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Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
ministre de l’emploi, du développement de la main-d’œuvre et du travail
Incumbent Steven MacKinnon since December 20, 2024
Employment and Social Development Canada
Style	The Honourable
Member of	House of Commons Privy Council Cabinet
Reports to	Parliament Prime Minister
Appointer	Monarch (represented by the governor general); on the advice of the prime minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Jean Marchand
Formation	October 1, 1966
Salary	CA$269,800 (2019)
Website	esdc-edsc.gc.ca

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The minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour (French: ministre de l’emploi, du développement de la main-d’œuvre et du travail) 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 programs such as employment insurance, the Canada pension plan, old age security, and Canada student loans.

History

The ministerial responsibility for employment has its origins in the October 1, 1966 cabinet reshuffle, when Jean Marchand's portfolio was renamed from Minister of Immigration and Citizenship to Minister of Manpower and Immigration, Along with this change, minister Marchand was tasked by Prime Minister Lester Pearson to draft a White paper to renew Canada's immigration policy. Pearson wanted to removed all discriminatory clauses remaining in Canada's immigration regulations, and instead facilitate the immigration of qualified workers from Asia.

The following year, Canada introduced its first point system to rank potential immigrants for eligibility. It originally consisted of 9 categories: education, occupation, professional skills, age, arranged employment, knowledge of English and/or French, relatives in Canada and "personal characteristics". To qualify for immigration 50 points out of 100 were necessary in 1967.

In 1977, the portfolio was renamed Minister of Employment and Immigration, a move that reflected the importance of attracting and retaining economic immigrants for Canadian governments in the 1980s and 1990s.

On 12 July 1996, the office of the Minister of Employment and Immigration was abolished and replaced with the office of Minister of Human Resources Development. The portfolio for immigration was transferred to the office of Minister of Citizenship and Immigration following the reorganization of the government and formation of the department for Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

On February 6, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper transferred the responsibilities of the Minister of Social Development into this portfolio. Although the legislated names did not change, in accordance with this amalgamation the Minister was for a while styled the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development and the department operated as Human Resources and Social Development Canada. This ceased on October 30, 2008, and the name returned to the legislated one.

In 2015, the Employment portfolio was merged into the expanded ministry of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.

In 2019, following the 2019 Canadian federal election, the portfolio was split between the Minister of Labour and Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, with Carla Qualtrough being appointed the new minister on November 20.

In 2023, the Official Languages portfolio was merged into the expanded ministry of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, with Randy Boissonnault being appointed the new minister on July 26, 2023.

In 2024, responsibility for labour was folded back into the portfolio while responsibility for official languages was split off; consequently, the position reverted to its former title of Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, with incumbent Labour minister Steven MacKinnon being appointed to the post.

List of ministers

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Political party	Ministry
Minister of Manpower and Immigration
1		Jean Marchand	October 1, 1966	April 20, 1968	Liberal	19 (Pearson)
			April 20, 1968	July 5, 1968		20 (P. E. Trudeau)
2		Allan MacEachen	July 5, 1968	September 23, 1970
3		Otto Lang	September 24, 1970	January 27, 1972
4		Bryce Mackasey	January 28, 1972	November 26, 1972
5		Bob Andras	November 27, 1972	September 13, 1976
6		Bud Cullen	September 14, 1976	August 14, 1977
Minister of Employment and Immigration
(6)		Bud Cullen	August 15, 1977	June 3, 1979	Liberal	20 (P. E. Trudeau)
7		Ron Atkey	June 4, 1979	March 2, 1980	Progressive Conservative	21 (Clark)
8		Lloyd Axworthy	March 3, 1980	August 11, 1983	Liberal	22 (P. E. Trudeau)
9		John Roberts	August 12, 1983	June 29, 1984
			June 30, 1984	September 16, 1984		23 (Turner)
10		Flora MacDonald	September 17, 1984	June 29, 1986	Progressive Conservative	24 (Mulroney)
11		Benoît Bouchard	June 30, 1986	March 30, 1988
12		Barbara McDougall	March 31, 1988	April 20, 1991
13		Bernard Valcourt	April 21, 1991	June 24, 1993
			June 25, 1993	November 3, 1993		25 (Campbell)
(8)		Lloyd Axworthy (second time)	November 4, 1993	January 24, 1996	Liberal	26 (Chrétien)
14		Doug Young	January 25, 1996	July 11, 1996
Minister of Human Resources Development
(14)		Doug Young	July 12, 1996	October 3, 1996	Liberal	26 (Chrétien)
15		Pierre Pettigrew	October 4, 1996	August 2, 1999
16		Jane Stewart	August 3, 1999	December 11, 2003
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
17		Joe Volpe	December 12, 2003	January 14, 2005	Liberal	27 (Martin)
18		Lucienne Robillard	January 14, 2005	May 17, 2005	Liberal
19		Belinda Stronach	May 17, 2005	February 5, 2006	Liberal
Minister of Human Resources and Social Development
20		Diane Finley	February 6, 2006	January 3, 2007	Conservative	28 (Harper)
21		Monte Solberg	January 4, 2007	October 29, 2008	Conservative
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
(20)		Diane Finley	October 30, 2008	July 15, 2013	Conservative	28 (Harper)
Minister of Employment and Social Development
22		Jason Kenney	July 15, 2013	February 9, 2015	Conservative	28 (Harper)
23		Pierre Poilievre	February 9, 2015	November 4, 2015	Conservative
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
24		MaryAnn Mihychuk	November 4, 2015	January 10, 2017	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)
25		Patty Hajdu	January 10, 2017	November 20, 2019	Liberal
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion
26		Carla Qualtrough	November 20, 2019	July 26, 2023	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages
27		Randy Boissonnault	July 26, 2023	November 20, 2024	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)
28		Ginette Petitpas Taylor	November 20, 2024	December 20, 2024	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
29		Steven MacKinnon	December 20, 2024	Incumbent	Liberal	29 (J. Trudeau)

Notes

1. "The Canadian Parliamentary system - Our Procedure - House of Commons". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
2. "Review of the Responsibilities and Accountabilities of Ministers and Senior Officials" (PDF).
3. "Constitutional Duties". The Governor General of Canada. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
4. "House of Commons Procedure and Practice - 1. Parliamentary Institutions - Canadian Parliamentary Institutions". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
5. "Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances". Library of Parliament. April 11, 2018. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
6. "Ottawa fera un meilleur accueil aux immigrants japonais et philippins". La Presse. Reuters. September 20, 1966. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
7. Gogia, N., and Slade, B. (2011), About Canada: Immigration, Fernwood Pub, Halifax, NS
8. "Immigration Policy in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
9. "Employment and Immigration (1977-08-15 - 1996-07-11)." ParlInfo. Ottawa: Library of Parliament. Retrieved 2020 October 30.
10. "Order Transferring to the Department of Employment and Immigration...and Transferring to the Minister of Employment and Immigration...and Combining the Department of Employment and Immigration and the Department of Labour Under the Minister of Employment and Immigration."
11. "Canada. Employment and Immigration Canada (Department)." Library of Congress.
12. "Here are all 30 cabinet ministers at a glance".The Ottawa Citizen , November 11, 2015
13. "Vancouver-area MPs Jonathan Wilkinson, Carla Qualtrough, Harjit Sajjan, and Joyce Murray back in Trudeau cabinet". The Georgia Straight. 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
14. "Prime Minister announces changes to the Ministry". Prime Minister of Canada. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
15. "Justin Trudeau adds fresh faces in cabinet shuffle". Maclean's, Joan Bryden, Jan 10, 2017

Further reading

• "Ministers of the Crown". Retrieved 24 December 2010.

• Ministers of labour of Canada
• Ministerial offices in Canada
• Labour relations in Canada
• Employment and Social Development Canada