What is the Privy Council Office (PCO)?

The Privy Council Office (PCO) is the non-partisan central department of the federal Public Service that serves the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The PCO is the formal secretariat to the Cabinet (the Committee of the Privy Council) and serves the Prime Minister as head of government. The PCO is separate from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), which provides political staff support. The PCO has about 1,000 employees in offices in Ottawa-Gatineau and is led by the Clerk of the Privy Council.

The Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet is the head of the Public Service of Canada and the senior non-partisan advisor to the Prime Minister. The current Clerk is John Hannaford, appointed June 24, 2023. The Clerk reports to the Prime Minister and oversees the approximately 360,000 federal public servants. The Clerk produces an annual public report on the state of the federal Public Service. Notable past Clerks include Wendy Porch (interim 2023), Janice Charette (2021 to 2023, the first Indigenous Clerk under the federal definition), Michael Wernick (2016 to 2019), Kevin Lynch (2006 to 2009), and Jocelyne Bourgon (1994 to 1999, the first woman Clerk).

The PCO has several principal functions. Cabinet Operations supports Cabinet meetings, prepares Cabinet decision documents, and tracks implementation of Cabinet decisions. Policy coordination ensures that proposals from federal departments are consistent with overall government priorities and properly considered by Cabinet. Federal-Provincial-Territorial Relations manages intergovernmental affairs through the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat. Machinery of Government advises on the structure of federal departments, ministerial portfolios, and Cabinet organisation. Other PCO branches include Foreign and Defence Policy, Economic and Social Affairs, and the Senior Personnel and Public Service Renewal secretariats.

The PCO works with all federal departments and agencies, with the Department of Finance on the Budget and fiscal policy, and with the PMO on government priorities. The Treasury Board Secretariat (a separate department of the federal Public Service) administers the federal expenditure budget and manages personnel; the PCO and Treasury Board Secretariat together with the Department of Finance form the central agencies that coordinate the federal government. The PCO is located in the Langevin Block (the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council) on Wellington Street in Ottawa.