page_title: Cabinet of Canada
section_title: Selection and structure
hierarchical_section_title: Cabinet of Canada / Composition / Selection and structure
caption_attribution_description: A meeting of the Cabinet Ministers of William Lyon Mackenzie King in the Privy Council Chamber, East Block, 1930. (Seated, L-R): Peter John Veniot, John Campbell Elliott, Pierre-Joseph-Arthur Cardin, Charles Stewart, Raoul Dandurand, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Ernest Lapointe, William Richard Motherwell, Charles Avery Dunning, Lucien Cannon, William Daum Euler. (Standing, L-R): William Frederic Kay, Thomas Alexander Crerar, James Layton Ralston, Fernand Rinfret, James Malcolm, Peter Heenan, Cyrus Macmillan, Ian Mackenzie
context_page_description: The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the Cabinet is a committee of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and the senior echelon of the Ministry, the membership of the Cabinet and ministry often being co-terminal; as of November 2015 there are no members of the latter who are not also members of the former.
  For practical reasons, the Cabinet is informally referred to either in relation to the prime minister in charge of it or the number of ministries since Confederation. The current cabinet is the Cabinet of Justin Trudeau, which is part of the 29th Ministry. The interchangeable use of the terms cabinet and ministry is a subtle inaccuracy that can cause confusion.
context_section_description: The governor-general appoints to the Cabinet persons chosen by the prime minister—John A. Macdonald once half-jokingly listed his occupation as cabinet maker; while there are no legal qualifications of the potential ministers, there are a number of conventions that are expected be followed. For instance, there is typically a minister from each province in Canada, ministers from visible minority groups, female ministers and, while the majority of those chosen to serve as ministers of the Crown are Members of Parliament, a Cabinet sometimes includes a senator, especially as a representative of a province or region where the governing party won few or no ridings. Efforts are further made to indulge interest groups that support the incumbent government and the party's internal politics must be appeased, with Cabinet positions sometimes being a reward for loyal party members.
  It is not legally necessary for Cabinet members to have a position in parliament although they are almost always selected from the House of Commons. From time to time, a senator may be included.
  As with other Westminster derived governments, but unlike the United States Cabinet, the size and structure of the Canadian Cabinet is relatively malleable, the slate of Cabinet positions tending to be substantially restructured periodically, the last major period of realignment occurring between 1993 and 1996. Throughout the 20th century, Cabinets had been expanding in size until the Cabinet chaired by Brian Mulroney, with a population of 40 ministers. Mulroney's successor, Kim Campbell, reduced this number, and Jean Chrétien eliminated approximately 10 members of the ministry from the Cabinet, so that by 1994 there were a total of 23 persons in Cabinet. Under the chairmanship of Paul Martin, the number increased again to 39, in the vicinity of which it has remained; the Cabinet proper currently comprises 31 ministers, with another 7 members of the ministry who are not of the cabinet.
  Cabinet itself—or full Cabinet—is further divided into committees. The Treasury Board, overseeing the expenditure of the sovereign's state funds within every department, is one of the most important of these, as is the Priorities and Planning Committee, often referred to as the inner Cabinet, which is the body that sets the strategic directions for the government, approves key appointments and ratifies committee memberships. Other Cabinet committees include Operations, Social Affairs, Economic Growth and Long-Term Prosperity, Foreign Affairs and Security, Environment and Energy Security. Each committee is chaired by a senior minister whose own portfolio normally intersects with the mandate of the committee he or she is chairing.
caption: A meeting of the Cabinet of William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1930
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