# Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

The minister of energy and natural resources (French: ministre de l’énergie et des ressources naturelles) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).
In addition to NRCan, the minister oversees the federal government's natural resources portfolio, which includes Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the Canada Energy Regulator, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, as well as the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Boards. The Energy Supplies Allocation Board and the Northern Pipeline Agency also report to the Minister as required.
The current minister of energy and natural resources is Jonathan Wilkinson, since October 26, 2021. This position was established in 1995 under the Department of Natural Resources Act, S.C. 1994, c. 41, which merged the positions of the minister of energy, mines and resources and minister of forestry.

## History

Prior to 1995, the responsibilities of the current natural resources portfolio were divided between the minister of energy, mines and resources and the minister of forestry, both posts which are now defunct.
With the transfer of the Canadian Forest Service from the Department of Forestry to the Department of Agriculture, the forestry portfolio came under the minister of agriculture between 1984 and 1985, then back to the minister of the environment from 1985. It became a single department in 1989 and then designated to the minister of energy, mines and resources in 1990.
In 1994, the Department of Natural Resources Act, S.C. 1994, c. 41, provided for the creation of the minister of natural resources, with authority to carry out matters previously undertaken by the minister of forestry and the minister of energy, mines and resources.

### Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources

The minister of energy, mines, and resources (French: ministre de l'énergie, des mines et des ressources) was a member of the Cabinet from 1966 to 1995.
Prior to 1966, the responsibility related to Canadian mines and natural resources resided in various ministers:
* Minister of the Interior (1873–1936)
* Minister of Mines (1907–36)
* Minister of Mines and Resources (1936–50)
* Minister of Resources and Development (1950–53)
* Minister of Mines and Technical Surveys (1950–66)
* Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources (1953–62)
The emerging role of energy development in federal policy would become more prominent in 1966, when that responsibility was adopted by the natural resources portfolio, whereupon the minister of mines and technical surveys was abolished and the minister of energy, mines and resources was established in its place by Statute 14-15 Eliz. II, c. 25—which received royal assent on 16 June 1966 and proclaimed in-force on October 1 later that year.
Three decades later, in 1995, the energy, mines and resources portfolio merged with that of forestry to form the current minister of natural resources, under the Department of Natural Resources Act, S.C. 1994, c. 41—which received royal assent on December 15, 1994.

### Minister of Forestry

The minister of forestry was an office in the Cabinet from 1962 to 1966 and again from 1990 to 1995. Between 1966 and 1990, the holder was known as the minister of forestry and rural development.
Prior to 1962, the responsibility for forestry resided in various ministers:
* Minister of the Interior (1873–1936)
* Minister of Mines and Resources (1936–50)
* Minister of Resources and Development (1950–53)
* Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources (1953–62)
The position of minister of forestry was first created in 1962, late in John Diefenbaker's premiership. It lasted into the government of Lester B. Pearson.
In 1971, during the first mandate of Pierre Trudeau's government, responsibility for forestry along with fisheries merged into the minister of the environment, briefly renamed as minister of fisheries and the environment from 1976 to 1979, minister of state (environment) from 1977 to 1979, and then minister of the environment again from 1979 to 1984.
In 1989, during the second mandate of Brian Mulroney's government, the second incarnation of the Department of Forestry was established under the Department of Forestry Act (assented to 21 December 1989). In 1995, during the first mandate of Jean Chrétien's government, the forestry portfolio was merged with that of the minister of energy, mines, and resources to create the post of minister of natural resources. During the cabinet shuffle of July 26, 2023, this title was expanded to become the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

## List of ministers

Key:
| No. | Name | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry |
| 1 | Anne McLellan | January 12, 1995 | June 10, 1997 | Liberal | 26 (Chrétien) |
| 2 | Ralph Goodale | June 11, 1997 | January 14, 2002 | Liberal | 26 (Chrétien) |
| 3 | Herb Dhaliwal | January 15, 2002 | December 11, 2003 | Liberal | 26 (Chrétien) |
| 4 | John Efford | December 12, 2003 | September 25, 2005 | Liberal | 27 (Martin) |
| 5 | John McCallum | September 26, 2005 | February 3, 2006 | Liberal | 27 (Martin) |
| 6 | Gary Lunn | January 6, 2006 | October 29, 2008 | Conservative | 28 (Harper) |
| 7 | Lisa Raitt | October 30, 2008 | January 19, 2010 | Conservative | 28 (Harper) |
| 8 | Christian Paradis | January 19, 2010 | May 18, 2011 | Conservative | 28 (Harper) |
| 9 | Joe Oliver | May 18, 2011 | March 19, 2014 | Conservative | 28 (Harper) |
| 10 | Greg Rickford | March 19, 2014 | November 4, 2015 | Conservative | 28 (Harper) |
| 11 | Jim Carr | November 4, 2015 | July 17, 2018 | Liberal | 29 (J. Trudeau) |
| 12 | Amarjeet Sohi | July 17, 2018 | November 20, 2019 | Liberal | 29 (J. Trudeau) |
| 13 | Seamus O'Regan | November 20, 2019 | October 26, 2021 | Liberal | 29 (J. Trudeau) |
| 14 | Jonathan Wilkinson | October 26, 2021 | Incumbent | Liberal | 29 (J. Trudeau) |
Ministers of Energy, Mines, and Resources :
| No. | Minister | Term | Ministry |
| 1. | Jean-Luc Pépin | October 1, 1966 – April 20, 1968 | under Pearson |
| | Jean-Luc Pépin (cont'd) | April 20, 1968 – July 5, 1968 | under Trudeau Sr. |
| 2. | John James Greene | July 6, 1968 – January 27, 1972 | under Trudeau Sr. |
| 3. | Donald Stovel Macdonald | January 28, 1972 – September 25, 1975 | under Trudeau Sr. |
| 4. | Alastair Gillespie | September 26, 1975 – June 3, 1979 | under Trudeau Sr. |
| 5. | Ramon John Hnatyshyn | June 4, 1979 – March 2, 1980 | under Clark |
| 6. | Marc Lalonde | March 3, 1980 – September 9, 1982 | under Trudeau Sr. |
| 7. | Jean Chrétien | September 10, 1982 – June 29, 1984 | under Trudeau Sr. |
| 8. | Gerald A. Regan | June 30, 1984 – September 16, 1984 | under Turner |
| 9. | Patricia Carney | September 17, 1984 – June 29, 1986 | under Mulroney |
| 10. | Marcel Masse | June 30, 1986 – January 29, 1989 | under Mulroney |
| 11. | Arthur Jacob Epp | January 30, 1989 – January 3, 1993 | under Mulroney |
| 12. | William Hunter McKnight | January 4, 1993 – June 24, 1993 | under Mulroney |
| 13. | Barbara Jane Sparrow | June 25, 1993 – November 3, 1993 | under Campbell |
| 14. | Anne McLellan | November 4, 1993 – January 11, 1995 | under Chrétien |
| No. | Minister | Term | Ministry |
| Minister of Forestry (1960–66) ||||
| 1. | Hugh John Flemming | 1962 – 1963 | under Diefenbaker |
| 2. | Martial Asselin | 1963 | under Diefenbaker |
| 3. | John Robert Nicholson | April 22, 1963 – 1964 | under Pearson |
| 4. | Maurice Sauvé | 1964 – 1966 | under Pearson |
| Minister of Forestry and Rural Development ||||
| 1. | Maurice Sauvé | 1966 – 1968 | |
| | Jean Marchand | 1968 – 1969 | |
| Minister of Fisheries and Forests ||||
| 1. | Jack Davis | 1969 – 1971 | under Trudeau Sr. |
| Minister of Forestry (1990–95) ||||
| 1. | Frank Oberle, Sr. | February 23, 1990 – June 24, 1993 | under Brian Mulroney |
| 2. | Bobbie Sparrow | June 25, 1993 – November 3, 1993 | under Kim Campbell |
| 3. | Anne McLellan | November 4, 1993 – January 11, 1995 | under Jean Chrétien |