Commissioner (Canada)


 * Not to be confused with the rank of commissioner, the highest rank of Canadian provincial and territorial police and the RCMP.

In the Canadian Republic, the Commissioner is the official title of the representative of the President of Canada (Canada's head of state) in any one of Canada's six territories; the de facto (but not de jure) equivalent office in each of Canada's 12 provinces is called the Deputy President.

Because provinces have significantly more autonomy than territories (as provinces are federated states while territories are devolved administrative divisions), the primary difference between a deputy president and a commissioner is that while a deputy president is formally appointed by the President of Canada on advice of the province's premier (head of government), a commissioner is appointed directly by the President of Canada, and only represents the President in the territory in the President's capacity as head of state, rather than being an actual separate head of state for the territory like the deputy presidents of the provinces are.