The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada (referred to in older documents as the Primate of All Canada or the Primate of Canada "Thirty-seven Welfare Organisations Ask Your Help!", Federation for Community Service. ca 1934-6.) is the

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

of the Anglican Church of Canada and is elected by the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church of ...

of the Church from among a list of five bishops nominated by the House of Bishops. Since 1969, the role of

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

(or metropolitan, assistant,

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

or coadjutor) bishop is relinquished upon his or her election, as the Primate assumes the role of

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the National Church Office, which is located in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Additionally, the Primate serves as the President of the General Synod, the chair of the Council of General Synod and the chair of the House of Bishops. The Primate holds the title of

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

and is styled as "

The Most Reverend The Most Reverend is a style applied to certain religious figures, primarily within the historic denominations of Christianity, but occasionally in some more modern traditions also. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend". Anglic ...

(Name), Primate of Canada". The Primate, while not holding the responsibility for a particular

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

, has a pastoral responsibility for the entire Anglican Church of Canada. This requires a great deal of travel throughout Canada and abroad. In addition to playing a significant administrative role, the Primate also has an important pastoral and educational role in the Church. Because the Primate does not have diocesan responsibilities, ordinations, appointments of clergy and confirmations are not a frequent part of primatial ministry. The Primate serves until age 70, or earlier resignation. The Primate speaks in the name of the Anglican Church of Canada after consultation with, or in accordance with the policies of, the General Synod or the Council of General Synod. As well, the Primate often represents the Canadian Church in international and ecumenical partnerships and dialogues, including the

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...

, the Primates' Meetings of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

and at the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

gatherings. The current Primate is Archbishop

Linda Nicholls Linda Carol Nicholls (born 1954) is a Canadian Anglican bishop who has served as Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada since 2019. She was previously Bishop of Huron from 2016 to 2019 and a suffragan bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto ...

, who was elected in July 2019 at the 41st General Synod held in the Diocese of New Westminster in Vancouver, British Columbia. She was installed in office at the close of that Synod, succeeding

Fred Hiltz Frederick James Hiltz (born 3 December 1953) is a Canadian retired Anglican bishop. From 2007 to 2019, he served as Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. Early life and education Hiltz was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where he was also r ...

who had served since 2007.

List of Primates

There have been fourteen primates in the history of the Canadian church:

References

External links

Primate's webpage on the Anglican Church of Canada website
{{Anglican Church of Canada Canada, Primate of the Anglican Church of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Canada, Primate of the Anglican Church of *

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...