatic, deployment, and aid mission to Afghanistan. Located within the Privy Council Office it is headed by former Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor and Associate Deputy Minister of...
  
  

External links

• Privy Council Office
• Role and Structure of the Privy Council Office