Executive Council (Canada)

In the Canadian Republic, the executive branch of a provincial or territorial government (the government of one of Canada's 13 provinces or five territories) is called the Executive Council (French: Conseil éxécutif), informally known as a "cabinet". For example, the Executive Council of Ontario, also known as the Cabinet of Ontario, is the executive branch of the provincial government of Ontario. An executive council consists of the province's premier (head of government), who chairs the Executive Council, the deputy premier, the Cabinet Secretary, and the various ministers who each chair a particular provincial ministry (executive department); all councilmembers are drawn from the ranks of the ruling political party or coalition in the provincial assembly, who retain their assembly seats while serving in the Executive Council.

All members of the Executive Council other than the premier are appointed by the province's deputy president on advice of the premier, who is also initially appointed by the deputy president on the collective advice of the ruling party/coalition. Most regular/routine matters of public administration are handled by provincial ministries subordinate to the Executive Council, with federal ministries (known formally as departments) generally handling more important, far-reaching and/or national matters; for example, all local civilian police and the provincial police are answerable to the provincial "Ministry of Public Security", while the Canadian Forces are controlled by the Department of National Defence (DND) which is subordinate to the Cabinet of Canada.