The minister of energy and natural resources () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).
In addition to NRCan, the minister oversees the federal government's natural resources portfolio, which includes Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the Canada Energy Regulator, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, as well as the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Boards. The Energy Supplies Allocation Board and the Northern Pipeline Agency also report to the Minister as required.The Natural Resources Portfolio. Natural Resources Canada. 2020-05-11.
The current minister of energy and natural resources is Tim Hodgson, since May 13, 2025. This position was established in 1995 under the Department of Natural Resources Act, S.C. 1994, c. 41, which merged the positions of the minister of energy, mines and resources and minister of forestry.Department of Natural Resources Act, S.C. 1994, c. 41.
History Prior to 1995, the responsibilities of the current natural resources portfolio were divided between the minister of energy, mines and resources and the minister of forestry, both posts which are now defunct.
With the transfer of the Canadian Forest Service from the Department of Forestry to the Department of Agriculture, the forestry portfolio came under the minister of agriculture between 1984 and 1985, then back to the minister of the environment from 1985. It became a single department in 1989 and then designated to the minister of energy, mines and resources in 1990.
In 1994, the Department of Natural Resources Act, S.C. 1994, c. 41, provided for the creation of the minister of natural resources, with authority to carry out matters previously undertaken by the minister of forestry and the minister of energy, mines and resources.
Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources The minister of energy, mines, and resources () was a member of the Cabinet from 1966 to 1995.
Prior to 1966, the responsibility related to Canadian mines and natural resources resided in various ministers:
Minister of the Interior (1873–1936) Minister of Mines (1907–36) Minister of Mines and Resources (1936–50) Minister of Resources and Development (1950–53) Minister of Mines and Technical Surveys (1950–66) Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources (1953–62)
The emerging role of energy development in federal policy would become more prominent in 1966, when that responsibility was adopted by the natural resources portfolio,"Department of Natural Resources." The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2006 February 7. whereupon the minister of mines and technical surveys was abolished and the minister of energy, mines and resources was established in its place by Statute 14-15 Eliz. II, c. 25—which received royal assent on 16 June 1966 and proclaimed in-force on October 1 later that year.
Three decades later, in 1995, the energy, mines and resources portfolio merged with that of forestry to form the current minister of natural resources, under the Department of Natural Resources Act, S.C. 1994, c. 41—which received royal assent on December 15, 1994.
Minister of Forestry The minister of forestry was an office in the Cabinet from 1962 to 1966 and again from 1990 to 1995. Between 1966 and 1990, the holder was known as the minister of forestry and rural development.
Prior to 1962, the responsibility for forestry resided in various ministers:
Minister of the Interior (1873–1936) Minister of Mines and Resources (1936–50) Minister of Resources and Development (1950–53) Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources (1953–62)
The position of minister of forestry was first created in 1962, late in John Diefenbaker's premiership. It lasted into the government of Lester B. Pearson.
In 1971, during the first mandate of Pierre Trudeau's government, responsibility for forestry along with fisheries merged into the minister of the environment, briefly renamed as minister of fisheries and the environment from 1976 to 1979, minister of state (environment) from 1977 to 1979, and then minister of the environment again from 1979 to 1984.
In 1989, during the second mandate of Brian Mulroney's government, the second incarnation of the Department of Forestry was established under the Department of Forestry Act (assented to 21 December 1989). Also at University of Calgary via Prism at http://hdl.handle.net/1880/47210The Department of Forestry Act, 1989 (Canada) In 1995, during the first mandate of Jean Chrétien's government, the forestry portfolio was merged with that of the minister of energy, mines, and resources to create the post of minister of natural resources. During the cabinet shuffle of July 26, 2023, this title was expanded to become the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
List of ministers
Key:
No.PortraitNameTerm of officePolitical partyMinistryMinister of Natural Resources 1 Anne McLellan January 12, 1995 June 10, 1997 Liberal26 (Chrétien) 2 Ralph Goodale June 11, 1997 January 14, 2002 Liberal 3 Herb Dhaliwal January 15, 2002 December 11, 2003 Liberal 4 John Efford December 12, 2003 September 25, 2005 Liberal27 (Martin) 5 John McCallum September 26, 2005 February 3, 2006 Liberal 6 Gary Lunn January 6, 2006 October 29, 2008 Conservative28 (Harper) 7 Lisa Raitt October 30, 2008 January 19, 2010 Conservative 8 Christian Paradis January 19, 2010 May 18, 2011 Conservative 9 Joe Oliver May 18, 2011 March 19, 2014 Conservative 10 Greg Rickford March 19, 2014 November 4, 2015 Conservative 11 Jim Carr November 4, 2015 July 17, 2018 Liberal29 (J. Trudeau) 12 Amarjeet Sohi July 17, 2018 November 20, 2019 Liberal 13 Seamus O'Regan November 20, 2019 October 26, 2021 Liberal 14 Jonathan Wilkinson October 26, 2021 July 26, 2023 LiberalMinister of Energy and Natural Resources (14)Jonathan Wilkinson July 26, 2023 March 14, 2025Liberal 29 (J. Trudeau) March 14, 2025 May 13, 202530 (Carney) 15 Tim Hodgson May 13, 2025 present Liberal
+Ministers of Energy, Mines, and ResourcesNo.MinisterTermMinistry1.Jean-Luc PépinOctober 1, 1966 – April 20, 1968under PearsonJean-Luc Pépin (cont'd)April 20, 1968 – July 5, 1968under Trudeau Sr.2.John James GreeneJuly 6, 1968 – January 27, 19723.Donald Stovel MacdonaldJanuary 28, 1972 – September 25, 19754.Alastair GillespieSeptember 26, 1975 – June 3, 19795.Ramon John HnatyshynJune 4, 1979 – March 2, 1980under Clark6.Marc LalondeMarch 3, 1980 – September 9, 1982under Trudeau Sr.7.Jean ChrétienSeptember 10, 1982 – June 29, 19848.Gerald A. ReganJune 30, 1984 – September 16, 1984under Turner9.Patricia CarneySeptember 17, 1984 – June 29, 1986under Mulroney10.Marcel MasseJune 30, 1986 – January 29, 198911.Arthur Jacob EppJanuary 30, 1989 – January 3, 199312.William Hunter McKnightJanuary 4, 1993 – June 24, 199313.Bobbie SparrowJune 25, 1993 – November 3, 1993under Campbell14.Anne McLellanNovember 4, 1993 – January 11, 1995under Chrétien No.MinisterTermMinistryMinister of Forestry (1960–66)1.Hugh John Flemming1962 – 1963Stanley, Della M. M. 2008 February 14. "Hugh John Flemming." The Canadian Encyclopedia.under Diefenbaker2.Martial Asselin1963"Martial Asselin." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. 2008 January 29.3.John Robert NicholsonApril 22, 1963 – 1964"Minister of Forestry for Canada, a Brief Biography." The Forestry Chronicle 39(3):340-40. .under Pearson4.Maurice Sauvé1964 – 1966Minister of Forestry and Rural Development1.Maurice Sauvé1966 – 1968Jean Marchand1968 – 1969Minister of Fisheries and Forests1.Jack Davis1969 – 1971under Trudeau Sr.Minister of Forestry (1990–95)1.Frank Oberle, Sr.February 23, 1990 – June 24, 1993under Brian Mulroney2.Bobbie SparrowJune 25, 1993 – November 3, 1993under Kim Campbell3.Anne McLellanNovember 4, 1993 – January 11, 1995under Jean Chrétien
See also
Natural Resources Canada List of forestry ministries
References