Territorial Council (Canada)

In the Canadian Republic, the Territorial Council (French: Conseil territorial) is the executive branch of a territorial government (the government of one of Canada's five territories). The Territorial Council is chaired by the premier, the territorial head of government who is formally appointed by the commissioner of the territory. The other members of the Territorial Council are the deputy premier and the ministers of each of the territorial ministries (executive departments); all members are drawn from the ranks of the ruling faction in the territorial assembly, and formally appointed by the commissioner on advice of the premier.

While territorial councils, unlike the executive councils of a Canadian province, exist via devolution as opposed to constitutional mandate, in practice they enjoy essentially the same degree of autonomy as provincial governments; indeed, to date no territorial council has been dissolved by act of the Parliament of Canada, despite Parliament possessing the power to unilaterally do so. A territorial council has responsibility over the same realms of public administration as a provincial executive council, with the Canadian federal government playing no more involved a role in the affairs of a territory as in those of a province.