What is the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)?

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is the political staff who support the Prime Minister of Canada in their roles as head of government, leader of the governing political party, and Member of Parliament. The PMO is separate from the non-partisan Privy Council Office (PCO), which is the central department of the federal Public Service that serves the Prime Minister and Cabinet on policy and operations. The PMO has about 100 to 150 staff at typical staffing levels and is funded through the office of the Prime Minister.

The PMO is led by the Chief of Staff, the most senior political advisor to the Prime Minister. The current Chief of Staff under Prime Minister Mark Carney is Marc-André Blanchard, appointed March 2025. Other senior PMO staff include the Principal Secretary, the Director of Communications, the Director of Policy, the Director of Issues Management, the Director of Operations, the Director of Appointments, and the Director of Stakeholder Relations. PMO staff are political appointments (not subject to the merit-based hiring of the federal Public Service) and serve at the Prime Minister's pleasure.

The PMO has expanded significantly since the 1960s. Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's PMO had about 35 staff in 1965; Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's PMO in the 1970s and early 1980s had about 80 staff; the modern PMO has about 120 to 150 staff. Critics have argued that the centralisation of power in the PMO has hollowed out Cabinet government and made the Prime Minister excessively dominant. Defenders argue that complex modern government requires strong central coordination and that the PMO's growth is consistent with parallel growth in other Westminster prime ministerial offices.

The PMO works closely with the PCO and the Department of Finance on overall government strategy, with the Department of Foreign Affairs on international relations, and with the Privy Council Office's Cabinet Affairs secretariat on Cabinet preparation. The PMO's Communications team handles media relations, social media, speech writing, and public events. The Issues Management team monitors political developments and prepares the Prime Minister for media questions. The Policy team works with the Department of Finance and other policy departments on the Prime Minister's priorities. The PMO is located in the Langevin Block (now called the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council) on Wellington Street in Ottawa, across from Parliament Hill.