Minister of National Defence (Canada)

The minister of National Defence (MND; French: ministre de la défense nationale) is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the management and direction of all matters relating to the national defence of Canada.^[6]

Minister of National Defence
Ministre de la Défense nationale
Incumbent David McGuinty since May 13, 2025
Department of National Defence Canadian Armed Forces
Style	The Honourable
Abbreviation	MND
Member of	House of Commons Privy Council Cabinet[1]
Reports to	Parliament Prime Minister[2]
Appointer	Monarch (represented by the governor general);[3] on the advice of the prime minister[4]
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Precursor	Minister of Aviation Minister of Militia and Defence Minister of the Naval Service
Inaugural holder	George Perry Graham
Formation	January 1, 1923
Salary	CA$299,900 (2024)[5]
Website	forces.gc.ca

The Department of National Defence is headed by the deputy minister of National Defence (the department's senior civil servant), while the Canadian Armed Forces are headed by the chief of the Defence Staff (the senior serving military officer).^[7] Both are responsible to the minister of National Defence. The King (represented by the governor general of Canada) is Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces and has final authority on all orders and laws for the "defence of the realm".^[8][9]

The minister is responsible, through the tenets of responsible government, to Parliament for "the management and direction of the Canadian Forces". Any orders and instructions for the Canadian Armed Forces are issued by or through the chief of the defence staff.^[10] The Department of National Defence exists to aid the minister in carrying out her responsibilities, and acts as the civilian support system for the Canadian Forces.^[11][12]

The current minister of National Defence is David McGuinty. The parliamentary secretary, who represents the minister when he is away from the House of Commons, is Bryan May.

History

On January 1, 1923, the National Defence Act, 1922 came into effect, merging the Department of Militia and Defence, the Department of the Naval Service, and the Air Board to form the Department of National Defence. The ministerial heads of the former departments, the minister of militia and defence, the minister of the naval service, and the minister of aviation were merged to form a new position, the minister of National Defence.

During the Second World War, the minister of National Defence was assisted by two subordinate ministers. The minister of national defence for air was an additional minister in the Department of National Defence responsible for the Royal Canadian Air Force; while the minister of National Defence for Naval Services was another minister in the Department of National Defence responsible for the Royal Canadian Navy. The air and naval post was reincorporated into the portfolio of the minister of National Defence following the Second World War.

The Munsinger affair was Canada's first national political sex scandal in 1966. The affair involved Gerda Munsinger, a German citizen who had been convicted in Germany as a common prostitute, a petty thief and a smuggler, who emigrated to Canada in 1956 in spite of a warning card dated 1952, and who was in 1960 the mistress of the former Associate Minister of National Defence Pierre Sévigny. Munsinger was "a self-admitted espionage agent" in the employ of the "Russian Intelligence Service".^[13]

Canadian military spending

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Military spending: as percent share of GDP (1950–2020)^[14]

Canadian military spending

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Military spending: Constant 2019 USD million (1953–2020)^[15]

The Defence Portfolio

The Defence Portfolio is a collection of organizations and agencies that report to the minister of National Defence. Although deputy heads for individual agencies direct and oversee the activities of their agency, the minister is accountable to Parliament its activities.^[16] The Defence Portfolio includes:^[17]

• Canadian Armed Forces
• Communications Security Establishment
• Defence Research and Development Canada
• Department of National Defence
• Cadets Canada and Junior Canadian Rangers
• Military Grievances External Review Committee
• Canadian Forces Housing Agency
• Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency
• Judge Advocate General
• Military Police Complaints Commission
• National Search and Rescue Secretariat
• Office of the Chief Military Judge
• Office of the Legal Advisor to the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces (DND/CF LA)
• Office of the National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman

The minister of National Defence is also the designated lead minister for search and rescue (LMSAR) within the federal government.

List of ministers

Key:

  Liberal Party of Canada

  Historical conservative parties: Liberal-Conservative, Conservative (historical), Unionist, National Liberal and Conservative, Progressive Conservative

  Conservative Party of Canada

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Political party	Ministry
1		George Perry Graham	January 1, 1923	April 27, 1923	Liberal	12 (King)
2		Edward Mortimer Macdonald	April 28, 1923 (Acting until Aug.17)	June 28, 1926	Liberal
3		Hugh Guthrie	June 29, 1926 (Acting until Jul.13)	September 25, 1926	Conservative (historical)	13 (Meighen)
–		Vacant	September 25, 1926	September 30, 1926	—	14 (King)
–		James Robb (Acting)	October 1, 1926	October 7, 1926	Liberal
4		James Ralston (1st time)	October 8, 1926	August 7, 1930	Liberal
5		Donald Matheson Sutherland	August 7, 1930	November 16, 1934	Conservative (historical)	15 (Bennett)
6		Grote Stirling	November 17, 1934	October 23, 1935	Conservative (historical)
7		Ian Alistair Mackenzie	October 24, 1935	September 18, 1939	Liberal	16 (King)
8		Norman McLeod Rogers	September 19, 1939	June 10, 1940	Liberal
–		Charles Power (Acting)	June 11, 1940	July 4, 1940	Liberal
(4)		James Ralston (2nd time)	July 5, 1940	November 1, 1944	Liberal
9		Andrew McNaughton	November 2, 1944	August 20, 1945	Military
10		Douglas Abbott	August 21, 1945	December 9, 1946	Liberal
11		Brooke Claxton	December 10, 1946	November 15, 1948	Liberal
			November 15, 1948	June 30, 1954		17 (St. Laurent)
12		Ralph Campney	July 1, 1954	June 20, 1957	Liberal
13		George Pearkes	June 21, 1957	October 10, 1960	Progressive Conservative	18 (Diefenbaker)
14		Douglas Harkness	October 11, 1960	February 3, 1963	Progressive Conservative
–		Vacant	February 4, 1963	February 11, 1963	—
15		Gordon Churchill	February 12, 1963	April 21, 1963	Progressive Conservative
16		Paul Hellyer	April 22, 1963	September 18, 1967	Liberal	19 (Pearson)
17		Léo Cadieux	September 18, 1967	April 19, 1968	Liberal
			April 20, 1968	September 16, 1970		20 (P. E. Trudeau)
–		Charles Drury (1st time; Acting)	September 17, 1970	September 23, 1970	Liberal
18		Donald Macdonald	September 24, 1970	January 27, 1972	Liberal
19		Edgar Benson	January 28, 1972	August 31, 1972	Liberal
–		Jean-Eudes Dubé (Acting)	September 1, 1972	September 6, 1972	Liberal
–		Charles Drury (2nd time; Acting)	September 7, 1972	November 26, 1972	Liberal
20		James Richardson	November 27, 1972	October 12, 1976	Liberal
21		Barney Danson	October 13, 1976 (Acting until Nov.3)	June 3, 1979	Liberal
22		Allan McKinnon	June 4, 1979	March 2, 1980	Progressive Conservative	21 (Clark)
23		Gilles Lamontagne	March 3, 1980	August 11, 1983	Liberal	22 (P. E. Trudeau)
24		Jean–Jacques Blais	August 12, 1983	June 29, 1984	Liberal
			June 30, 1984	September 16, 1984		23 (Turner)
25		Robert Coates	September 17, 1984	February 11, 1985	Progressive Conservative	24 (Mulroney)
26		Erik Nielsen	February 12, 1985 (Acting until Feb.26)	June 29, 1986	Progressive Conservative
27		Perrin Beatty	June 30, 1986	January 29, 1989	Progressive Conservative
28		Bill McKnight	January 30, 1989	April 20, 1991	Progressive Conservative
29		Marcel Masse	April 21, 1991	January 3, 1993	Progressive Conservative
30		Kim Campbell	January 4, 1993	June 24, 1993	Progressive Conservative
31		Tom Siddon	June 25, 1993	November 3, 1993	Progressive Conservative	25 (Campbell)
32		David Collenette	November 4, 1993	October 4, 1996	Liberal	26 (Chrétien)
33		Doug Young	October 5, 1996	June 10, 1997	Liberal
34		Art Eggleton	June 11, 1997	June 25, 2002	Liberal
35		John McCallum	June 26, 2002	December 11, 2003	Liberal
36		David Pratt	December 12, 2003	July 19, 2004	Liberal	27 (Martin)
37		Bill Graham	July 20, 2004	February 5, 2006	Liberal
38		Gordon O'Connor	February 6, 2006	August 14, 2007	Conservative	28 (Harper)
39		Peter MacKay	August 14, 2007	July 15, 2013	Conservative
40		Rob Nicholson	July 15, 2013	February 9, 2015	Conservative
41		Jason Kenney	February 9, 2015	November 4, 2015	Conservative
42		Harjit Sajjan	November 4, 2015	October 26, 2021	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)
43		Anita Anand	October 26, 2021	July 26, 2023	Liberal
44		Bill Blair	July 26, 2023	March 14, 2025	Liberal
			March 14, 2025	May 13, 2025		30 (Carney)
45		David McGuinty	May 13, 2025	Incumbent	Liberal

Ministers with military experience

Name	Rank	Branch	Position (if applicable) / Unit(s)
James Ralston	Colonel	Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF)	Commanding Officer, 85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalion, CEF
Donald Matheson Sutherland	Lieutenant Colonel	CEF	Officer Commanding, 52nd Battalion (New Ontario) and A Company 1st Battalion, Major, A Squadron 24th Regiment Grey's Horse
Andrew McNaughton	General	CEF / Canadian Militia / Permanent Active Militia	Commanding Officer, 5th Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles and Canadian Corps
Ralph Campney	Lieutenant	CEF / Canadian Army / Royal Flying Corps	No.5 Stationary or General Hospital (Queen's), Commissioned Officer, 19th Canadian Infantry Battalion
Norman McLeod Rogers	Lieutenant	CEF	6th Nova Scotia Mounted Rifles
Charles Gavan Power	Acting Major	CEF	Canadian Corps
Brooke Claxton	Battery Sergeant-Major		Victoria Rifles of Canada
George Pearkes	Major General	CEF / Canadian Militia and Canadian Army	Commanding Officer, Canadian Corps
Douglas Harkness	Lieutenant Colonel	Canadian Army	Royal Canadian Artillery
Gordon Churchill	Lieutenant Colonel	CEF	Vickers Machine Gunner, Commanding Officer Fort Garry Horse and 1st Canadian Carrier Regiment (Canadian Corps)
Paul Hellyer	Gunner	Canadian Army	Royal Canadian Artillery
Charles Drury	Brigadier General	Canadian Army	Commanding Officer, 4th Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery, General Staff Officer of the 2nd Canadian Division and acting commander of the Royal Artillery 4th Canadian Division
Edgar Benson	Sergeant	Canadian Corps (Canadian Army)	1st Survey Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
Barney Danson	Lieutenant	Canadian Army	The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
James Armstrong Richardson	Pilot Officer	RCAF	Consolidated Liberator anti-submarine patrol squadron of the (No. 10 Squadron RCAF)
Allan McKinnon	Major	Canadian Army	Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Erik Nielsen	Pilot Officer (RAF) / Adjutant (RCAF)	Royal Flying Corps / RCAF	101 Squadron and 126 Squadron; RCAF Legal Officer
Gilles Lamontagne	Flight Lieutenant	RCAF	bomber pilot No. 425 Bomber Squadron
Gordon O'Connor	Brigadier General	Canadian Army	Royal Canadian Armoured Corps
Harjit Sajjan	Lieutenant Colonel	Canadian Army	The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), Royal Canadian Armoured Corps

Bill Graham was enrolled under the University Naval Training Division of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and received commission as sub lieutenant in 1960. Graham did not serve in the Navy following his commission and thus does not have military experience.

See also

• Minister of Overseas Military Forces – communications channel for the MMD and British War Office in matters relating to Canadian military units from 1916 to 1920