Principal Secretary

The chief of staff to the prime minister, sometimes referred to as the PMO Chief of Staff, is the most senior political advisor to the prime minister of Canada, the formal executive head of the political appointees employed in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), and the leader of the broader group of politically appointed ministerial aide across the ministry in power (the exempted staff in federal government jargon). Marc-André Blanchard has been the Chief of Staff since July 2025. The current title was formally instituted and conferred to the inaugural holder Derek Burney in March 1987, and has been in continual use since. In the two decades preceding 1987, the ranking political aide to the prime minister held the title principal secretary to the prime minister. The title remained in us...