Dispatch Box: The Shifting Size of Cabinets
As the modern social welfare state developed in the middle half of the twentieth century, the size of federal cabinets has grown to accommodate more departments, ministerial portfolios, and the work of secretaries of state.
| Prime Minister | Year first elected | Size of first cabinet |
| Justin Trudeau | 2015 | 31 |
| Stephen Harper | 2011 | 39 |
| Jean Chrétien | 1993 | 30 |
| Brian Mulroney | 1984 | 39 |
| Pierre Trudeau | 1968 | 29 |
| Lester Pearson | 1963 | 26 |
| John G. Diefenbaker | 1958 | 23 |
| Louis St. Laurent | 1948 | 20 |
| William Lyon Mackenzie King | 1935 | 15 |
| R.B. Bennett | 1930 | 19 |
| William Lyon Mackenzie King | 1921 | 19 |
| Robert Borden | 1911 | 17 |
| Wilfrid Laurier | 1896 | 17 |
When Justin Trudeau won power in 2015, he consciously sought to have a cabinet smaller in size than that of his predecessor, Stephen Harper. The new regime wanted to be seen to be more concerned with values of economy and efficiency compared to the old government. But this smaller cabinet did not survive the changes of 2019 and 2021. As changing times bring forth new issues and public demands that new policies and programs be initiated, often the quickest and easiest thing for a prime minister to do is to establish a new cabinet portfolio, giving a minister new duties to address the issue, all the while hopefully gaining good media publicity at the same time. But look at the list of cabinet portfolios above, especially some toward the very end. Do we really need a minister to promote the economic development of Southern Ontario? Or a Minister of Sport?
Source: https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Cabinet.
