Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (Canada)

The chief of staff to the prime minister is the top official in Canada's Prime Minister's Office (PMO).^[1] The position was created in 1987 to head the PMO.^[2]

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister
Incumbent Marc-André Blanchard since July 7, 2025
Office of the Prime Minister
Style	Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada
Type	Political Advisor
Reports to	Prime Minister
Seat	Langevin Block
Appointer	Prime Minister
Formation	March 13, 1987
First holder	Derek Burney
Website	Prime Minister's Office

Prior to the creation of the chief of staff position, the office was headed by the prime minister's principal secretary, a position that is now secondary to the chief of staff.^[2] Individuals who held the position of principal secretary prior to 1987 were essentially de facto chiefs of staff, and may sometimes be informally referred to as chiefs of staff in some sources, but did not hold the formal title chief of staff.

Bernard Roy, Brian Mulroney's principal secretary from 1984 to 1988, was the last principal secretary to act as head of the PMO before the creation of the chief of staff position.^[2]

List of Chiefs of Staff

No.	Name	Term of office		Political party	Ministry	Reference
1	Derek Burney	1987	1989	Progressive Conservative	24 (Mulroney)	[2]
2	Stanley Hartt	1989	1990	Progressive Conservative		[3]
3	Norman Spector	1990	1992	Progressive Conservative		[4]
4	Hugh Segal	1992	1993	Progressive Conservative		[5]
5	David McLaughlin	1993	1993	Progressive Conservative		[6]
6	Jodi White	1993	1993	Progressive Conservative	25 (Campbell)	[7]
7	Jean Pelletier	1993	2001	Liberal	26 (Chrétien)	[8]
8	Percy Downe	2001	2003	Liberal		[9]
9	Edward Goldenberg	2003	2003	Liberal		[10]
10	Tim Murphy	2003	2006	Liberal	27 (Martin)	[11]
11	Ian Brodie	2006	2008	Conservative	28 (Harper)	[12]
12	Guy Giorno	2008	2010	Conservative		[13]
13	Nigel Wright	2011	2013	Conservative		[14]
14	Ray Novak[a]	2013	2015	Conservative		[15]
15	Katie Telford	2015	2025	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)	[16]
16	Marco Mendicino	2025	2025	Liberal	30 (M. Carney)	[17]
17	Marc-André Blanchard	2025	Incumbent	Liberal		[18]

Further reading

• Pickering, Heath; Bellens, Tom; Brans, Marleen (2024). "The prime minister's chief of staff: Comparing profiles and trends in Westminster democracies, 1990–2021". Governance. 37 (4): 1231–1249 – via Wiley Online Library.

Notes

1. Jenni Byrne served as deputy chief of staff during his tenure.