Canadian order of precedence

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.

King of Canada (King Charles III)^[3]
Governor General of Canada (Mary Simon)
Prime Minister of Canada (Justin Trudeau)
Chief Justice of Canada (Richard Wagner)
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)
Widows of Governors General of Canada (as former viceregal consort of Canada):
1. Diana Fowler LeBlanc, widow of Roméo LeBlanc
Former Prime Ministers of Canada in order of their first assumption of office:
1. Joe Clark (1979–1980)
2. Kim Campbell (1993)
3. Jean Chrétien (1993–2003)
4. Paul Martin (2003–2006)
5. Stephen Harper (2006–2015)
Former Chief Justices of Canada, in order of their appointment
1. Beverly McLachlin (2000–2017)
Speaker of the Senate of Canada (Raymonde Gagné)
Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (Greg Fergus)
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.
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 King'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 use an alternative order that is determined by the Prime Minister.^[4]
2. Ministers of State
  In order of appointment to the King's Privy Council for Canada with ties broken by order of election to the House or appointment to the Senate.^[5]
Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition (Pierre Poilievre)
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 (Edith Dumont)
2. Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (Manon Jeannotte)
3. Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (Arthur Joseph LeBlanc)
4. Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (Brenda Murphy)
5. Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (Anita Neville)
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 (Joan Marie Aylward)
All other Members of the King'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 King's Privy Council for Canada
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 (Tim Houston)
4. Premier of New Brunswick (Blaine Higgs)
5. Premier of Manitoba (Wab Kinew)
6. Premier of British Columbia (David Eby)
7. Premier of Prince Edward Island (Dennis King)
8. Premier of Saskatchewan (Scott Moe)
9. Premier of Alberta (Danielle Smith)
10. Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador (Andrew Furey)
Commissioners of the Territories
1. Commissioner of the Northwest Territories (Gerald W. Kisoun)
2. Commissioner of Yukon (Adeline Webber)
3. Commissioner of Nunavut (Eva Aariak)
Premiers of the Territories
1. Premier of the Northwest Territories (R. J. Simpson)
2. Premier of Yukon (Ranj Pillai)
3. Premier of Nunavut (P.J. Akeeagok)
Religious leaders, equally, by seniority
Limited to "senior Canadian representatives of faith communities having a significant presence in a relevant jurisdiction".
Puisne Judges of the Supreme Court
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 (Michael Tulloch)
  - Chief Justice of Quebec (Manon Savard)
  - Chief Justice of Nova Scotia
  - Chief Justice of New Brunswick (Marc Richard)
  - Chief Justice of Manitoba (Marianne Rivoalen)
  - Chief Justice of British Columbia and Yukon (Robert J. Bauman)
  - Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island
  - Chief Justice of Saskatchewan (Robert G. Richards)
  - Chief Justice of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut
  - Chief Justice of Newfoundland and Labrador (Deborah Fry)
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 King's Bench of New Brunswick
  - Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba
  - Associate Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba
  - Associate Chief Justice, Family Division, of the Court of King'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 King's Bench for Saskatchewan
  - Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta
  - Associate Chief Justice of the Court of King'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 Yukon
  - Senior Judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice
5. Federal and provincial superior court puisne justices
Senators
See List of current Canadian senators
Members of the House of Commons
See List of House members of the 44th Parliament of Canada
Consuls General of Countries Without Diplomatic Representation
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet (John Hannaford)
Chief of the Defence Staff (Jennie Carignan)
Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Michael Duheme)
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 (Nathalie Roy)
3. Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (Karla MacFarlane)
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 (Derek Bennett)
11. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories (Shane Thompson)
12. Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly (Jeremy Harper)
13. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut (Tony Akoak)
Members of the Executive Councils of the Provinces and Territories
Judges of Provincial and Territorial Courts
Members of the Legislative Assemblies of the Provinces and Territories
Chairperson of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians

^ ^a ^b Department of Canadian Heritage: Table of Precedence for Canada
^ The Honours, Flags and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces Archived March 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ 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 King 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.
^ "Cabinet".
^ The Ministry in order of precedence
^ "Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada". Archived from the original on 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2020-07-12.

[TablePrecedence-1] 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 King 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] "Cabinet".

[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.

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