Secretary of State.

About Secretary of State

In Canada from 1993 to 2003, from 2007 to 2008, and again since 2025, secretary of state is a title given to junior ministers of state in the Government of Canada that sit outside Cabinet. Because it is a position that is assigned to assist Cabinet ministers, a secretary of state is legally a minister of state; the distinction is that, unlike a minister, a secretary is not a full cabinet portfolio itself and thus not considered a member of Cabinet. (They are hence considered junior to ministers of state.) The Secretary of State (Training and Youth), for instance, would assist the Minister for Human Resources and Development. This usage is opposite to that in the United Kingdom, where junior ministers generally report to more senior secretaries of state. Secretaries of state are, however, members of the ministry and the King's Privy Council for Canada.