The minister of Labour (french: Ministre du Travail) is the minister of the Crown in the

Canadian Cabinet The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the ...

who is responsible for the labour portfolio of

Employment and Social Development Canada Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC; french: Emploi et Développement social Canada; french: EDSC, label=none)''Employment and Social Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is De ...

. From 2015 to 2019, the portfolio was included in that of the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, but was split in 2019 during the government of

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

History

The

Department of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

was created in 1900. Previously, the responsibility for labour affairs was handled by the

postmaster general A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...

. The Department of Labour was created in 1900 through the efforts of postmaster general

William Mulock Sir William Mulock (January 19, 1843 – October 1, 1944) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, educator, farmer, politician, judge, and philanthropist. He served as vice-chancellor of the University of Toronto from 1881 to 1900, negotiating th ...

and

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

, becoming, respectively, the first minister and deputy minister. Until June, 1909, the postmaster general acted as minister of labour. The Ministry of Labour oversaw a variety of issues, including union riots against immigration in 1907, post-war promotion of the federal Labour-Management Cooperation Service, and legislation surrounding the formation of unions. In 1996, the Department of Labour was abolished, but the ministerial position continued within Human Resources Development Canada from 1996 to 2003 and Human Resources and Social Development Canada from 2003 to date. From 1993 to 1996, the Department of Labour was amalgamated with the Department of Employment and Immigration to create Human Resources Development Canada. Although the intent was to replace two Cabinet posts with a single

minister of human resources development The Department of Human Resources Development, also referred to as Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), was a department of the Government of Canada with the responsibility over a wide portfolio of social services. HRDC was based at a gov ...

, the desire to appoint "star candidate"

Lucienne Robillard Lucienne Robillard (born June 16, 1945) is a Canadian politician and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. She sat in the House of Commons of Canada as the member of Parliament for the riding of Westmount—Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. ...

's to Cabinet in 1995 gave the position a reprieve from amalgamation—Robillard was given the title and positioned as a second minister inside HRDC, responsible for the Labour Program. A December, 2003, reorganization had seen HRDC dismantled and labour responsibilities passing to a successor department,

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC; french: Emploi et Développement social Canada; french: EDSC, label=none)''Employment and Social Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Dep ...

, again with two ministers: a minister of labour and a minister of human resources and skills development. The name change to ''Labour and Housing'' occurred seven months later. The Ministry of HRDC was reconstituted in February, 2006, as

Human Resources and Social Development Canada Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC; french: Emploi et Développement social Canada; french: EDSC, label=none)''Employment and Social Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Dep ...

, but still with two ministers. In 2004, the portfolio was renamed from ''Labour'' to ''Labour and Housing''. From 2004 to 2006, the position was styled the ''minister of labour and housing'' (), a name change corresponding with responsibility for the

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) (french: Société canadienne d'hypothèques et de logement) (SCHL) is Canada's national housing agency, and state-owned mortgage insurer. It was originally established after World War II, to help re ...

being transferred to the portfolio at that time. ''Minister of labour'' remains the title for legal purposes."Harper defends Air Canada labour dispute intervention"
''CTV News'', March 9, 2012 In 2015, the Labour portfolio was merged into the expanded ministry of ''Employment, Workforce, and Labour'', gaining some responsibilities previously held by the

minister of employment and social development The Minister of Employment and Social Development was a position in the Canadian government from 2013 to 2015. Its responsibilities are now split between: * the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, and * the Min ...

. In 2019, following the 2019 Canadian federal election, the portfolio was split between the Minister of Labour and the

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion The minister of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Employment and Social Development Canada, the Government of Canada department that oversees p ...

, with Filomena Tassi being appointed the new minister of Labour on November 20.

List of ministers

Key:

References

{{Cabinet of Canada Ministers of Labour of Canada

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Labour relations in Canada