The minister of Science is a vacant office that was in the

Cabinet of Canada The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of Minister of the Crown, 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 ...

and existed under various forms from 1971 to 2019, when the portfolio's responsibilities were absorbed into the innovation, science and industry portfolio.

History

The portfolio was called the Minister of State for Science and Technology from 1971 until 1990, when a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

saw the creation of two new science-related full cabinet positions: the

Minister of Industry, Science and Technology The minister of innovation, science, and industry (french: ministre de l'Innovation, des Sciences et de l'Industrie) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the economic development and corporate ...

, and the Minister for Science. The former combined aspects of the now-defunct post of Minister of Regional Industrial Expansion and the Minister of State for Science and Technology. While it was active, two of the three full ministers for science were simultaneously Minister of State for Small Business. When

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

came to power in 1993, he did not nominate a full minister for science. Instead, he created the position of Secretary of State (Science, Research and Development), which was assigned by Order-in-Council to assist the Minister of Industry. While this position subsequently changed name in 2008 to Minister of State (Science and Technology), its role did not change much until 2015. In 2015 under the first Trudeau government, Kirsty Duncan was appointed to the newly-created position of Minister of Science. However, this position remained under the same legal framework as its predecessor, responsible for assisting the senior portfolio of Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (the restyled Minister of Industry). Duncan's portfolio was expected to oversee basic research, while Navdeep Bains would oversee

applied science Applied science is the use of the scientific method and knowledge obtained via conclusions from the method to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted ...

. In July 2018, the office's portfolio was expanded to include responsibility for Sport Canada and was renamed to Minister of Science and Sport. Following the 2019 federal election, the portfolio became vacant and Bains' portfolio was expanded—he was appointed as the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (previously called, Innovation, Science and Economic Development).

Ministers

Key:

References

External links

Minister of Science - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minister Of Science (Canada)

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 ...

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...