Principal Secretary (Canada)

In Canada, the principal secretary is a senior aide, often the most senior political aide, to a head of government. Formerly, the position of principal secretary was the most senior one in the Canadian Prime Minister's office (PMO). However, since 1987, it has been second to the chief of staff position.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada
Incumbent David Lametti since July 14, 2025
Office of the Prime Minister
Style	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada
Type	Political Advisor
Reports to	Prime Minister
Seat	Langevin Block
Appointer	Prime Minister
Formation	July 1, 1867
First holder	Hewitt Bernard
Website	Prime Minister's Office

The Leader of the Official Opposition and most Premiers also have a principal secretary.

The role of the principal secretary may vary, depending on how the prime minister or premier structures the workflow in their office. This has sometimes led to ambiguity in clearly defining the distinction between the roles of principal secretary and chief of staff to the general public.^[1]

List of principal secretaries to the prime minister

The organizational structure of the Prime Minister's office has traditionally been hierarchical. Depending on the personal approach of the Prime Minister, the duties of managing, administrating and co-ordinating the activities of the PMO may belong to the Principal Secretary, the Chief of Staff, or another key advisor.

The Government of Canada does not maintain an official, complete list of persons that have held leadership positions in the PMO. The following list includes persons that have held the position of Principal Secretary, Private Secretary, Principal Private Secretary, Personal Secretary, or Secretary.

No.	Name	Title	Term of Office		Political Party		Ministry
1	Hewitt Bernard	Private Secretary	1867	1873		Liberal-Conservative	1 (Macdonald)
2	William Buckingham	Secretary	1873	1878		Liberal	2 (Mackenzie)
3	Fred White	Private Secretary	1878	1882		Liberal-Conservative	3 (Macdonald)
4	Joseph Pope	Private Secretary	1882	1891		Liberal-Conservative
—	Vacant					Liberal-Conservative	4 (Abbott)
5	Douglas Stewart	Secretary	1892	1894		Liberal-Conservative	5 (Thompson)
—	Vacant					Conservative	6 (Bowell)
6	Austin Ernest Blount	Private Secretary	1896	1896		Conservative	7 (Tupper)
7	Ernest Joseph Lemaire	Private Secretary	1904	1912		Liberal	8 (Laurier)
8	Austin Ernest Blount	Private Secretary	1911	1917		Conservative	9 (Borden)
—	Vacant					Conservative (Unionist)	10 (Borden)
9	Arthur Merriam	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1920	1921		Conservative (Unionist)	11 (Meighan)
10	Laurent Beaudry	Private Secretary	1921	1922		Liberal	12 (King)
	Fred A. McGregor	Secretary	1921	1922		Liberal
11	Leslie Clare Moyer	Private Secretary	1922	1926		Liberal
12	Ralph Campney	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1925	1926		Liberal
—	Vacant					Conservative	13 (Meighan)
13	Howard Measures	Personal Secretary	1925	1930		Liberal	14 (King)
14	Leslie Clare Moyer	Private Secretary	1926	1927		Liberal
15	Harry Baldwin	Principal Private Secretary	1929	1930		Liberal
16	Rob Finlayson	Principal Senior Secretary	1930	1935		Conservative	15 (Bennett)
17	Howard R. L. Henry	Private Secretary	1935	1935		Liberal	16 (King)
18	Arnold Heeney	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1938	1940		Liberal
19	Walter J. Turnbull	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1940	1945		Liberal
20	Gideon Matte	Private Secretary	1945	1948		Liberal
21	Pierre Asselin	Private Secretary	1952	1958		Liberal	17 (St-Laurent)
	Dale Thomson	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1952	1953		Liberal
22	Derek Bedson	Private Secretary	1957	1958		Conservative	18 (Diefenbaker)
23	Marc Lalonde	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1967	1968		Liberal	19 (Pearson)
24	John Hodgson	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1966	1967		Liberal
25	Marc Lalonde	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1968	1972		Liberal	20 (Trudeau)
26	Martin O'Connell	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1973	1974		Liberal
27	Jack Austin	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1974	1975		Liberal
28	Jim Coutts	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1975	1979		Liberal
—	Vacant					Progressive Conservative	21 (Clark)
29	Jim Coutts	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1980	1981		Liberal	22 (Trudeau)
30	Tom Axworthy	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1981	1984		Liberal
31	John Swift	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1984	1984		Liberal	23 (Turner)
32	Bernard A. Roy	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1984	1988		Progressive Conservative	24 (Mulroney)
33	Peter G. White	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1988	1989		Progressive Conservative
34	Jean Riou	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	1993	1993		Progressive Conservative	25 (Campbell)
—	Vacant					Liberal	26 (Chrétien)
35	Francis Fox	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2004	2004		Liberal	27 (Martin)
36	Ray Novak	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2008	2013		Conservative	28 (Harper)
37	Gerald Butts	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2015	2019		Liberal	29 (Trudeau)
—	Vacant					Liberal
38	Tom Pitfield	Interim Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2025	2025		Liberal	30 (Carney)
39	David Lametti	Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister	2025	present		Liberal

See also

• Canadian Secretary to the King
• Secretary to the Governor General of Canada