The minister of families, children and social development () is a

minister of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign ...

in the

Cabinet of Canada The Canadian Ministry (Canadian French, French: ''Conseil des ministres''), colloquially referred to as the Cabinet of Canada (), is a body of Minister of the Crown, ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the t ...

. The associated department is

Employment and Social Development Canada Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC; ; )''Employment and Social Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Employment and Social Development (). is a department of ...

. On March 14, 2025 the position was abolished, its responsibilities being consolidated into the new position of Minister of Jobs and Families.

History

The position of Minister of Social Development was created in 2000 to be responsible for overseeing Social Development Canada a new federal department concerned with the needs of seniors, children, families and people with disabilities. Prior to 2003, these responsibilities were under the Minister of Human Resources Development. On February 4, 2006,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

merged the personnel and responsibilities of Social Development Canada into Human Resources and Skills Development Canada using an

Order in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

, and did not name anybody to the post of Minister of Social Development. On November 4, 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau transferred the employment responsibilities to the

Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

and changed the name of the portfolio to Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. The position was abolished on March 14, 2025, its responsibilities being consolidated into the new position of Minister of Jobs and Families.

Role

The Minister is also responsible for the: * Canada Pension Plan: Pension Appeals Board * Canada Pension Plan: Review Tribunals

List of ministers

Key:

Minister of State for Social Development

On July 15, 2012, MP Candice Bergen was appointed

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Social Development, a newly created position that was abolished two years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minister Of Employment and Social Development Development (Canada) Families, Children and Social Development Labour relations in Canada Children, young people and families ministries of Canada Canada_Minister_of_Families,_Children_and_Social_Development