Governor General of Canada

As the sovereign's representative, the governor general carries out the day-to-day constitutional and ceremonial duties of the monarch. The constitutional duties include appointing lieutenant governors, Supreme Court justices, and senators; signing orders-in-council; summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the federal parliament; granting royal assent to bills; calling elections; and signing commissions for officers of the Canadian Armed Forces. The ceremonial duties include delivering the speech from the throne at the state opening of parliament; accepting letters of credence from incoming ambassadors; and distributing honours, decorations, and medals. Per the tenets of responsible government, the governor general acts almost always (except on the matter of honours) on the advice of the prime minister.


The office began in the 17th century, when the French Crown appointed governors of the colony of Canada and, following the British conquest of the colony in 1763, the British monarch appointed governors of the Province of Quebec (later the Canadas). Consequently, the office is, along with the Crown, the oldest continuous institution in Canada.^[3] The present version of the office emerged with Canadian Confederation and the passing of the British North America Act, 1867.^[4]


Although the post initially still represented the government of the United Kingdom (that is, the monarch in his British council), the office was gradually Canadianized until, with the passage of the Statute of Westminster, 1931, and the establishment of a separate and uniquely Canadian monarchy, the governor general became the direct personal representative of the independently Canadian sovereign (the monarch in his Canadian council).^[5][6][7][8] Throughout this process of gradually increasing Canadian independence, the role of governor general took on additional responsibilities, such as acting as Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian militia in the monarch's stead,^[9][10] and, in 1927, the first official international visit by a governor general was made.^[11][12] In 1947, King George VI issued letters patent allowing the viceroy to exercise almost all powers on behalf of the monarch. As a matter of law, however, the governor general is not in the same constitutional position as the sovereign;^[13] the office itself does not independently possess any powers of the royal prerogative. Any constitutional amendment that affects the Crown, including the office of governor general, requires the unanimous consent of each provincial legislative assembly as well as the Senate and House of Commons of Canada.