Dispatch Box: The Secretariats of the Privy Council Office
The Privy Council Office is one of the core central agencies in the federal government. It is involved in
- supporting cabinet committees;
- managing the flow of cabinet business; and
- facilitating policy development across the federal public service.
Within the PCO, policy and program work is divided among a number of secretariats. These sub-organizations serve as the institution’s brains, muscle, and heart. They also give a very good indication of what the prime minister and his or her clerk consider important.
Here’s a partial list of PCO secretariats (2022):
- Priorities and Planning
- Communications and Consultations
- National Security
- Security and Intelligence
- Foreign and Defence Policy
- Operations
- Results and Delivery
- Legislation, House Planning and Machinery of Government
- Legal Operations
- Democratic Reform
- Social Policy Development
- Human Resources
- Review of Laws and Policies Related to Indigenous Peoples
- Economic and Regional Development Policy
- Financial Planning and Administration
- Youth Policy
- Senior Personnel, Business Transformation, and Renewal
- Intergovernmental Affairs
- Federal-Provincial-Territorial Relations
- Corporate Services
- Public Service Renewal
- Access to Information and Privacy
- Orders-in-Council
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/corporate/organizational-structure.html.
