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The Office's present location in the Langevin Block

In Canada the Privy Council Office (French: Bureau du Conseil privé) is the secretariat of the federal cabinet and the department of the Prime Minister. It provides non-partisan advice and support to the Prime Minister and leadership, coordination and support to the departments and agencies of the government.

Although the PCO has grown in size and complexity over the years, its main pillars remain the operations and plans secretariats. The former is primarily concerned with coordinating the day-to-day issues of government while the latter takes a medium-term view to the evolution of the Canadian federation. Each incoming Prime Minister will re-organize the PCO to suit the policy agenda of his government. Today, the PCO also includes a department of intergovernmental affairs, secretariats for communications, foreign and defence policy, security and intelligence, social affairs, economic affairs, legislation and house planning and machinery of government.

Traditionally the PCO has served as a "finishing school" for civil servants destined for executive positions within government. Officials who spend several years gaining experience at the "Centre" and working on policy matters from the perspective of the Prime Minister return to their home departments with a greater appreciation of government operations at the corporate level. Aside from senior positions within the civil service, PCO alumni have gone on to pursue successful careers in business and politics. They include Paul Tellier, CEO of Bombardier, Michael Sabia, CEO of Bell Canada, Robert Rabinovitch, CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew.

The head of the civil service has the title of Clerk of the Privy Council, and also serves as the Secretary to the Cabinet and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister[1]. The current Clerk of the Privy Council is Kevin G. Lynch. He succeeded Alex Himelfarb, now the Canadian Ambassador to Italy, in 2006.

The Privy Council Office should not be confused with the Prime Minister's Office, which is a personal and partisan office. It is understood that the Prime Minister should not receive advice from only one institutionalized source. To that end, PCO serves as the policy oriented but politically sensitive advisory unit to the Prime Minister, while PMO is politically oriented but policy sensitive. Note the difference from the American model where policy and politics are fused into the single institution of the Executive Office of the President.

The PCO is located in the Langevin Block of the Parliament buildings and surrounding buildings in downtown Ottawa.

Current Structure of the Privy Council

• Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet
  • • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Plans and Consultations
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Priorities and Planning
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Communications and Consultations
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy
    • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Operations
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Social Policy
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Economic and Regional Development Policy
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Operations
      • Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council, Order-in-Council
      • Chief, Cabinet Papers System
    • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Legislation & Housing Planning, & Machinery of Government, Counsel to the Clerk of the Privy Council
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Legislation and House Planning
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Machinery of Government.
      • Director of Legal Operations, Legal Operations/Counsel
      • Director, Cabinet Confidences/Counsel
    • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Senior Personnel and Special Projects
    • Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet, Public Service Renewal
    • Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services Branch
  • National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet
    • Coordinator for the 2010 Olympics and G8 Security
    • Foreign and Defense Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister and Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Foreign and Defence Policy
      • Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Security and Intelligence
      • Executive Director, International Assessment Staff
  • Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
    • Assistant Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Policy
    • Assistant Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Policy
    • Director, Communications and Parliamentary Affairs

• Queen's Privy Council for Canada

• Privy Council Office
• Role and Structure of the Privy Council Office

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