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In Canada, apremier (/ˈpriːmjər/ ⓘPREEM-yər) is thehead of government of aprovince or territory. Though the word is merely a synonym forprime minister, it is employed for provincial prime ministers to differentiate them from theprime minister of Canada. There are ten provincial premiers and three territorial premiers. In most provinces and all territories, these persons are styledthe Honourable only while in office,[1] unless they are admitted to theKing's Privy Council for Canada, in which case they retain the title even after leaving the premiership. In Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario, former premiers are honorary members of the provincial Executive Council and thereby retain the stylethe Honourable for life.[2][3][4]
The prime minister–premier distinction does not exist inFrench, with both federal and provincial first ministers being styledpremier ministre (masculine) orpremière ministre (feminine). Its existence in foreign languages varies: for example, inGerman, the federal first minister is calledPremierminister as acalque of the English title[5][6], but provincial first ministers are calledMinisterpräsident in analogy to thefirst ministers of theStates of Germany,[7][8] while inSpanish, the French example is followed by calling both the federal and the provincial first ministersprimer ministro[9][10][11][12].
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In a number of provinces, premiers were previously known by the titleprime minister, withpremier being an informal term used to apply to all prime ministers, even theprime minister of Canada. This practice was eventually phased out to avoid confusing the provincial leaders with thefederal prime minister, as well as to indicate the distinct nature of the provincial offices. The last such case outsideQuebec was that ofW. A. C. Bennett, who served aspremier of British Columbia and styled himself asprime minister until leaving office in 1972. The titlepremier is typically not granted by written law. The formal name of the government position held by the premier ispresident of the Executive Council or some similar term, but that formal term is rarely used.
The French language does not make a distinction betweenpremier,prime minister andfirst minister, which are all rendered as "premier ministre". Thus, "The prime minister of Canada and the premier of Ontario" will be translated as "Le premier ministre du Canada et le premier ministre de l'Ontario".
The termsprime minister andpremier come from theUnited Kingdom, where there is only oneprime minister / premier. Heads of government of constituent countries in the UK are titledfirst minister. Collectively, Canada's federal prime minister and the premiers are collectively referred to asfirst ministers, another synonym of British origin.
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Under Canada's system ofresponsible government, the premier is both a member of the provincial legislative assembly and the head of the executive. The premier normally holds a seat in the legislative assembly, being elected in one of the electoral constituencies of the province. The leader of the party which commands a majority in the assembly is then legally appointed the premier by thelieutenant governor, representing theCanadian monarch in right of the province. While most often the leader of the largest party in a provincial or territorial legislature is invited to become premier, this is not always the case, the most recent exception occurring after the2021 general election inYukon.
Premiers advise the lieutenant governor on whom to appoint to thecabinet and they guide legislation through the legislature. Premiers thus exercise a significant amount of power within the Canadianfederation, especially in regard to the federal government. In many ways they remain the most effective representatives of provincial interests to the federal government, asparliament's strongparty discipline and other factors have impaired provincial representation there. This reality is acknowledged in annual "first ministers conferences" in which the federal prime minister and the 10 premiers meet to discuss provincial-federal relations. TheMeech Lake Accord proposed that these meetings be constitutionally mandated, and some premiers have even proposed that these meetings become a formal branch of government, active in the legislative process (seeCouncil of the Federation). However, only one Canadian provincial premier has ever gone on to serve as prime minister:John Thompson. Canada's first and sixth prime ministers (John A. Macdonald andCharles Tupper) had also been co-premier and premier of British provinces that became part of Canada, but no one who has led a victorious general election campaign in a Canadian province has ever been prime minister.
Canada's threeterritories have premiers as well, though they are technically known as "government leaders". Thepremier of Yukon is chosen in the usual fashion, but the premiers ofNunavut andNorthwest Territories are selected from within the small andnon-partisan elected territorial councils.
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