Monarchy of Canada#Canadian Royal Family

{{Further|Commonwealth realm#Relationship of the realms}}

File:Commonwealth realm map.svg

The monarch is shared in a personal union with 14 other Commonwealth realms within the 56-member Commonwealth of Nations. As he resides{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2012|p=34}}{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/king-charles-canada-connection-1.6588807 |last=Tasker |first=John Paul |title='This great country': An inside look at Charles's 50-year romance with Canada |date=21 September 2022 |publisher=CBC News |accessdate=13 March 2024 |archive-date=13 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313205245/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/king-charles-canada-connection-1.6588807 |url-status=live}}{{UN_Population|ref}} in the United Kingdom, viceroys (the governor general of Canada in the federal sphere and a lieutenant governor in each province) represent the sovereign in Canada and are able to carry out most of the royal governmental duties, even when the monarch is in the country{{#tag:ref|For instance, Governor General Jules Léger ended the second session of the 30th Canadian Parliament on 17 October 1977, while Queen Elizabeth II was in Ottawa to deliver the Speech from the Throne at the opening of the third session on 18 October. Governor General Adrienne Clarkson granted royal assent to four bills on 19 May 2005,{{Citation |url=https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/index2005.html |author=Government of Canada |title=2005 Annual Statutes |date=15 March 2017 |publisher=King's Printer for Canada |accessdate=13 March 2024}} while Queen Elizabeth II was touring Saskatchewan and Alberta to mark the 100th anniversary of those provinces joining Confederation.|group=n|name=ViceDuties}} Nevertheless, the monarch can carry out Canadian constitutional and ceremonial duties abroad.{{#tag:ref||group=n|name=RoyVis}}{{#tag:ref|For example, Queen Elizabeth II was in the United Kingdom when she signed the proclamation of the National Flag of Canada in 1965.{{Citation |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/publications/archivist-magazine/015002-2021-e.html |url-status=dead |last=Grace |first=John |editor-last=Library and Archives Canada |title=Conserving the Proclamation of the Canadian Flag |journal=The Archivist |date=1990 |publisher=National Archives of Canada |accessdate=16 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021133944/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/publications/archivist-magazine/015002-2021-e.html |archive-date=21 October 2012}} King George VI was in the United Kingdom when, as king of Canada, he declared war on Germany in 1939.{{Citation |last=Creighton |first=Donald |title=The Forked Road: Canada 1939–1957 |publisher=McClelland and Stewart |date=1976 |page=2}}{{Citation |url=http://www.lawtimesnews.com/20060501549/Headline-News/War-power-and-the-Royal-Prerogative |url-status=dead |last=Brode |first=Patrick |title=War power and the Royal Prerogative |journal=Law Times |date=1 May 2006 |publisher=Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. |accessdate=2 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122075404/http://www.lawtimesnews.com/20060501549/Headline-News/War-power-and-the-Royal-Prerogative |archive-date=22 November 2012}}|group=n|name=RoyDuties}}

The evolution of the role of the governor general from being both a representative of the sovereign and an "agent of the British government" who " in matters deemed to be of 'imperial' concern... acted on the instructions of the British Colonial Office"{{Cite web |title=1. PARLIAMENTARY INSTITUTIONS CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY INSTITUTIONS |url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/marleaumontpetit/DocumentViewer.aspx?Language=E&Print=1&Sec=Ch01&Seq=3#:~:text=At%20the%20time%20of%20Confederation,of%20the%20British%20Colonial%20Office. |website=HOUSE OF COMMONS PROCEDURE AND PRACTICE |publisher=Parliament of Canada |access-date=April 24, 2024}} to being solely a representative of the monarch developed with a rise in Canadian nationalism following the end of the First World War culminating in the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931.{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=9}}{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/statute-of-westminster| last1=McIntosh| first1=Andrew| last2=Hillmer| first2=Norman| last3=Foot| first3=Richard |title=Statute of Westminster, 1931 |date=29 April 2020 |encyclopedia=The canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |accessdate=10 March 2024 |archive-date=10 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310185849/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/statute-of-westminster |url-status=live}} Since then, the Crown has had both a shared and a separate character: the sovereign's role as monarch of Canada has been distinct from his or her position as monarch of any other realm,{{#tag:ref|The sovereign has carried out foreign relations as the representative uniquely of Canada. |group=n |name=RoyVis}}{{Refn|{{Harvnb|Trepanier|2004|p=28}}{{Harvnb|Torrance|2022a |p=34}}{{Citation |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/op-ed/Succeeding+Canadian+throne/7651371/story.html| last1=Bowden| first1=James| first2=Philippe| last2=Lagassé |title=Succeeding to the Canadian throne |date=6 December 2012 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |access-date=6 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130110062651/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/op-ed/Succeeding+Canadian+throne/7651371/story.html |archive-date=10 January 2013}}}} including the United Kingdom.{{#tag:ref|The English Court of Appeal ruled in 1982, while "there is only one person who is the Sovereign within the British Commonwealth [...] in matters of law and government the Queen of the United Kingdom, for example, is entirely independent and distinct from the Queen of Canada."{{Cite court |litigants=R v Foreign Secretary, Ex parte Indian Association (as referenced in High Court of Australia: Sue v Hill [1999] HCA 30; 23 June 1999; S179/1998 and B49/1998) |vol=QB 892 at 928 |court=English Court of Appeal |date=June 1999 |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1999/30.html |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116214251/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1999/30.html |url-status=live}} |group=n |name=ECApp}}{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/101/102-eng.cfm |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The crown in Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=19 February 2009 |archive-date=27 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827092532/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/101/102-eng.cfm |url-status=dead}}{{Cite book |last=Romney |first=Paul |title=Getting it wrong: how Canadians forgot their past and imperilled Confederation |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=1999 |location=Toronto |page=[https://archive.org/details/gettingitwrongho0000romn/page/273 273] |url=https://archive.org/details/gettingitwrongho0000romn |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-8020-8105-6}}{{Harvnb|Buchan|1969|p=94}}{{Harvnb|Aird|1985|p=3}}}} Only Canadian federal ministers of the Crown may advise the sovereign on any and all matters of the Canadian state,{{#tag:ref|In 1997, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair intended to offer a life peerage to Canadian businessman Conrad Black. However, citing the 1919 Nickle Resolution, the Canadian Cabinet advised the Queen not to grant Black such an honour. If Blair had not yielded, the Queen would have been in the situation of having to grant an honour on the advice of her British Prime Minister and to object to the same as Queen of Canada on the advice of then-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. |group=n |name=Black}}{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/TheQueensroleinCanada.aspx |author=The Royal Household |title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada > The Queen's role in Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer |access-date=15 May 2009 |archive-date=20 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220102227/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/TheQueensroleinCanada.aspx |url-status=dead}}{{Citation |title=King of Canada |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |page=21 |date=9 November 1945 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yK0uAAAAIBAJ&pg=6362,1637716&hl=en |access-date=14 October 2010 |archive-date=31 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531153311/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yK0uAAAAIBAJ&pg=6362,1637716&hl=en |url-status=live}}{{Citation| last1=Dawson| first1=R. MacGregor| last2=Dawson| first2=W. F. |title=Democratic Government in Canada |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=1989 |location=Toronto, Buffalo, London |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOSN8PsTOFwC&q=monarchy%20canada&pg=PA66 |edition=5 |isbn=978-0-8020-6703-6}}{{Cite journal |last=Scott |first=F. R. |title=The End of Dominion Status |journal=The American Journal of International Law |volume=38 |date=January 1944 |pages=34–49 |doi=10.2307/2192530 |issue=1 |jstor=2192530 |publisher=American Society of International Law| s2cid=147122057}}{{Citation |url=http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2009/Donovan.pdf |last=Donovan |first=David |title=The Governor General and Lieutenant Governors: Canada's Misunderstood Viceroys |date=2009 |page=3 |publisher=Canadian Political Science Association |access-date=29 January 2013 |archive-date=16 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916152850/https://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2009/Donovan.pdf |url-status=live}}}} of which the sovereign, when not in Canada, is kept abreast by weekly communications with the federal viceroy.{{Citation |first=Andrew |last=Heard |title=Canadian Independence |date=1990 |place=Vancouver |publisher=Simon Fraser University |url=https://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/324/Independence.html |access-date=25 August 2010 |archive-date=21 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221150147/http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/324/Independence.html |url-status=live}} The monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution and, in Canada, became a Canadian,{{Refn|{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=3}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.ops.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=48c8c59c-c1b6-442d-aa4e-bfb86287269f |author=Saskatchewan Office of the Provincial Secretary |title=About OPS > Protocol Office > Protocol in Practice > The Crown |publisher=Queen's Printer for Saskatchewan |access-date=16 May 2009 |archive-date=23 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060815/http://www.ops.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=48c8c59c-c1b6-442d-aa4e-bfb86287269f |url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal |last=Forsey |first=Helen |title=As David Johnson Enters Rideau Hall ... |journal=The Monitor |publisher=Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives |location=Ottawa |date=1 October 2010 |url=http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/david-johnson-enters-rideau-hall |access-date=23 January 2011 |archive-date=3 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203201325/http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/david-johnson-enters-rideau-hall |url-status=live}}}} or "domesticated",{{Cite journal |last=Mallory |first=J.R. |title=Seals and Symbols: From Substance to Form in Commonwealth Equality |journal=The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=281–291 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |location=Montreal |date=August 1956 |doi=10.2307/138434 |jstor=138434 |issn=0008-4085}} establishment, though it is still often denoted as "British" in both legal and common language, for reasons historical, political, and of convenience.

File:Airbus CC-150 Polaris at Yellowknife Airport.jpg, used to transport the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their 2011 royal tour of Canada.]]

This division is illustrated in a number of ways: The sovereign, for example, holds a unique Canadian title and,{{Cite web |title=Royal Style and Titles Act, 1985 |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-r-12/latest/rsc-1985-c-r-12.html |publisher=CanLII |access-date=27 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606013514/http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-r-12/latest/rsc-1985-c-r-12.html |archive-date=6 June 2009}} when he and other members of the royal family are acting in public specifically as representatives of Canada, they use, where possible, Canadian symbols, including the country's national flag, unique royal symbols, armed forces uniforms,{{Refn|{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Oliver |title=Aye, aye, Ma'am |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=29 June 2010 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/aye-aye-maam/article1623623 |access-date=30 June 2010 |location=Toronto |archive-date=16 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916152901/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/aye-aye-maam/article1623623 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |last=John |first=Ward |title=Prince Charles joins in national Remembrance Day ceremonies |newspaper=The Telegram |date=12 November 2009 |url=http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=302415&sc=507 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114231806/http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=302415&sc=507 |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 November 2009 |access-date=30 June 2010}}{{Cite news |last=Deachman |first=Bruce |title=Royals arrive in Ottawa in final leg of cross-Canada tour |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=9 November 2009 |url=http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Prince+Charles+honours+Canada+navy+last+stop/2203180/story.html |access-date=30 June 2010 |archive-date=31 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531145651/http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Prince+Charles+honours+Canada+navy+last+stop/2203180/story.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |title=Royal Respect for Canada's Vimy Heroes |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2007 |issue=26 |page=4 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2007 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |access-date=30 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225416/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008}}}} and the like, as well as Canadian Forces aircraft or other Canadian-owned vehicles for travel.{{Cite news |last=Paperny |first=Anna Mehler |title=Behind the royal tour, a businesslike Usher of the Black Rod |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |page=1 |date=26 June 2011 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/behind-the-royal-tour-a-businesslike-usher-of-the-black-rod/article2076516 |access-date=30 June 2011 |location=Toronto |archive-date=1 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701022243/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/behind-the-royal-tour-a-businesslike-usher-of-the-black-rod/article2076516 |url-status=dead}} Once in Canadian airspace, or arrived at a Canadian event taking place abroad, the Canadian secretary to the King, officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and other Canadian officials will take over from whichever of their other realms' counterparts were previously escorting the King or other member of the royal family.{{Cite magazine |last=Treble |first=Patricia |title=The Queen's man on the ground |magazine=Maclean's |issue=July 2010 |publisher=Rogers Communications |location=Toronto |date=8 July 2010 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2010/07/08/the-queens-man-on-the-ground |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=10 July 2010 |archive-date=14 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714163244/http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/07/08/the-queens-man-on-the-ground |url-status=live}}

The sovereign similarly only draws from Canadian funds for support in the performance of his duties when in Canada or acting as King of Canada abroad; Canadians do not pay any money to the King or any other member of the royal family, either towards personal income or to support royal residences outside of Canada.{{Cite web| author1=Government of Canada |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=http://royaltour.gc.ca/faq-eng.cfm |website=2010 Royal Tour |access-date=15 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621033614/http://royaltour.gc.ca/faq-eng.cfm |archive-date=21 June 2010}}{{Cite periodical| first1=Sean| last1=Palme| first2=John| last2=Aimers| author2-link=John Aimers |title=The Cost of Canada's Constitutional Monarchy: $1.10 per Canadian |date=Autumn 2002 |periodical=Canadian Monarchist News |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/new/docs/costofcrown.html |access-date=15 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619203100/http://www.monarchist.ca/new/docs/costofcrown.html |archive-date=19 June 2008}}

There are five aspects to the monarchy of Canada: constitutional (such as the use of the royal prerogative in summoning and dissolving parliament, granting royal assent), national (delivering the Speech from the Throne and the Royal Christmas Message, distributing honours, decorations, and medals, and partaking in Remembrance Day ceremonies), international (the monarch being head of state in other Commonwealth realms, and being the head of the Commonwealth), religious (the words by the grace of God in the monarch's title, the Act of Settlement, 1701, requiring the sovereign to be Anglican, and the monarch encouraging people "to tolerate, accept, and understand cultures, beliefs, and faiths different from our own"), and the welfare and service monarchy (seen in members of the royal family founding charities and supporting others, fundraising for charity, and giving royal patronage to civil and military organizations).{{Citation |url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf| editor-last1=Lagassé| editor-first1=Philippe| editor-last2=MacDonald| editor-first2=Nicholas A. |title=The Crown in the 21st Century| last1=Hazell| first1=Robert| last2=Morris| first2=Bob |series=If the Queen Has No Reserve Powers Left, What Is the Modern Monarchy For? |journal=Review of Constitutional Studies |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=2017 |pages=13–27 |publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies |location=Edmonton |access-date=31 May 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131152/https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |url-status=live}}

{{Further|Succession to the British throne|Succession to the Throne Act, 2013}}

{{Multiple image

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| image1 =Gerrit van Honthorst (c.1590-1592-1656) - Electress Sophia (1630–1714), Princess Palatine, Consort of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover - 493063 - National Trust.jpg

| caption1 =Sophia, Electress of Hanover, from whom heirs to the throne must directly descend

| image2 =Prince of Wales in Normandy 2024.jpg

| caption2 =William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the Canadian throne

}}

As in the other Commonwealth realms, the current heir apparent to the Canadian throne is William, Prince of Wales, who is followed in the line of succession by his eldest child, Prince George.

{{Main|Demise of the Crown}}

Upon the death of the monarch, there is an immediate and automatic succession by the late sovereign's heir;{{Refn|{{Citation |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/what-happens-to-canada-should-the-queen-die-the-behind-the-scenes-plans-for-the-death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii |last=Hopper |first=Tristin |title=What happens to Canada should Queen Elizabeth II die: The behind-the-scenes plans |date=5 January 2017 |newspaper=National Post |publisher=Post Media |access-date=25 April 2017 |archive-date=7 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607194828/http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/what-happens-to-canada-should-the-queen-die-the-behind-the-scenes-plans-for-the-death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii |url-status=live}}Thomson Irvine, "Demise of the Crown: An Historical Review of the Law in Canada" (2018) 12 Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law 695.}} hence the phrase, "the King is dead. Long live the King".{{Cite book| last1=Charters| first1=Claire| first2=Andrew| last2=Erueti |title=Māori property rights and the foreshore and seabed: the last frontier |publisher=Victoria University Press |date=2008 |location=Melbourne |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4OmYBwtKRw4C |isbn=978-0-8647-3553-9}}{{Cite book |last=Mishra |first=Shree Govind |title=Democracy in India |publisher=Sanbun Publishers |date=2000 |location=Delhi |pages=51–52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cFs0YSkA4ckC |isbn=978-3-4734-7305-2}} No confirmation or further ceremony is necessary. The federal cabinet and civil service follow the Manual of Official Procedure of the Government of Canada in carrying out various formalities around the transition.{{Harvnb|Torrance|2022a |p=37}}

By custom, the accession of a new monarch is publicly proclaimed by the governor general-in-council, who meet at Rideau Hall immediately upon the previous monarch's death. Since the adoption of the Statute of Westminster it has been considered "constitutionally inappropriate" for Canada's accession proclamations to be approved by a British order-in-council, as the monarch has, since then, assumed the Canadian throne according to Canadian law. For the accession of Charles III, the first since the creation of the Canadian Heraldic Authority in 1989, the Chief Herald read the royal proclamation aloud. If Parliament is in session, the Prime Minister will announce the demise of the Crown there and move for a joint address of sympathy and loyalty to the new monarch.

File:Queen Elizabeth Ottawa parade mosbo6.jpg before the national commemoration ceremony for the death of Queen Elizabeth II]]

A period of mourning also follows, during which portraits of the recently deceased monarch are draped with black fabric and staff at government houses wear black armbands. The Manual of Official Procedure of the Government of Canada states the prime minister is responsible for convening Parliament, tabling a resolution of loyalty and condolence from Parliament to the new monarch, and arranging for the motion to be seconded by the leader of the official opposition.{{Cite book |title=Manual of Official Procedure of the Government of Canada| last1=Davis| first1=Henry F.| last2=Millar| first2=André |location=Ottawa |publisher=Privy Council Office |date=1968 |page=575}} The prime minister will then move to adjourn Parliament. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation keeps a regularly updated plan for a "broadcast of national importance", announcing the demise of a sovereign and covering the aftermath, during which all regular programming and advertising is cancelled and on-call commentators contribute to a 24-hour news mode. As funerals for Canada's sovereigns, as well as for their consorts, take place in the United Kingdom, commemoration services are conducted by the federal and provincial governments across Canada.{{Citation |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-six-royal-funerals-one-changing-canada-what-the-deaths-of-monarchs |last=Annett |first=Evan |title=Six royal funerals, one changing Canada: What the deaths of monarchs have revealed about us |date=17 September 2022 |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |accessdate=4 April 2024}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/what-provinces-will-have-holiday-for-queen-funeral-1.6581550 |title=Do Canadians get a holiday to mourn the Queen? It depends |date=13 September 2022 |publisher=CBC News |accessdate=4 April 2024 |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922032319/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/what-provinces-will-have-holiday-for-queen-funeral-1.6581550 |url-status=live}} Such ceremonies may also be held for other recently deceased members of the royal family. The day of the sovereign's funeral is likely to be a federal holiday.{{Cite news |title=Do Canadians get a holiday to mourn the Queen? It depends |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/what-provinces-will-have-holiday-for-queen-funeral-1.6581550 |access-date=April 1, 2024 |work=CBC News |date=September 13, 2022 |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922032319/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/what-provinces-will-have-holiday-for-queen-funeral-1.6581550 |url-status=live}}

The new monarch is crowned in the United Kingdom in an ancient ritual but one not necessary for a sovereign to reign.{{#tag:ref|For example, Edward VIII was never crowned, yet was undoubtedly king during his short time on the throne. |group=n |name=EdVIII1}} Under the federal Interpretation Act, officials who hold a federal office under the Crown are not affected by the death of the monarch, nor are they required to take the Oath of Allegiance again.{{Cite canlaw| short title=Interpretation Act |abbr=RSC |date=1985 |chapter=I-21 |section=46(1). |link=https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-21/page-3.html#h-279653}} In some provinces, though, those holding Crown offices must swear the Oath to the new sovereign.{{Citation |url=https://lt.gov.ns.ca/news-events/2023-02-02/175th-anniversary-responsible-government-nova-scotia |title=175th Anniversary of Responsible Government in Nova Scotia |date=2 February 2023 |publisher=King's Printer for Nova Scotia |access-date=4 June 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604205328/https://lt.gov.ns.ca/news-events/2023-02-02/175th-anniversary-responsible-government-nova-scotia |url-status=live}} All references in federal legislation to previous monarchs, whether in the masculine (e.g. His Majesty) or feminine (e.g. The Queen), continue to mean the reigning sovereign of Canada, regardless of his or her gender.{{Cite canlaw| short title=Interpretation Act |abbr=RSC |date=1985 |chapter=I-21 |section=35(1): définitions. |link=https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-21/page-3.html#h-279653}} This is because, in common law, the Crown never dies. After an individual accedes to the throne, he or she usually continues to reign until death.{{#tag:ref|The only Canadian monarch to abdicate, Edward VIII, did so with the authorization of the Canadian government granted in His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act, 1936, and the Succession to the Throne Act, 1937, later confirmed this in law. |group=n |name=EdVIII2}}

File:Act of Settlement 3323.jpg

The relationship between the Commonwealth realms is such that any change to the rules of succession to their respective crowns requires the unanimous consent of all the realms. Succession is governed by statutes, such as the Bill of Rights, 1689, the Act of Settlement, 1701, and the Acts of Union, 1707.

File:KingPrince1924.jpg (left) and Edward VIII (right; when Prince of Wales) in Ottawa, 1924. In 1936, Edward abdicated the Canadian throne and he and any of his descendants were removed from the line of succession by Order-in-Council PC 3144 and the Succession to the Throne Act, 1937.]]

King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 and any possible future descendants of his were excluded from the line of succession.{{Citation |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/LegislativeSummaries/bills_ls.asp?ls=c53&Parl=41&Ses=1&source=library_prb&Language=E#a9 |author=Parliament of Canada |title=Legislative Summary of Bill C-53: Succession to the Throne Act, 2013 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125110823/http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/LegislativeSummaries/bills_ls.asp?ls=c53&Parl=41&Ses=1&source=library_prb&Language=E#a9 |archive-date=25 November 2015 |url-status=dead}} The British government at the time, wishing for speed so as to avoid embarrassing debate in Dominion parliaments, suggested that the governments of the Dominions of the British Commonwealth—then Australia, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, the Union of South Africa, and Canada—regard whoever was monarch of the UK to automatically be monarch of their respective Dominion. As with the other Dominion governments, the Canadian Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, refused to accept the idea and stressed that the laws of succession were part of Canadian law and, as the Statute of Westminster 1931 disallowed the UK from legislating for Canada, including in relation to succession,{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=37}} altering them required Canada's request and consent to the British legislation (His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act, 1936) becoming part of Canadian law.{{Cite AV media |people=Anne Twomey |title=Professor Anne Twomey – Succession to the Crown: foiled by Canada? |medium=Digital video |publisher=University College London |location=London |date=18 September 2014 |url=http://vimeo.com/108335929 |access-date=1 August 2022 |archive-date=8 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108124158/https://vimeo.com/108335929 |url-status=live}} Sir Maurice Gwyer, first parliamentary counsel in the UK, reflected this position, stating the Act of Settlement was a part of the law in each Dominion. Thus, Order-in-Council P.C. 3144{{Citation |url=https://jameswjbowden.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/pc-1936-3144.pdf |author=Edward VIII |title=Order-in-Council regarding Canadian Request and Consent for Enactment of United Kingdom Legislation altering Succession (1936) |publisher=James Bowden |access-date=26 November 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135103/https://jameswjbowden.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/pc-1936-3144.pdf |url-status=live}} was issued, expressing the Cabinet's request and consent for His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act, 1936, to become part of the laws of Canada and the Succession to the Throne Act, 1937, gave parliamentary ratification to that action, together bringing the Act of Settlement and Royal Marriages Act, 1772, into Canadian law.{{Citation |url=http://crht.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CRHT-Background-Paper-on-Canadas-Law-of-Succession.pdf |last=Toffoli |first=Gary |title=Is There a Canadian Law of Succession and Is There a Canadian Process of Amendment? |date=9 February 2013 |pages=3–4 |publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |access-date=12 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127005340/http://crht.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CRHT-Background-Paper-on-Canadas-Law-of-Succession.pdf |archive-date=27 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite book |first=Robert |last=Macgregor Dawson |author-link=Robert MacGregor Dawson |title=The Government of Canada |url=https://archive.org/details/governmentofcana0000macg |url-access=registration |edition=5th |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=1970 |page=[https://archive.org/details/governmentofcana0000macg/page/63 63] |isbn=978-0-8020-2046-8}} The latter was deemed by the Cabinet in 1947 to be part of Canadian law.{{#tag:ref|Gary Toffoli of the Canadian Royal Heritage Trust stated that the approval given by the Queen in her Canadian Council in 1981 to the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer separately to the same approval given by the Queen in her British Council illustrated the existence of the Royal Marriages Act in Canadian law.{{Cite AV media |people=Various |title=In Committee from the Senate: Legal and Constitutional Affairs - March 20, 2013 |medium=Digital video |publisher=CPAC |location=Ottawa |date=20 March 2013 |url=http://www.cpac.ca/en/digital-archives/?search=succession%20throne&orderby=relevance |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413142423/http://www.cpac.ca/en/digital-archives/?search=succession%20throne&orderby=relevance |archive-date=13 April 2015}} In 1947, the King in his Canadian Council gave the same consent to the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Philip Mountbatten, again separate from the approval he gave in his British Council.|group=n |name=Marriages}}{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=81}} The Department of External Affairs included all succession-related laws in its list of acts within Canadian law.

The Supreme Court of Canada declared unanimously in the 1981 Patriation Reference that the Bill of Rights, 1689, is "undoubtedly in force as part of the law of Canada".{{Cite web |url=http://senparlvu.parl.gc.ca/Guide.aspx?viewmode=4&categoryid=-1&eventid=8763&Language=E |last=Senate of Canada |title=LCJC Meeting No. 74 |date=20 March 2013 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=24 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614215631/http://senparlvu.parl.gc.ca/Guide.aspx?viewmode=4&categoryid=-1&eventid=8763&Language=E |archive-date=14 June 2013}}{{Citation |author=Supreme Court of Canada |title=Re: Resolution to amend the Constitution, [1981] 1 SCR 753 |date=28 September 1981 |page=785 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada}} Furthermore, in O'Donohue v. Canada (2003) the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that the Act of Settlement, 1701, is "part of the laws of Canada" and the rules of succession are "by necessity incorporated into the Constitution of Canada".{{Cite court |litigants=O'Donohue v. Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Canada and Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Ontario |opinion=41404 |pinpoint=paragraphs 3 and 24 |court=Ontario Superior Court of Justice |date=26 June 2003 |url=http://canlii.ca/en/on/onsc/doc/2003/2003canlii41404/2003canlii41404.html |reporter=CanLII |vol=2003}} Another ruling of the Ontario Superior Court, in 2014, echoed the 2003 case, stating that the Act of Settlement "is an imperial statute which ultimately became part of the law of Canada."{{Cite court |litigants=Bryan Teskey v. Attorney General of Canada |opinion=Hackland R.S.J. |court=Ontario Superior Court of Justice |date=9 August 2013 |url=http://canlii.ca/en/on/onsc/doc/2013/2013onsc5046/2013onsc5046.pdf}} Upon dismissing appeal of that case, the Court of Appeal of Ontario stated "[t]he rules of succession are a part of the fabric of the constitution of Canada and incorporated into it".{{Cite court |litigants=Teskey v. Canada (Attorney General) |vol=C57588 |opinion=Blair, R.A.; Pepall, S.E.; Hourigan, C.W. |pinpoint=S.6 |court=Court of Appeal for Ontario |date=28 August 2014 |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2014/2014onca612/2014onca612.html |archive-date=7 April 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150407012150/http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2014/2014onca612/2014onca612.html |url-status=live}}

In a meeting of the Special Joint Committee on the Constitution during the process of patriating the Canadian constitution in 1981, John Munro asked then-Minister of Justice Jean Chrétien about the "selective omissions" of the Succession to the Throne Act, 1937, the Demise of the Crown Act, 1901, the Seals Act, the Governor General's Act, and the Royal Style and Titles Act, 1953, from the schedule to the Constitution Act, 1982. In response, Chrétien asserted that the schedule to the Constitution Act, 1982, was not exhaustive, outlining that section 52(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982, says "[t]he Constitution of Canada includes [...] the acts and orders referred to the schedule" and "[w]hen you use the word 'includes' [...] it means that if ever there is another thing related to the Canadian constitution as part of it, should have been there, or might have been there, it is covered. So we do not have to renumerate [sic] the ones that you are mentioning."{{Citation |author=((Parliament of Canada; 32nd Parliament (1st Session))) |title=Minutes of the Proceedings and Evidence of the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and of the House of Commons on the Constitution of Canada |date=5 February 1981 |volume=54 |edition=106 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada}} In the same meeting, Deputy Attorney General Barry Strayer stated: "Clause 52(2) is not an exhaustive definition of the Constitution of Canada so that while we have certain things listed in the schedule which are clearly part of the constitution, that does not mean that there are not other things which are part of the constitution [...] [The schedule] is not an exhaustive list."

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Leslie Zines claimed in the 1991 publication, Constitutional Change in the Commonwealth, that, though the succession to Canada's throne was outlined by common law and the Act of Settlement, 1701, these were not part of the Canadian constitution, which "does not contain rules for succession to the throne."{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sWzgzAd6wtAC |last=Zines |first=Leslie |title=Constitutional Change in the Commonwealth |page=29 |date=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-5214-0039-8}} Richard Toporoski, writing three years later for the Monarchist League of Canada, stated, "there is no existing provision in our law, other than the Act of Settlement, 1701, that provides that the king or queen of Canada shall be the same person as the king or queen of the United Kingdom. If the British law were to be changed and we did not change our law [...] the person provided for in the new law would become king or queen in at least some realms of the Commonwealth; Canada would continue on with the person who would have become monarch under the previous law."{{Cite journal |last=Toporoski |first=Richard |title=The Invisible Crown |journal=Monarchy Canada |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=1998 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/invisib2.htm |access-date=15 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224145943/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/invisib2.htm |archive-date=24 February 2008}}

Canada, with the other Commonwealth realms, committed to the 2011 Perth Agreement, which proposed changes to the rules governing succession to remove male preference and removal of disqualification arising from marriage to a Roman Catholic. As a result, the Canadian Parliament passed the Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, which gave the country's assent to the Succession to the Crown Bill, at that time proceeding in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In dismissing a challenge to the law on the basis that a change to the succession in Canada would require unanimous consent of all provinces under section 41(a) of the Constitution Act, 1982, Quebec Superior Court Justice Claude Bouchard ruled that Canada "did not have to change its laws nor its constitution for the British royal succession rules to be amended and effective" and constitutional convention committed Canada to having a line of succession symmetrical to those of other Commonwealth realms.{{Cite news |title=Deux profs de l'Université Laval déboutés dans la cause du "bébé royal" |url=http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/justice-et-faits-divers/201602/16/01-4951299-deux-profs-de-luniversite-laval-deboutes-dans-la-cause-du-bebe-royal.php |access-date=16 February 2016 |newspaper=Le Soleil |date=16 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217095139/http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/justice-et-faits-divers/201602/16/01-4951299-deux-profs-de-luniversite-laval-deboutes-dans-la-cause-du-bebe-royal.php |archive-date=17 February 2016 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |title=La cause du "bébé royal" en appel |url=http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/societe/201603/14/01-4960730-la-cause-du-bebe-royal-en-appel.php |last=Sèguin |first=Rhèal |date=15 March 2016 |newspaper=Le Soleil |access-date=15 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316042540/http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/societe/201603/14/01-4960730-la-cause-du-bebe-royal-en-appel.php |archive-date=16 March 2016 |url-status=dead}} The ruling was upheld by the Quebec Court of Appeal.{{Cite news| last1=Marin| first1=Stephanie |title=Quebec Court of Appeal hearing case about who can inherit Canada's Crown |url=https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-court-of-appeal-hearing-case-about-who-can-inherit-canada-s-crown-1.3809400 |access-date=26 April 2018 |publisher=CTV News |agency=Canadian Press |date=19 February 2018 |archive-date=27 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427183851/https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-court-of-appeal-hearing-case-about-who-can-inherit-canada-s-crown-1.3809400 |url-status=live}} The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear an appeal in April 2020.{{Cite news| last1=Lagassé| first1=Philippe |title=Lagassé: Who cares about the monarchy? Certainly not the Supreme Court of Canada |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/lagasse-who-cares-about-the-monarchy-certainly-not-the-supreme-court-of-canada/wcm/3e444e9f-837e-4b24-9435-e4cf5e8502b9 |access-date=28 April 2020 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=26 April 2020 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816081101/https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/lagasse-who-cares-about-the-monarchy-certainly-not-the-supreme-court-of-canada/wcm/3e444e9f-837e-4b24-9435-e4cf5e8502b9 |url-status=live}}

Constitutional scholar Philippe Lagassé argues that, in light of the Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, and court rulings upholding that law, section 41(a) of the Constitution Act, 1982, which requires a constitutional amendment passed with the unanimous consent of the provinces, applies only to the "office of the Queen", but not who holds that office, and that therefore "ending the principle of symmetry with the United Kingdom can be done with the general amending procedure, or even by Parliament alone under section 44 of the Constitution Act, 1982."{{Cite journal| last1=Lagassé| first1=Philippe |title=Monarchy's rights, privileges, and symbols in Canada can be changed |journal=Policy Options |date=21 January 2010 |url=https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/January-2020/monarchys-rights-privileges-and-symbols-in-canada-can-be-changed |access-date=28 April 2020 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815054631/https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/january-2020/monarchys-rights-privileges-and-symbols-in-canada-can-be-changed |url-status=live}}

Ted McWhinney, another constitutional scholar, argued that a then-future government of Canada could begin a process of phasing out the monarchy after the death of Elizabeth II "quietly and without fanfare by simply failing legally to proclaim any successor to the Queen in relation to Canada". This would, he claimed, be a way of bypassing the need for a constitutional amendment that would require unanimous consent by the federal Parliament and all the provincial legislatures.Yaffe, Barbara; "Ditching royals is easy, expert says

When Queen ends her reign, Canada can just fail to proclaim Charles as the king"; The Vancouver Sun; 17 February 2005 However, Ian Holloway, Dean of Law at the University of Western Ontario, criticized McWhinney's proposal for its ignorance of provincial input and opined that its implementation "would be contrary to the plain purpose of those who framed our system of government."{{Citation |last=Holloway |first=Ian |date=2005 |editor-last=Ed. Staff |editor-link=Monarchist League of Canada |title=Liberal Stalking Horse for Stealth Ending of Monarchy? |periodical=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Spring 2005 |issue=23 |page=2 |location=Toronto |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2005/Spring_2005_CMN.pdf |access-date=18 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226172807/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2005/Spring_2005_CMN.pdf |archive-date=26 February 2009}}

Certain aspects of the succession rules have been challenged in the courts. For example, under the provisions of the Bill of Rights, 1689, and the Act of Settlement, 1701, Catholics are barred from succeeding to the throne; this prohibition has been upheld twice by Canadian courts, once in 2003 and again in 2014.{{Refn|{{Cite news |title=Royal succession law not subject to Charter challenge: court |url=http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/royal-succession-law-not-subject-to-charter-challenge-court-1.1977651 |date=26 August 2014 |publisher=CTV News |access-date=29 August 2014 |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102185257/https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/royal-succession-law-not-subject-to-charter-challenge-court-1.1977651 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/04/markham_law_graduate_fighting_catholic_ban_on_royal_succession.html |last=Gallant |first=Jacques |title=Markham law graduate fighting Catholic ban on royal succession |date=4 September 2013 |newspaper=Toronto Star |access-date=4 September 2013 |archive-date=14 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814081808/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/04/markham_law_graduate_fighting_catholic_ban_on_royal_succession.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/king+uOttawa+grad+challenging+succession+rules/8829959/story.html |last=Yogaretnam |first=Shaamini |title=The boy who won't be king: uOttawa law grad challenging succession rules |date=24 August 2013 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |access-date=4 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827112731/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/king+uOttawa+grad+challenging+succession+rules/8829959/story.html |archive-date=27 August 2013}}{{Cite court |litigants=Teskey v. Canada (Attorney General) |opinion=Blair, Pepall, and Hourigan |court=Court of Appeal for Ontario |date=26 August 2014 |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2014/2014onca612/2014onca612.html |archive-date=7 April 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150407012150/http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2014/2014onca612/2014onca612.html |url-status=live}}}} Legal scholar Christopher Cornell of the SMU Dedman School of Law concluded "that the prohibition on the Canadian Monarch being Catholic, while discriminatory, is perfectly-if not fundamentally-constitutional" and that if the prohibition is "to be changed or removed it will have to be accomplished politically and legislatively through another multilateral agreement similar to the Perth Agreement rather than judicially through the courts."{{Cite journal |last1=Cornell |first1=Christopher |title=Succession to the Throne and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms |journal=Law and Business Review of the Americas |date=2015 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=205 |url=https://scholar.smu.edu/lbra/vol21/iss2/6 |access-date=March 17, 2024 |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318011546/https://scholar.smu.edu/lbra/vol21/iss2/6 |url-status=live}}

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| footer =Prince George, Prince Regent (left), Canada's last regent, serving as such from 1811 until the death of his father, George III (right), in 1820

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Canada has no laws allowing for a regency, should the sovereign be a minor or debilitated; none have been passed by the Canadian Parliament and it was made clear by successive cabinets since 1937 that the United Kingdom's Regency Act had no applicability to Canada, as the Canadian Cabinet had not requested otherwise when the act was passed that year and again in 1943 and 1953. As the Letters Patent, 1947, issued by King George VI permit the governor general of Canada to exercise almost all of the monarch's powers in respect of Canada, the viceroy is expected to continue to act as the personal representative of the monarch, and not any regent, even if the monarch is a child or incapacitated.{{Refn|{{Citation |last=Kennedy |first=W. P. M. |title=The Regency Acts, 1937–53 |journal=University of Toronto Law Journal |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=248–254 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |date=1954 |doi=10.2307/824845 |jstor=824845 |issn=0381-1638}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/FactsAboutMonarchy.html| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Gary |title=Facts About Canada's Monarchy |publisher=The Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |access-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505051909/http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/FactsAboutMonarchy.html |archive-date=5 May 2008}}}}

This has led to the question of whether the governor general has the ability to remove themselves and appoint their viceregal successor in the monarch's name. While Lagassé argued that appears to be the case, both the Canadian Manual of Official Procedures, published in 1968, and the Privy Council Office took the opposite opinion.{{Citation |author=Canadian Privy Council Office |title=Manual of Official Procedure of the Government of Canada |chapter=Note 70 |page=565 |volume=2 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |location=Ottawa |date=1968}}{{Citation |author=Privy Council Office |title=Open and Accountable Government |page=52 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |location=Ottawa |date=2015}} Lagassé and Patrick Baud claimed changes could be made to regulations to allow a governor general to appoint the next governor general;{{Citation| editor-last1=Bédard| editor-first1=Michel| editor-last2=Lagassé| editor-first2=Philippe |title=The Crown and the Parliament| last1=Lagassé| first1=Philippe| last2=Baud| first2=Patrick |chapter=The Crown and Constitutional Amendment in Canada |location=Montreal |publisher=Éditions Yvon Blais |date=2015 |pages=203, 225}} Christopher McCreery, however, criticised the theory, arguing it is impractical to suggest that a governor general would remove him or herself on ministerial advice,{{Citation| editor-last1=Smith| editor-first1=Jennifer| editor-last2=Jackson| editor-first2=D Michael |last=McCreery |first=Christopher |chapter=Myth and Misunderstanding: The Origins and Meaning of the Letters Patent Constituting the Office of the Governor General, 1947 |title=The Evolving Canadian Crown |pages=31, 52 |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |date=2012}} with the consequence that, if a prolonged regency occurred, it would remove one of the checks and balances in the constitution.{{Citation |url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf| editor-last1=Lagassé| editor-first1=Philippe| editor-last2=MacDonald| editor-first2=Nicholas A. |title=The Crown in the 21st Century| last1=Twomey| first1=Anne |series=Royal Succession, Abdication, and Regency in the Realms |journal=Review of Constitutional Studies |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=2017 |page=52 |publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies |location=Edmonton |access-date=4 June 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131152/https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |url-status=live}} The intent expressed whenever the matter of regency came up among Commonwealth realm heads of government was that the relevant parliament (other than the United Kingdom's) would pass a bill if the need for a regency arose and the pertinent governor-general would already be empowered to grant royal assent to it.{{Harvnb|Twomey|2017|p=51}} The governor general appointing their successor is not a power that has been utilized to date.

{{See also|List of state and official visits by Canada}}

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The following state and official visits to foreign countries have been made by the monarch as the sovereign of Canada (sometimes representing other realms on the same visit):

{{Further|Monarchy in the Canadian provinces}}

File:Canada's Governor General, Lieutenant Governors, Territorial Commissioners and their Private Secretaries, 2016.jpg

The origins of Canadian sovereignty lie in the early 17th century, during which time the monarch in England fought with parliament there over who had ultimate authority, culminating in the Glorious Revolution in 1688 and the subsequent Bill of Rights, 1689, which, as mentioned elsewhere in this article, is today part of Canadian constitutional law. This brought to Canada the British notion of the supremacy of parliament—of which the monarch is a part—and it was carried into each of the provinces upon the implementation of responsible government. That, however, was superseded when the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (within the Constitution Act, 1982) introduced into Canada the American idea of the supremacy of the law.{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereignty |last=McWhinney |first=Edward Watson |title=Sovereignty |date=8 October 2019 |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529215957/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereignty |url-status=live}} Still, the King remains the sovereign of Canada.{{#tag:ref|Upon acceding to the throne on 8 September 2022, King Charles III stated, "I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty, which have now passed to me. In taking up these responsibilities, I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set in upholding constitutional government and to seek the peace, harmony, and prosperity of [...] the Commonwealth realms and territories throughout the world."{{Citation |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/crown-canada/monarch.html |author=Government of Canada |title=Culture, history, and sport > Canadian identity and society > Monarchy and the Crown > The Crown in Canada |date=11 August 2017 |publisher=King's Printer for Canada |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=24 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324212245/https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/crown-canada/monarch.html |url-status=live}}|group=n|name=Sovereignty}}{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=62}}

Canada's monarchy was established at Confederation, when its executive government and authority were declared, in section 9 of the Constitution Act, 1867, to continue and be vested in the monarch. Placing such power, along with legislative power, with the tangible, living Queen, rather than the abstract and inanimate Crown, was a deliberate choice by the framers of the constitution.{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|pp=58–59}} Still, the Crown is the foundation of the country{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=16}}{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5EHDAAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+the+%22queen%27s+personal+canadian+flag%22&pg=PR2| editor-last1=Jackson| editor-first1=D. Michael| editor-last2=Lagassé| editor-first2=Philippe |last=Johnston |first=David |title=Canada and the Crown: Essays on Constitutional Monarchy |chapter=Foreword |page=xi |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-5533-9204-0 |access-date=17 April 2023}} as "the very centre of [Canada's] constitution and democracy." Although Canada is a federation, the Canadian monarchy is unitary throughout all jurisdictions in the country,{{Harvnb|Roberts|2009|p=13}} the sovereignty of the different administrations being passed on through the overreaching Crown itself as a part of the executive, legislative, and judicial operations in each of the federal and provincial spheres{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=60}} and the headship of state being a part of all equally. The Crown thus links the various governments into a federal state, while it is simultaneously also "divided" into 11 legal jurisdictions, or 11 "crowns"—one federal and 10 provincial{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=D. Michael |title=Golden Jubilee and Provincial Crown |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=6 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2003 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmnews/CMN_winter_spring_2003_Update-3.pdf |access-date=21 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026215833/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmnews/CMN_winter_spring_2003_Update-3.pdf |archive-date=26 October 2007}}—with the monarch taking on a distinct legal persona in each.{{#tag:ref|For example, if a lawsuit is filed against the federal government, the respondent is formally described as His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, or simply {{Lang|la|Rex}}. Likewise, in a case in which a party sues both the province of Saskatchewan and the federal government, the respondents would be formally called His Majesty the King in Right of Saskatchewan and His Majesty the King in Right of Canada.{{Cite court |litigants=Chief Myles Venne and all of the Councllors of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Saskatchewan |vol=Q.B. No. 2655 of 1987 |court=Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan |date=14 July 1987 |url=https://www.usask.ca/nativelaw/factums/view.php?id=115 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509024133/http://www.usask.ca/nativelaw/factums/view.php?id=115 |url-status=dead}}|group=n|name=Pers2}}{{#tag:ref|Illustrative of this arrangement is property transfers; of this, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources states: "When public land is required by the federal government or one of its departments, or any provincial ministry, the land itself is not transferred. What is transferred is the responsibility to manage the lands on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen (HMQ). This is accomplished by an order-in-council or a minister's order, which transfers management of land either from HMQ in right of Ontario to HMQ in right of Canada as represented by a department or to HMQ in right of Ontario as represented by another ministry. The Crown does not transfer ownership to itself."{{Cite report |last=Ministry of Natural Resources |title=Disposition of Public Land to Other Governments and Agencies |location=Toronto |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario |date=24 January 2006 |page=2 |series=3.2.B |url=http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr_e000096.pdf |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=14 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114164538/http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr_e000096.pdf |url-status=dead}}|group=n|name=OMNR}} As such, the constitution instructs that any change to the position of the monarch or his or her representatives in Canada requires the consent of the Senate, the House of Commons, and the legislative assemblies of all the provinces.{{Citation |author=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |publication-date=17 April 1982 |title=The Constitution Act, 1982 |series=V.41.a |location=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/const/const1982.html#sec52 |access-date=16 May 2009 |date=1982 |archive-date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222233202/http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/const/const1982.html#sec52 |url-status=live}} The Crown, being shared and balanced, provides the bedrock upon which all of Canada's different regions and peoples can live together peacefully{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=17}} and was said by David E. Smith, in 2017, to be the "keystone of the constitutional architecture" of Canada.{{Citation |last=Smith |first=David E. |title=The Constitution in a Hall of Mirrors: Canada at 150 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |date=2017 |page=iii |isbn=978-1-4875-0247-8}}

File:DSC01923 - Royal Window (29867749537).jpg of Rideau Hall, commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's Ruby Jubilee. At centre is the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada surrounded by the shields of each of the sovereign's 10 provincial and then-two territorial coats of arms.]]

The Crown is located beyond politics, existing to give authority to and protect the constitution and system of governance. Power, therefore, rests with an institution that "functions to safeguard it on behalf of all its citizens", rather than any singular individual.{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=16}} The sovereign and his representatives typically "act by 'not acting'"{{#tag:ref|Robert E. Hawkins called this "inefficient efficiency", which can "be placed alongside the other oxymorons that convention embeds in our constitution, oxymorons like loyal opposition, liberal democracy, and constitutional monarchy itself."|group=n|name=REH}}—holding power, but, not exercising it—both because they are unelected figures and to maintain their neutrality, "deliberately, insistently, and resolutely",{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5EHDAAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+the+%22queen%27s+personal+canadian+flag%22&pg=PR2| editor-last1=Jackson| editor-first1=D. Michael| editor-last2=Lagassé| editor-first2=Philippe |last=Hawkins |first=Robert E. |title=Canada and the Crown: Essays on Constitutional Monarchy |chapter="Inefficient efficiency": The Use of Vice-Regal Reserve Powers |page=103 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-5533-9204-0 |access-date=18 April 2023}} in case they have to be an impartial arbiter in a constitutional crisis and ensure that normal democratic discourse can resume.{{Refn|{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5EHDAAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+the+%22queen%27s+personal+canadian+flag%22&pg=PR2| editor-last1=Jackson| editor-first1=D. Michael| editor-last2=Lagassé| editor-first2=Philippe |last=McCreery |first=Christopher |title=Canada and the Crown: Essays on Constitutional Monarchy |chapter=Confidante and Chief of Staff: The Governor General's Secretary |page=201 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-5533-9204-0 |access-date=18 April 2023}}{{Harvnb|Hawkins|2013|p=104}}{{Harvnb|Jackson|Lagassé|2013|p=7}}}} Consequently, the Crown performs two functions:{{Harvnb|Jackson|Smith|2012|pp=11–30}} as a unifying symbol and a protector of democratic rights and freedoms, "tightly woven into the fabric of the Canadian constitution."

At the same time, a number of freedoms granted by the constitution to all other Canadians are denied to, or limited for, the monarch and the other senior members of the royal family: freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom to travel, freedom to choose a career, freedom to marry, and freedom of privacy and family life.{{Harvnb|Hazell|Morris|2017|p=30}}

While the Crown is empowered by statute and the royal prerogative, it also enjoys inherent powers not granted by either.{{Citation |url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf| editor-last1=Lagassé| editor-first1=Philippe| editor-last2=MacDonald| editor-first2=Nicholas A. |title=The Crown in the 21st Century| last1=Daly| first1=Paul |series=Royal Treatment: The Crown's Special Status in Administrative Law |page=87 |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=2017 |publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies |location=Edmonton |access-date=5 June 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131152/https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |url-status=live}} The Court of Appeal of British Columbia ruled in 1997 that "the Crown has the capacities and powers of a natural person"{{Cite court |litigants=Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assn of Canada v British Columbia (Attorney General) |vol=4 |reporter=Dominion Law Reports |opinion=613 |pinpoint=149 |court=Court of Appeal of British Columbia |date=1997}} and its actions as a natural person are, as with the actions of any natural person, subject to judicial review.{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=85}} Further, it was determined in R. v Secretary of State for Health the ex parte C that, "as a matter of capacity, no doubt, [the Crown] has power to do whatever a private person can do. But, as an organ of government, it can only exercise those powers for the public benefit, and for identifiably 'governmental' purposes within limits set by the law."{{Cite court |litigants=Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government |reporter=Civilian |opinion=148 |pinpoint=Paragraphs 47-48, Note 36 |court=Court of Appeal (England and Wales) |date=2008}} Similarly, use of the royal prerogative is justiciable,{{Harvnb|Daly|2017|p=93}} though, only when the "subject matter affects the rights or legitimate expectations of an individual".{{Cite court |litigants=Black v Canada (Prime Minister) |vol=54 |reporter= |opinion=215 |pinpoint=3d |court=Ontario Court of Appeal |date=2001}}

The governor general is appointed by the monarch on the advice of his federal prime minister and the lieutenant governors are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the federal prime minister. The commissioners of Canada's territories are appointed by the federal governor-in-council, at the recommendation of the minister of Crown–Indigenous relations, but, as the territories are not sovereign entities, the commissioners are not personal representatives of the sovereign. The Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments, which may seek input from the relevant premier and provincial or territorial community, proposes candidates for appointment as governor general, lieutenant governor, and commissioner.{{Citation |url=http://home.mytelus.com/telusen/portal/NewsChannel.aspx?ArticleID=news%2Fcapfeed%2Fnational%2F20654467.xml&CatID=National |last=Cheadle |first=Bruce |title=Harper creates new panel to ensure 'non-partisan' vice regal appointments |date=4 November 2012 |publisher=The Canadian Press |access-date=4 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207122847/http://home.mytelus.com/telusen/portal/NewsChannel.aspx?ArticleID=news%2Fcapfeed%2Fnational%2F20654467.xml&CatID=National |archive-date=7 February 2013}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&featureId=6&pageId=26&id=5139 |last=Office of the Prime Minister of Canada |title=PM announces new Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments |date=4 November 2012 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=4 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106084858/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&featureId=6&pageId=26&id=5139 |archive-date=6 November 2012}}

It has been held since 1918 that the federal Crown is immune from provincial law.{{Cite CanLII |litigants=Gauthier v The King |court=Supreme Court of Canada |num=85 |format=canlii |pinpoint=p 194 |parallelcite=[1918] 56 SCR 176 |date=5 March 1918 |courtname=auto}} Constitutional convention has also held that the Crown in right of each province is outside the jurisdiction of the courts in other provinces. This view, however, has been questioned.{{Cite journal |last=Walker |first=Janet |title=Interprovincial Sovereign Immunity Revisited |url=http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1608&context=ohlj |journal=Osgoode Hall Law Journal |date=1997 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=379–397 |doi=10.60082/2817-5069.1608| s2cid=141661165 |doi-access=free |archive-date=30 January 2023 |access-date=1 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130022614/https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1608&context=ohlj |url-status=live}}

Lieutenant governors do not enjoy the same immunity as the sovereign in matters not relating to the powers of the viceregal office, as decided in the case of former Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Lise Thibault, who had been accused of misappropriating public funds.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lise-thibault-ex-quebec-lieutenant-governor-testifies-at-her-fraud-trial-1.2720523 |title=Lise Thibault, ex-Quebec lieutenant-governor, testifies at her fraud trial |date=2014 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=1 February 2023 |archive-date=17 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917174228/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lise-thibault-ex-quebec-lieutenant-governor-testifies-at-her-fraud-trial-1.2720523 |url-status=live}}

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As the living embodiment of the Crown,{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=63}} the sovereign is regarded as the personification of the Canadian state{{#tag:ref|The sovereign has been described by Eugene Forsey as the "symbolic embodiment of the people—not a particular group or interest or party, but the people, the whole people"; his daughter, Helen Forsey, said of his opinion on the Crown, "for him, the essence of the monarchy was its impartial representation of the common interests of the citizenry as a whole, as opposed to those of any particular government." The Department of Canadian Heritage said the Crown serves as the "personal symbol of allegiance, unity and authority for all Canadians,"{{Cite book |url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/pc-ch/CH4-130-2010-eng.pdf |title=Symbols of Canada |publisher=Queen Printer for Canada |author=Department of Canadian Heritage |date=2010 |location=Ottawa |page=3 |isbn=978-1-1001-4692-8 |archive-date=21 October 2020 |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021093649/http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/pc-ch/CH4-130-2010-eng.pdf |url-status=live}} a concept akin to that expressed by King Louis XIV: "{{Lang|fr|l'État, c'est moi}}", or, "I am the state".{{Citation |first=Shea |last=Derwyn |author-link=Derwyn Shea |contribution=Bill 22, Legislative Assembly Oath of Allegiance Act, 1995 > 1720 |contribution-url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do;jsessionid=c72d607830d68e75be455a5244a3950ae2235bd3f36e.e3eQbNaNa3eRe34KaN4RaNeRb310n6jAmljGr5XDqQLvpAe?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995&DocumentID=19205 |title=Committee Transcripts: Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly |date=10 April 1996 |place=Toronto |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995 |access-date=16 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611135306/https://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22,+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act,+1995 |archive-date=11 June 2011 |url-status=dead}} Robertson Davies stated in 1994, "the Crown is the consecrated spirit of Canada",{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Robertson |author-link=Robertson Davies |title=Hunting Stuart and The Voice of the People |publisher=Simon & Pierre |date=8 August 1996 |location=Toronto |isbn=978-0-8892-4259-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/huntingstuartvoi0000davi}} and past Ontario chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada Gary Toffoli opined, "the Queen is the legal embodiment of the state at both the national and the provincial levels [...] She is our sovereign and it is the role of the Queen, recognized by the constitutional law of Canada, to embody the state."{{Citation |first=Gary |last=Toffoli |contribution=Bill 22, Legislative Assembly Oath of Allegiance Act, 1995 > 1620 |contribution-url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do;jsessionid=c72d607930d600b4e9b4ead54d5496d1d6b94ab16cbc.e3eRb3iNcheNe34OaN4La3yRa3j0n6jAmljGr5XDqQLvpAe?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995#P58_1620 |title=Committee Transcripts: Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly |date=10 April 1996 |place=Toronto |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995 |access-date=16 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611135306/https://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=1996-04-10&ParlCommID=45&BillID=&Business=Bill+22,+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act,+1995 |archive-date=11 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}

|group=n|name=Pers1}}{{Refn|{{Harvnb|Bell|Bousfield|Toffoli|2007|p=125}}{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereign |last=Harris |first=Carolyn |title=Sovereign |date=12 January 2023 |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=27 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427163745/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereign |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |website=House of Commons of Canada |title=Role of the Crown and the Governor General |date=March 2008 |page=1 |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/compendium/web-content/pdf-e/parliamentaryframework-e/c_d_rolecrowngovernorgeneral-e.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20121016145855/http://www.parl.gc.ca/compendium/web-content/pdf-e/parliamentaryframework-e/c_d_rolecrowngovernorgeneral-e.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2012 |access-date=14 October 2009}}{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=51}}{{Harvnb|Marleau|Montpetit|2000|loc=The Crown}}{{Citation |last=Citizenship and Immigration Canada |author-link=Citizenship and Immigration Canada |title=Discover Canada |place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |date=2009 |page=2 |url=http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf |isbn=978-1-1001-2739-2 |access-date=3 December 2009 |archive-date=22 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122160954/http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf |url-status=live}}{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=17}}{{Cite conference |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&BillID=&ParlCommID=45&Date=1996-04-10&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995&DocumentID=19205 |title=Committee Transcripts |publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario |access-date=28 November 2015 |author=Legislative Assembly of Ontario |book-title=Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly - 1996-Apr-10 - Bill 22, Legislative Assembly Oath of Allegiance Act, 1995 |date=1996 |location=Toronto |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208153822/http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&BillID=&ParlCommID=45&Date=1996-04-10&Business=Bill+22%2C+Legislative+Assembly+Oath+of+Allegiance+Act%2C+1995&DocumentID=19205 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=dead}}{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|pp=79, 143}}}} and is meant to represent all Canadians, regardless of political affiliation.{{Citation |url=https://www.westernstandard.news/opinion/chartrand-even-if-no-longer-defender-of-the-faith-the-crown-still-defends-canadian-values/article_d29e0ad4-e440-11ed-9e71-0b02d8fda693.html |last=Chartrand |first=Philippe |title=Even if no longer defender of the faith, the Crown still defends Canadian values |date=26 April 2023 |newspaper=Western Standard |publisher=New Media Corporation |access-date=30 April 2023}} As such, he, along with his or her viceregal representatives, must "remain strictly neutral in political terms".

The person of the reigning sovereign thus holds two distinct personas in constant coexistence, an ancient theory of the "King's two bodies"—the body natural (subject to infirmity and death) and the body politic (which never dies).{{Citation |url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |title=The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy: European Monarchies Compared| editor-last1=Hazell| editor-first1=Robert| editor-last2=Morris| editor-first2=Bob |chapter=Royal Succession, Abdication, and Regency in the Realms |last=Twomey |first=Anne |date=17 September 2020 |page=34 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-5099-3103-3 |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131152/https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |url-status=live}} The Crown and the monarch are "conceptually divisible but legally indivisible [...] The office cannot exist without the office-holder",{{#tag:ref|As Peter Boyce put it: "The Crown as a concept cannot be disentangled from the person of the monarch; but, standard reference to the Crown extends well beyond the Queen's person."{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=5}}|group=n|name=Boyce}} so, even in private, the monarch is always "on duty". The terms the state, the Crown,{{Cite web |url=http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-11/FullText.html |author=Elizabeth II |title=Financial Administration Act |date=9 October 2012 |at=83.1 |website=Justice Laws |access-date=6 December 2012 |archive-date=2 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802061843/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-11/FullText.html |url-status=live}} the Crown in Right of Canada, His Majesty the King in Right of Canada ({{Langx|fr|Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada}}),{{Cite web |author=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |title=Memorandum for Understanding of Cooperation on Addressing Climate Change |date=21 May 2004 |page=1 |url=http://arizonaenergy.org/images/ontario_mou_e.pdf |access-date=16 May 2009 |website=Arizona Energy |archive-date=20 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120042909/http://arizonaenergy.org/images/ontario_mou_e.pdf |url-status=live}} and similar are all synonymous and the monarch's legal personality is sometimes referred to simply as Canada.{{Cite web |author=Assembly of First Nations |author-link=Assembly of First Nations| author2=Elizabeth II| author2-link=Elizabeth II |title=A First Nations – Federal Crown Political Accord |date=2004 |page=3 |website=Assembly of First Nations |url=http://www.afn.ca/cmslib/general/PolAcc.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502153215/http://www.afn.ca/cmslib/general/PolAcc.pdf |archive-date=2 May 2009 |access-date=29 September 2009}}

File:1TS 0197 (16440153338).jpg Elizabeth Dowdeswell, illustrating the sovereign as the focus of the Oath of Citizenship]]

The monarch is at the apex of the Canadian order of precedence and, as the embodiment of the state, is also the focus of oaths of allegiance,{{#tag:ref|It is stated in the Rules & Forms of the House of Commons of Canada that, "allegiance to the King means allegiance to the country."{{Cite book |last=Beauchesne |first=Arthur |title=Rules & Forms of the House of Commons of Canada |publisher=The Carswell Company Limited |date=1958 |location=Toronto |page=14 |edition=4 |isbn=0-4593-2210-9}}|group=n|name=Oath}}{{Refn|{{Harvnb|Citizenship and Immigration Canada|2009|page=29}}{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=30}}}} required of many of the aforementioned employees of the Crown, as well as by new citizens, as by the Oath of Citizenship. Allegiance is given in reciprocation to the sovereign's Coronation Oath,{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=78}} wherein he or she promises to govern the people of Canada "according to their respective laws and customs".{{Cite web |url=http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/coronation/cor1953b.html |title=The Form and Order of Service that is to be performed and the Ceremonies that are to be observed in the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, on Tuesday, the second day of June 1953 |publisher=Anglican Liturgical Library |access-date=16 May 2009 |archive-date=7 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007112304/http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/coronation/cor1953b.html |url-status=live}}

Although it has been argued that the term head of state is a republican one inapplicable in a constitutional monarchy such as Canada, where the monarch is the embodiment of the state and thus cannot be head of it, the sovereign is regarded by official government sources,{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Canada.aspx |author=The Royal Household |title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer |access-date=14 May 2009 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821082408/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Canada.aspx |url-status=live}}{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=51}}{{Harvnb|Aird|1985|p=2}}}} judges,{{Cite court |litigants=Roach v. Canada (Attorney General) |vol=05-CV-301832 CP |court=Ontario Superior Court |date=23 January 2009 |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2009/2009canlii7178/2009canlii7178.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320123916/https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2009/2009canlii7178/2009canlii7178.pdf |url-status=live}} constitutional scholars,{{Harvnb|Forsey|2005|p=34}} and pollsters as the head of state,{{Cite press release |title=In the Wake of Constitutional Crisis: New Survey Demonstrates that Canadians Lack Basic Understanding of Our Country's Parliamentary System |place=Toronto |publisher=Ipsos Reid |date=15 December 2008 |page=1 |url=http://www.dominion.ca/DominionInstituteDecember15Factum.pdf |access-date=18 May 2010 |via=Dominion Institute |archive-date=12 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612183428/http://www.dominion.ca/DominionInstituteDecember15Factum.pdf |url-status=dead}} while the governor general and lieutenant governors are all only representatives of, and thus equally subordinate to, that figure.{{Cite news |last=Boswell |first=Randy |title=Governor General calling herself 'head of state' riles monarchists |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=7 October 2009 |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/Governor+General+calling+herself+head+state+riles+monarchists/2077884/story.html |access-date=7 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010185406/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Governor%2BGeneral%2Bcalling%2Bherself%2Bhead%2Bstate%2Briles%2Bmonarchists/2077884/story.html |archive-date=10 October 2009}} Some governors general, their staff, government publications, and constitutional scholars like Ted McWhinney and C.E.S. Franks have,{{Harvnb|McWhinney|2005|p=8}}{{Citation |last=Franks |first=C.E.S. |title=Keep the Queen and choose another head of state |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=9 April 2010 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/keep-the-queen-and-choose-another-head-of-state/article1529705/singlepage |access-date=23 January 2011 |location=Toronto |archive-date=13 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213224654/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/keep-the-queen-and-choose-another-head-of-state/article1529705/singlepage |url-status=dead}} however, referred to the position of governor general as that of Canada's head of state;{{Cite book |last=Jean |first=Michaëlle |author-link=Michaëlle Jean |date=5 October 2009 |contribution=Speech at UNESCO |contribution-url=http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5890 |editor-last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |editor-link=Governor General of Canada |title=Media > Speeches |place=Paris |publication-place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=7 October 2009}}{{Dead link|date=February 2021|bot=medic}}{{Cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2005-06/fs-2006-03_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090224205433/http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2005-06/fs-2006-03_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 February 2009 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |author-link=Governor General of Canada |title=The Office > Annual Reports > Report on Performance |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=7 October 2009}} though, sometimes qualifying the assertion with {{Lang|la|de facto}} or effective;{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2003-04/index_e.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060220042411/http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2003-04/index_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 February 2006 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |author-link=Governor General of Canada |title=The Office > Annual Reports > 2003–2004 > Annual Report 2003–2004 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=7 October 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/gg/rr/index_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071211191052/http://www.gg.ca/gg/rr/index_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 December 2007 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Governor General > Role and Responsibilities |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=15 May 2009}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=12247 |publisher=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Media > News Releases and Messages > For the First Time, a Head of State is Officially Welcomed at the Governor General's Residence at the Citadelle: One of the Highlights of the Governor General's Program During Her Stay in Quebec City from September 18 to 24, 2006 |date=18 September 2006 |agency=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220052548/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=12247 |url-status=live}}}} Franks has hence recommended that the governor general be named officially as the head of state. Still others view the role of head of state as being shared by both the sovereign and his viceroys.{{Refn|{{Cite journal |last=Heard |first=Andrew |title=The Governor General's Decision to Prorogue Parliament: Parliamentary Democracy Defended or Endangered |journal=Points of View |volume=Discussion Paper No. 7 |page=12 |publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies |location=Edmonton |date=January 2009 |url=http://www.law.ualberta.ca/centres/ccs/uploads/PointsofView7.pdf |isbn=978-0-9811-7510-2 |access-date=10 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128090048/http://www.law.ualberta.ca/centres/ccs/uploads/PointsofView7.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite magazine |last=Geddes |first=John |title=How the term "head of state" is actually used in Canada |magazine=Maclean's |publisher=Roger's Communications |location=Toronto |date=9 October 2009 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/how-the-term-head-of-state-is-actually-used-in-canada |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=10 October 2009 |archive-date=15 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015094041/http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/how-the-term-head-of-state-is-actually-used-in-canada |url-status=live}}{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=29}}}} Since 1927, governors general have been received on state visits abroad as though they were heads of state.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/gg/sv/index_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081204063625/http://www.gg.ca/gg/sv/index_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 December 2008 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |author-link=Governor General of Canada |title=Governor General > State Visits |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=7 October 2009}}

File:The Governor General of Canada, Mr. David Johnston inspecting the Guard of Honour, at the Ceremonial Reception, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on February 24, 2014.jpg reviews the guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan during a state visit to India, 24 February 2014]]

Officials at Rideau Hall have attempted to use the Letters Patent, 1947, as justification for describing the governor general as head of state. However, the document makes no such distinction,{{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Dan |title=A very Canadian coup |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=9 October 2009 |url=http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/10/09/a-very-canadian-coup.aspx |access-date=10 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119020358/http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/10/09/a-very-canadian-coup.aspx |archive-date=19 January 2013}} nor does it effect an abdication of the sovereign's powers in favour of the viceroy, as it only allows the governor general to "act on the Queen's behalf".{{Cite web |url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396015117980 |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=The Crown |publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada |date=24 September 2014 |access-date=8 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101230729/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396015117980 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396356285001 |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Governor General Ceremonies |publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada |date=2 October 2014 |access-date=8 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102063140/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396356285001 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |url-status=dead}} D. Michael Jackson, former Chief of Protocol of Saskatchewan, argued that Rideau Hall had been attempting to "recast" the governor general as head of state since the 1970s and doing so preempted both the Queen and all of the lieutenant governors. This caused not only "precedence wars" at provincial events (where the governor general usurped the lieutenant governor's proper spot as most senior official in attendance){{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=D. Michael |date=2002 |contribution=Political Paradox: The Lieutenant Governor in Saskatchewan |editor-last=Leeson |editor-first=Howard A |title=Saskatchewan Politics Into the 21st Century |location=Regina |publisher=Canadian Plains Research Center}}{{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Dan |title=A stealth campaign against the Queen |newspaper=Calgary Herald |date=17 February 2009 |url=https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/blogs/stealth+campaign+against+Queen/1297679/story.html |access-date=26 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617115509/http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/blogs/stealth%2Bcampaign%2Bagainst%2BQueen/1297679/story.html |archive-date=17 June 2009}} and Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to accord herself precedence before the Queen at a national occasion,{{Cite journal |last=Fidelis |title=Canadian Confusion on Juno Beach |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2004 |issue=22 |page=2 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2004 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2004/8/135.pdf |access-date=16 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114134201/http://www.monarchist.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2004/8/135.pdf |archive-date=14 November 2013}} but also constitutional issues by "unbalancing [...] the federalist symmetry".{{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Dan |title=Governor General to Dan Gardner: you're right |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=13 February 2009 |url=http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/02/14/governor-general-to-dan-gardner-you-re-right.aspx |access-date=26 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707180847/http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/02/14/governor-general-to-dan-gardner-you-re-right.aspx |archive-date=7 July 2012}} This has been regarded as both a natural evolution and as a dishonest effort to alter the constitution without public scrutiny.{{Cite magazine |last=Geddes |first=John |title=If you do all the head-of-state stuff, aren't you the head of state? |magazine=Maclean's |publisher=Roger's Communications |location=Toronto |date=9 October 2009 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/if-you-do-all-the-head-of-state-stuff-arent-you-the-head-of-state |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=10 October 2009 |archive-date=13 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013055347/http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/if-you-do-all-the-head-of-state-stuff-arent-you-the-head-of-state |url-status=live}}

In a poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid following the first prorogation of the 40th parliament on 4 December 2008, it was found that 42 per cent of the sample group thought the prime minister was head of state, while 33 per cent felt it was the governor general. Only 24 per cent named the Queen as head of state, a number up from 2002, when the results of an EKOS Research Associates survey showed only 5 per cent of those polled knew the Queen was head of state (69 per cent answered that it was the prime minister).{{Cite book |author=EKOS Research Associates |author-link=EKOS Research Associates |title=Trust and the Monarchy: an examination of the shifting public attitudes toward government and institutions |chapter-url=http://www.ekos.com/admin/articles/31may2001.pdf |access-date=8 February 2009 |date=30 May 2002 |publisher=EKOS Research Associates |location=Montreal |page=47 |chapter=F. Monarchy |ref={{Harvid|EKOS|2002}} |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219001238/http://www.ekos.com/admin/articles/31may2001.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2008}}

===Arms===

{{Main|Arms of Canada|Royal standards of Canada}}

File:Royal Standard of Canada.svg employing the shield of the royal arms in banner form]]

The Arms of His Majesty the King in Right of Canada is the arms of dominion of the Canadian monarch and, thus, equally the official coat of arms of Canada{{Sfn|Tidridge|2011|p=71}}{{Cite web |url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396525887776 |author=Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada |title=Canadian Flags of the Royal Family |date=2 October 2014 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=9 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102234745/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396525887776 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |url-status=dead}} and a symbol of national sovereignty.{{Cite book |last=Swann |first=Conrad |title=Canada Symbols of Sovereignty: An investigation of the arms and seals borne from the earliest times to the present in connection with public authority in and over Canada. along with consideration of some connected flags |chapter=Chapter I, Arms of dominion and sovereignty and public authority |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press}} It is closely modelled after the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, with French and distinctive Canadian elements replacing or added to those derived from the British version, which was employed in Canada before the granting of the Canadian arms in 1921.{{Cite journal |title=Use of Non-Traditional Evidence: A case study using heraldry to examine competing theories for Canada's Confederation |first=Bruce M. |last=Hicks |journal=British Journal of Canadian Studies |date=2010 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=87–117 |doi=10.3828/bjcs.2010.5 |issn=0269-9222}}

The royal standard is the monarch's official flag, which depicts the royal arms in banner form.{{Citation |url=http://archive.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project-pic.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=518&ProjectElementID=1811 |author=Office of the Governor General of Canada: Canadian Heraldic Authority |title=Public Register of Arms, Flags, and Badges > Registration of the Flag of Her Majesty the Queen for personal use in Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=22 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921080127/http://reg.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project-pic.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=518&ProjectElementID=1811 |archive-date=21 September 2013}} It takes precedence above all other flags in Canada—including the national flag and those of the other members of the royal family—and is typically flown from buildings, vessels, and vehicles in which the sovereign is present (although exceptions have been made for its use when the monarch is not in attendance). The royal standard is never flown at half-mast because there is always a sovereign: when one dies, his or her successor becomes the sovereign instantly. Elements of the royal arms have also been incorporated into the governor general's flag; similarly, the flags of the lieutenant governors employ the shields of the relevant provincial coat of arms.

Canada's constitution is based on the Westminster parliamentary model, wherein the role of the King is both legal and practical, but not political. The sovereign is vested with all the powers of state, collectively known as the royal prerogative,{{Cite book |author=Privy Council Office |author-link=Privy Council Office (Canada) |title=Accountable Government: A Guide for Ministers and Ministers of State—2008 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |date=2008 |location=Ottawa |page=45 |url=http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?lang=eng&page=information&sub=publications&doc=ag-gr/2008/ag-gr-eng.htm |isbn=978-1-1001-1096-7 |access-date=17 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318110030/http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?lang=eng&page=information&sub=publications&doc=ag-gr%2F2008%2Fag-gr-eng.htm |archive-date=18 March 2010}} leading the populace to be considered subjects of the Crown.{{Cite web |first=Peter |last=Prince |title=We are Australian: The Constitution and Deportation of Australian-born Children |website=Parliament of Australia |date=24 November 2003 |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/2003-04/04rp03.htm#weare |id=Research Paper no. 3 200304 |access-date=16 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090702140930/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/2003-04/04RP03.htm#weare |archive-date=2 July 2009}} However, as the sovereign's power stems from the people{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=2}} and the monarch is a constitutional one, he or she does not rule alone, as in an absolute monarchy. Instead, the Crown is regarded as a corporation sole, with the monarch being the centre of a construct in which the power of the whole is shared by multiple institutions of government—the executive, legislative, and judicial—acting under the sovereign's authority,{{Cite journal |last=Cox |first=Noel |title=Black v Chrétien: Suing a Minister of the Crown for Abuse of Power, Misfeasance in Public Office and Negligence |journal=Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law |volume=9 |issue=3 |page=12 |publisher=Murdoch University |location=Perth |date=September 2002 |url=http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v9n3/cox93.html |access-date=17 May 2009 |archive-date=26 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626163652/http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v9n3/cox93.html |url-status=live}} which is entrusted for exercise by the politicians (the elected and appointed parliamentarians and the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from among them) and the judges and justices of the peace. The monarchy has thus been described as the underlying principle of Canada's institutional unity and the monarch as a "guardian of constitutional freedoms" whose "job is to ensure that the political process remains intact and is allowed to function."

File:Great Seal of Canada.png

The Great Seal of Canada "signifies the power and authority of the Crown flowing from the sovereign to [the] parliamentary government"{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=317 |author=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=The Great Seal of Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=14 December 2015 |archive-date=20 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620180024/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=317 |url-status=live}} and is applied to state documents such as royal proclamations and letters patent commissioning Cabinet ministers, senators, judges, and other senior government officials.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1363632655992/1363632732678 |author=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=he Great Seal of Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=14 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102063140/http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1363632655992/1363632732678 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |url-status=dead}} The "lending" of royal authority to Cabinet is illustrated by the great seal being entrusted by the governor general, the official keeper of the seal, to the minister of innovation, science, and economic development, who is ex officio the registrar general of Canada. Upon a change of government, the seal is temporarily returned to the governor general and then "lent" to the next incoming registrar general.

The Crown is the pinnacle of the Canadian Armed Forces, with the constitution placing the monarch in the position of commander-in-chief of the entire force, though the governor general carries out the duties attached to the position and also bears the title of Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/gg/rr/cc/hist_e.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20061009193225/http://www.gg.ca/gg/rr/cc/hist_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 October 2006 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Governor General > Role and Responsibilities > Commander-in-Chief of Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=20 May 2009}}

File:Queen Elizabeth and members of the federal government of Canada in Ottawa 1957-10-14.jpg before the reigning sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, in the State Dining Room of Rideau Hall, 14 October 1957]]

File:Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her Canadian Ministers at Rideau Hall 1 July 1967.jpg in the ballroom of Rideau Hall, on Dominion Day, 1 July 1967, the centennial of Confederation]]

The government of Canada—formally termed His Majesty's Government{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=18}}—is defined by the constitution as the King acting on the advice of his Privy Council;{{Refn|{{Harvnb|Victoria|1867|loc=III.9 & 11}}{{Harvnb|Marleau|Montpetit|2000|loc=The Executive}}}} what is technically known as the King-in-Council, or sometimes the Governor-in-Council, referring to the governor general as the King's stand-in, though, a few tasks must be specifically performed by, or bills that require assent from, the King.{{Refn|{{Cite web |last=Michener |first=Roland |author-link=Roland Michener |date=19 November 1970 |title=Dinner in Honour of His Excellency, the Right Honourable Roland Michener C.C., C.D., Governor General of Canada |url=https://speeches.empireclub.org/60367/data?n=1 |website=Empire Club of Canada |access-date=18 May 2009 |archive-date=5 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705170039/http://speeches.empireclub.org/60367/data?n=1 |url-status=dead}}{{Harvnb|Victoria|1867|loc=IV.26}}}} One of the main duties of the Crown is to "ensure that a democratically elected government is always in place," which means appointing a prime minister to thereafter head the Cabinet{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/media/fs-fd/P1_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080616012920/http://www.gg.ca/media/fs-fd/P1_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2008 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Media > Fact Sheets > The Swearing-In of a New Ministry |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=18 May 2009}}—a committee of the Privy Council charged with advising the Crown on the exercise of the royal prerogative. The monarch is informed by his viceroy of the swearing-in and resignation of prime ministers and other members of the ministry, remains fully briefed through regular communications from his Canadian ministers, and holds audience with them whenever possible. By convention, the content of these communications and meetings remains confidential so as to protect the impartiality of the monarch and his representative.{{Cite news |url=http://www.660news.com/news/national/article.jsp?content=n1205126A |last=Panetta (with Canadian Press) |first=Alexander |title=Off the record: what GG told Harper not for public consumption |date=5 December 2008 |publisher=660 News (Rogers Broadcasting) |access-date=7 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229231043/http://www.660news.com/news/national/article.jsp?content=n1205126A |archive-date=29 December 2008}} The appropriateness and viability of this tradition in an age of social media has been questioned.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/549450 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209020501/http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/549450 |archive-date=9 December 2008 |last=Tyler |first=Tracey |title=Politicians, scholars say Governor General must dispel secrecy |date=6 December 2008 |newspaper=Toronto Star |access-date=7 December 2008}}{{Citation |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1314339--lt-gov-david-onley-explains-prorogation-decision-cohn |last=Cohn |first=Martin Regg |title=Lt.-Gov. David Onley explains prorogation decision |date=13 January 2013 |newspaper=Toronto Star |access-date=15 January 2013 |archive-date=16 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116135847/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1314339--lt-gov-david-onley-explains-prorogation-decision-cohn |url-status=live}}

In the construct of constitutional monarchy and responsible government, the ministerial advice tendered is typically binding,{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Peter |publication-date=1983 |contribution=Bold Statecraft, Questionable Jurisprudence |editor-last=Banting |editor-first=Keith G.| editor2-last=Simeon| editor2-first=Richard |title=And no one cheered: federalism, democracy, and the Constitution Act |page=217 |location=Toronto |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=1983 |isbn=978-0-4589-5950-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sUwOAAAAQAAJ |access-date=12 June 2010}} meaning the monarch reigns but does not rule,{{Citation |url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf| editor-last1=Lagassé| editor-first1=Philippe| editor-last2=MacDonald| editor-first2=Nicholas A. |title=The Crown in the 21st Century| last1=Cyr| first1=Hugo |series=On the Formation of Government |page=117 |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=2017 |publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies |location=Edmonton |access-date=5 June 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131152/https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |url-status=live}} the Cabinet ruling "in trust" for the monarch.{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=8}} This has been the case in Canada since the Treaty of Paris ended the reign of the territory's last absolute monarch, King Louis XV of France. However, the royal prerogative belongs to the Crown and not to any of the ministers{{Refn|{{Harvnb|Neitsch|2008|p=23}}}} and the royal and viceroyal figures may unilaterally use these powers in exceptional constitutional crisis situations (an exercise of the reserve powers),{{#tag:ref|See 'Responsibilities' and Note 1 at Cabinet of Canada.|group=n|name=RP}} thereby allowing the monarch to make sure "the government conducts itself in compliance with the constitution"; he and the viceroys being guarantors of the government's constitutional, as opposed to democratic, legitimacy and must ensure the continuity of such.{{Harvnb|Cyr|2017|p=117}} Use of the royal prerogative in this manner was seen when the Governor General refused his prime minister's advice to dissolve Parliament in 1926 and when, in 2008, the Governor General took some hours to decide whether or not to accept her Prime Minister's advice to prorogue Parliament to avoid a vote of non-confidence.{{Cite web |url=https://iscc-iecc.ca/backgrounder/reserve-powers-of-the-crown |title=Reserve Powers of the Crown |date=4 February 2022 |publisher=Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada |access-date=25 July 2022 |archive-date=19 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719184608/https://iscc-iecc.ca/backgrounder/reserve-powers-of-the-crown |url-status=live}}{{Harvnb|Jackson|Lagassé|2013|p=3}} The prerogative powers have also been used numerous times in the provinces.

The royal prerogative further extends to foreign affairs, including the ratification of treaties, alliances, international agreements, and declarations of war,{{Citation |url=http://www.lawtimesnews.com/20060501549/Headline-News/War-power-and-the-Royal-Prerogative |last=Brode |first=Patrick |title=War power and the Royal Prerogative |date=1 May 2006 |journal=Law Times |access-date=22 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122075404/http://www.lawtimesnews.com/20060501549/Headline-News/War-power-and-the-Royal-Prerogative |archive-date=22 November 2012 |url-status=dead}} the accreditation of Canadian high commissioners and ambassadors and receipt of similar diplomats from foreign states,{{Cite web |url=http://archive.gg.ca/gg/fgg/bios/03/02e_e.asp |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |author-link=Governor General of Canada |title=The Governor General – the evolution of Canada's oldest public institution |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=16 January 2011 |archive-date=13 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613180418/http://archive.gg.ca/gg/fgg/bios/03/02e_e.asp |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |title=Martin Government Removes Queen From Diplomatic Documents |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Spring 2005 |issue=23 |page=2 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2005 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2005/Spring_2005_CMN.pdf |access-date=17 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225427/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2005/Spring_2005_CMN.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008}} and the issuance of Canadian passports,{{Citation |author=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |publication-date=28 June 2006 |title=Canadian Passport Order |series=4.4 |location=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.pptc.gc.ca/publications/pdfs/81-86_administrative_2006_eng.pdf |access-date=19 May 2009 |date=2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326043231/http://www.pptc.gc.ca/publications/pdfs/81-86_administrative_2006_eng.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2009}} which remain the sovereign's property.{{Harvnb|Elizabeth II|2006|loc=3.b, 3.c}} It also includes the creation of dynastic and national honours,{{Citation |url=http://www.lawtimesnews.com/200605011204/headline-news/war-power-and-the-royal-prerogative |last=Brode |first=Patrick |title=War power and the Royal Prerogative |date=1 May 2006 |journal=Law Times |access-date=28 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518013839/http://www.lawtimesnews.com/200605011204/headline-news/war-power-and-the-royal-prerogative |archive-date=18 May 2015 |url-status=dead}} though only the latter are established on official ministerial advice.

File:RoyalVisitSenate.jpg, with Queen Elizabeth, grants royal assent to bills in the Senate chamber, 1939]]

All laws in Canada are the monarch's and the sovereign is one of the three components of the Parliament of Canada{{Harvnb|Victoria|1867|loc=VI.91}}{{Harvnb|Victoria|1867|loc=IV.17}}—formally called the King-in-Parliament—but, the monarch and viceroy do not participate in the legislative process, save for royal consent, typically expressed by a minister of the Crown,{{Citation |url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure/procedure-and-practice-3/ch_16_5-e.html#16-5-5-3 |title=Royal Consent |date=2017 |publisher=Parliament of Canada |access-date=6 June 2023 |archive-date=11 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211220918/https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure/procedure-and-practice-3/ch_16_5-e.html#16-5-5-3 |url-status=live}} and royal assent, which is necessary for a bill to be enacted as law. Either figure or a delegate may perform this task and the constitution allows the viceroy the option of deferring assent to the sovereign.{{Harvnb|Victoria|1867|loc=IV.55}}

The governor general is further responsible for summoning the House of Commons, while either the viceroy or monarch can prorogue and dissolve the legislature, after which the governor general usually calls for a general election. This element of the royal prerogative is unaffected by legislation "fixing" election dates, as An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act specifies that it does not curtail the Crown's powers.{{Citation |url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |title=The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy: European Monarchies Compared| last1=Hazell| first1=Robert| last2=Morris| first2=Bob |chapter=If the Queen Has No Reserve Powers Left, What Is the Modern Monarchy For? |date=17 September 2020 |page=9 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-5099-3103-3 |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131152/https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf |url-status=live}} The new parliamentary session is marked by either the monarch, governor general, or some other representative reading the Speech from the Throne.{{Cite web |url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/compilations/OfficersAndOfficials/ProceduralOfficersAndSeniorOfficials_Senate.aspx |last=Library of Parliament |author-link=Library of Parliament |title=Parliament > Officers and Officials of Parliament > Procedural Officers and Senior Officials > Senate |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=19 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201130735/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/compilations/OfficersAndOfficials/ProceduralOfficersAndSeniorOfficials_Senate.aspx |archive-date=1 December 2008}} Members of Parliament must recite the Oath of Allegiance before they may take their seat. Further, the official opposition is traditionally dubbed as His Majesty's Loyal Opposition,{{Refn|{{Harvnb|Marleau|Montpetit|2000|loc=The Opposition}}{{Cite book |first=Gerald |last=Schmitz |title=The Opposition in a Parliamentary System |date=December 1988 |place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp47-e.htm |access-date=21 May 2009 |isbn=0-6601-3283-4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425171259/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp47-e.htm |archive-date=25 April 2009}}}} illustrating that, while its members are opposed to the incumbent government, they remain loyal to the sovereign (as personification of the state and its authority).{{Citation |last=Ignatieff |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Ignatieff |date=2012 |editor-last=Ibbitson |editor-first=John |editor-link=John Ibbitson |title=Michael Ignatieff's timely warning on the politics of fascism |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |publication-date=30 October 2012 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/michael-ignatieffs-timely-warning-on-the-politics-of-fascism/article4753299 |access-date=30 October 2012 |location=Toronto |archive-date=9 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009144703/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/michael-ignatieffs-timely-warning-on-the-politics-of-fascism/article4753299/ |url-status=live}}

The monarch does not have the prerogative to impose and collect new taxes without the authorization of an act of Parliament. The consent of the Crown must, however, be obtained before either of the houses of Parliament may even debate a bill affecting the sovereign's prerogatives or interests and no act of Parliament binds the King or his rights unless the act states that it does.{{Harvnb|Newman|2017|p=67}}

File:The Nine.jpg courtroom displaying on the focal wall a rendition of the Royal Arms.]]

The sovereign is responsible for rendering justice for all his subjects and is thus traditionally deemed the fount of justice{{Cite hansard |chapter-url=https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/chamber/362/debates/029db_2000-02-17-e#0.2.W54BJ2.MERRJT.A7B6PH.2F |house=Senate |date=17 February 2000| column_start=1500| column_end=1510 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/2/parlbus/chambus/senate/deb-e/029db_2000-02-17-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=36&Ses=2#0.2.W54BJ2.MERRJT.A7B6PH.2F |archive-date=4 September 2007 |title=Archived copy |access-date=21 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904143557/http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/2/parlbus/chambus/senate/deb-e/029db_2000-02-17-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=36&Ses=2#0.2.W54BJ2.MERRJT.A7B6PH.2F}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904143557/http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/2/parlbus/chambus/senate/deb-e/029db_2000-02-17-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=36&Ses=2#0.2.W54BJ2.MERRJT.A7B6PH.2F |date=4 September 2007}} and his position in the Canadian courts formally dubbed the King on the Bench. The Arms of His Majesty in Right of Canada are traditionally displayed in Canadian courtrooms,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oEVXpBEcgaUC&pg=PA219 |first=John |last=Honsberger |title=Osgoode Hall: An Illustrated History |publisher=Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History |date=2004 |pages=219–20 |isbn=978-1-5500-2513-2}} as is a portrait of the sovereign.{{Cite news |url=http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calgary-courtroom-home-to-special-exhibit-1.782769 |title=Calgary courtroom home to special exhibit |publisher=CTV News |date=19 March 2012 |archive-date=12 March 2017 |access-date=10 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312055637/http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calgary-courtroom-home-to-special-exhibit-1.782769 |url-status=live}} The badge of the Supreme Court also bears a St. Edward's Crown to symbolize the source of the court's authority.

The monarch does not personally rule in judicial cases; this function of the royal prerogative is instead performed in trust and in the King's name by officers of His Majesty's court. Common law holds the notion that the sovereign "can do no wrong": the monarch cannot be prosecuted in his own courts—judged by himself—for criminal offences under his own laws.{{Citation |url=https://rdo-olr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/olr_9.1_marasinghe.pdf |last=Marasinghe |first=M. L. |title=A Reassessment of Sovereign Immunity |journal=Ottawa Law Review |page=474 |access-date=31 January 2023 |archive-date=1 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201021514/https://rdo-olr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/olr_9.1_marasinghe.pdf |url-status=live}} Canada inherited the common law version of Crown immunity from British law.{{Citation |url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2022/jus/J2-522-1999-eng.pdf |author=Department of Justice |title=The Liability of Public Authorities |edition=Fourth |page=11 |date=June 1999 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=31 January 2023}} However, over time, the scope of said immunity has been steadily reduced by statute law. With the passage of relevant legislation through the provincial and federal parliaments, the Crown in its public capacity (that is, lawsuits against the King-in-Council), in all areas of Canada, is now liable in tort, as any normal person would be. In international cases, as a sovereign and under established principles of international law, the King of Canada is not subject to suit in foreign courts without his express consent.{{Cite book |last=Wrong |first=Humphrey Hume |author-link=Humphrey Hume Wrong |contribution=Telegram 219 |date=10 November 1952 |title=Relations With the United States |editor-last=Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada |editor-link=Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade |series=Documents on Canadian External Relations |volume=18 – 867 |contribution-url=http://www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefid=4363 |access-date=18 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123085615/http://www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefid=4363|archive-date=23 November 2011}}{{Primary source inline|date=April 2024}}

Within the royal prerogative is also the granting of immunity from prosecution,{{Cite book |author=Public Prosecution Service of Canada |title=The Federal Prosecution Service Deskbook |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |date=October 2005 |location=Ottawa |url=http://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/fps-sfp/fpd/ch35.html#note9 |id=35.4.3 |access-date=30 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521212900/http://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/fps-sfp/fpd/ch35.html |archive-date=21 May 2009}} mercy, and pardoning offences against the Crown.{{Cite news |last=Dimmock |first=Gary |title=The quality of mercy |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=27 February 2008 |url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=e8b51861-a813-4c83-9d55-c2aeb6bb3bf7&k=28950 |access-date=4 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504160514/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=e8b51861-a813-4c83-9d55-c2aeb6bb3bf7&k=28950 |archive-date=4 May 2008}}{{Cite report |first=Molly |last=Dunsmuir |title=Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide |publisher=Parliamentary Information and Research Service |date=22 November 2004 |url=http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/CIR-e/919-e.pdf |access-date=20 May 2009 |archive-date=26 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326043227/http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/CIR-e/919-e.pdf |url-status=live}} Since 1878, the prerogative of pardon has always been exercised upon the recommendation of ministers.{{Cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kDN1WzoaFNEC&pg=PA16 |first=James |last=Mallory |title=The Pattern of the Constitution |journal=Essential Readings in Canadian Constitutional Politics |editor-first=Peter H |editor-last=Russell| editor2-first=Christian| editor2-last=Leuprecht |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=2011 |page=16 |isbn=978-1-4426-0368-4}}

{{Main|Monarchy of Canada and the Indigenous peoples of Canada}}

File:Presentation of Membertou Portrait to Queen Elizabeth II.jpg leaders present a portrait of Grand Chief Henri Membertou to Queen Elizabeth II in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 28 June 2010]]

Included in Canada's constitution are the various treaties between the Crown and Canada's First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, who, like the Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand,{{Citation |last=Cox |first=Noel |title=The Evolution of the New Zealand monarchy: The Recognition of an Autochthonous Polity |publisher=University of Auckland |date=2001 |url=http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/bitstream/2292/107/16/01front.pdf.txt |access-date=29 September 2009 |archive-date=28 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228063318/https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/2292/107/01front.pdf.txt?sequence=16 |url-status=live}} generally view the affiliation as being not between them and the ever-changing Cabinet, but instead with the continuous Crown of Canada, as embodied in the reigning sovereign,{{Citation |last=Mainville |first=Sara |title=Lawsuits, treaty rights and the sacred balance |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=1 June 2007 |url=https://www.thestar.com/comment/article/220171 |access-date=18 May 2008 |archive-date=27 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927022943/http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/220171 |url-status=live}} meaning the link between monarch and Indigenous peoples in Canada will theoretically last for "as long as the sun shines, grass grows, and rivers flow."{{Citation| last1=Assembly of First Nations |author-link=Assembly of First Nations| last2=Elizabeth II| author2-link=Elizabeth II |title=A First Nations – Federal Crown Political Accord |url=http://www.afn.ca/cmslib/general/PolAcc.pdf |series=1 |date=2004 |page=3 |place=Ottawa |publisher=Assembly of First Nations |access-date=29 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816041503/http://www.afn.ca/cmslib/general/PolAcc.pdf |archive-date=16 August 2010}}{{Citation |last=Clarkson |first=Adrienne |author-link=Adrienne Clarkson |date=31 March 2004 |title=Address at the University of Toronto Faculty Association's C.B. Macpherson Lecture |url=http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?DocID=4158&lang=e |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040406003127/http://gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4158 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 April 2004 |editor-last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |editor-link=Governor General of Canada |place=Toronto |publication-place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada}}

The association stretches back to the first decisions between North American Indigenous peoples and European colonialists and, over centuries of interface, treaties were established concerning the monarch and indigenous nations. The only treaties that survived the American Revolution are those in Canada, which date to the beginning of the 18th century. Today, the main guide for relations between the monarchy and Canadian First Nations is King George III's Royal Proclamation of 1763;{{Citation |last=Hall |first=Anthony J. |contribution=Native Peoples > Native Peoples, General > Indian Treaties |title=The Canadian Encyclopedia |editor-last=Marsh |editor-first=James Harley |place=Toronto |publisher=Historica Foundation of Canada |url=http://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-treaties |access-date=30 September 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/shm2_e.html |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080803202443/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca:80/ch/rcap/sg/shm2_e.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 August 2008 |last=Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada |author-link=Indian and Northern Affairs Canada |title=Aboriginal Peoples & Communities > Royal Commission Report on Aboriginal Peoples > Volume 2 – Restructuring the Relationship: Part One: 2.6.1 A Royal Proclamation |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=28 June 2010 |ref=CITEREF_Department_of_Indian_and_Northern_Affairs_Canada_1991}} while not a treaty, it is regarded by First Nations as their Magna Carta or "Indian bill of rights",{{Citation |last=Valpy |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Valpy |title=The monarchy: Offshore, but built-in |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=13 November 2009 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/offshore-but-built-in/article1363088 |access-date=14 November 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no}} as it affirmed native title to their lands and made clear that, though under the sovereignty of the Crown, the aboriginal bands were autonomous political units in a "nation-to-nation" association with non-native governments,{{Cite web |url=http://www.treaty6.ca/default.aspx?page=Treaty%20Principles&ID=6 |title=About Us > Treaty Principals |publisher=Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations |access-date=29 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706205758/http://www.treaty6.ca/default.aspx?page=Treaty%20Principles&ID=6 |archive-date=6 July 2011}}{{Cite web| last1=Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples |title=Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Volume 2 – Restructuring the Relationship |url=http://data2.archives.ca/e/e448/e011188230-02.pdf |website=Library and Archives Canada |publisher=Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada |access-date=20 July 2017 |pages=16–19 |date=October 1996| author1-link=Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples |archive-date=21 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321151216/http://data2.archives.ca/e/e448/e011188230-02.pdf |url-status=live}} with the monarch as the intermediary.{{Citation |first=Jean-Maurice |last=Matchewan |title=Presentation to the Members of the Committee to Examine Matters Relating to the Accession of Quebec to Sovereignty |url=http://www.cwis.org/fwdp/Americas/algonqin.txt |date=4 February 1992 |location=Quebec City |publisher=Center for World Indigenous Studies |access-date=29 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822033913/http://cwis.org/fwdp/Americas/algonqin.txt |archive-date=22 August 2009 |url-status=dead}} The agreements with the Crown are administered by aboriginal law and overseen by the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/treaty-traite.asp?Language=EN |author=Treasury Board Secretariat |author-link=Treasury Board Secretariat |title=Treaty areas |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=17 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822043231/http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/treaty-traite.asp?Language=EN |archive-date=22 August 2007}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/al/hts/index-eng.asp |last=Indian and Northern Affairs Canada |author-link=Indian and Northern Affairs Canada |title=Acts, Agreements & Land Claims > Historic Treaties |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=17 November 2009 |archive-date=28 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828165101/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/al/hts/index-eng.asp |url-status=dead}}

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| quote = I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to discuss [...] the vital process of reconciliation in this country—not a one-off act, of course, but an ongoing commitment to healing, respect and understanding [...] with indigenous and non-indigenous peoples across Canada committing to reflect honestly and openly on the past and to forge a new relationship for the future.{{Cite web |url=https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speech/speech-hrh-prince-wales-during-welcome-ceremony-confederation-building-st-johns-canada |title=A speech by HRH The Prince Of Wales during a Welcome Ceremony at Confederation Building, St John's, Canada |date=17 May 2022 |publisher=Prince of Wales}}

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The link between the Crown and Indigenous peoples will sometimes be symbolically expressed through ceremony.{{Cite journal |last=Radforth |first=Ian |title=Performance, Politics, and Representation: Aboriginal People and the 1860 Royal Tour of Canada |journal=Canadian Historical Review |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=1–32 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |date=March 2003 |doi=10.3138/CHR.84.1.1| s2cid=154326223 |issn=0008-3755 |url=https://commerce.metapress.com/content/4n45604665183553/resource-secured/?target=fulltext.pdf&sid=huj4zu55sspaxbj5hrrpp545&sh=utpjournals.metapress.com |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121217155231/https://commerce.metapress.com/content/4n45604665183553/resource-secured/?target=fulltext.pdf&sid=huj4zu55sspaxbj5hrrpp545&sh=utpjournals.metapress.com |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 December 2012}} Gifts have been frequently exchanged and aboriginal titles have been bestowed upon royal and viceregal figures since the early days of indigenous contact with the Crown.{{Refn|{{Citation |title=Peguis |place=Winnipeg |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |id=B.235/a/3 fos. 28-28d}}{{Harvnb|Buckner|2005|page=77}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/royalvisit/kids-zone-answers.htm |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |author-link=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The Canadian Monarchy > Royal Visit of the Prince of Wales > Are You an "Ace" at Kings and Queens?: A children's quiz on monarchy in Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=15 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616093914/http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/royalvisit/kids-zone-answers.htm |archive-date=16 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/redbox/royalinvolvement.doc |title=Royal Involvement With Canadian Life |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |access-date=30 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029053459/http://www.monarchist.ca/redbox/royalinvolvement.doc |archive-date=29 October 2008}}}} As far back as 1710, Indigenous leaders have met to discuss treaty business with royal family members or viceroys in private audience and many continue to use their connection to the Crown to further their political aims;{{Cite book |last=Coates |first=Colin MacMillan |title=Majesty in Canada: essays on the role of royalty |publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd. |date=2006 |location=Toronto |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhFyvhpPx8MC |isbn=978-1-5500-2586-6}} public ceremonies attended by the monarch or another member of the royal family have been employed as a platform on which to present complaints, witnessed by both national and international cameras.{{Refn|{{Citation |last=Valpy |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Valpy |title=Reasons to love the Queen: No. 1, she's funky |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=2 February 2002 |url=http://members.fortunecity.com/foul2/queen.htm |access-date=4 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040526173044/http://members.fortunecity.com/foul2/queen.htm |archive-date=26 May 2004}}{{Citation |url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/05/23/first-nations-meet-prince-charles-ask-see-queen-elizabeth-ii-114551 |title=First Nations Meet With Prince Charles, Ask to See Queen Elizabeth II |date=23 May 2012 |publisher=Indian Country |access-date=1 October 2015 |archive-date=19 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119203037/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/05/23/first-nations-meet-prince-charles-ask-see-queen-elizabeth-ii-114551 |url-status=dead}}}} Following country-wide protests, beginning in 2012, and the close of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015, focus turned toward rapprochement between the nations in the nation-to-nation relationship.{{Refn|{{Citation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61505852 |last=Campbell |first=Sarah |title=Charles' message of listening, learning and reflecting |date=19 May 2022 |publisher=BBC |access-date=22 August 2022}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/charles-camilla-royal-visit-stjohns-1.6454689 |title=Prince Charles, Camilla depart St. John's as Day 1 of Canadian Royal Tour wraps up |date=17 May 2022 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=22 August 2022}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-prince-charles-camilla-royal-visit-canada-latest-updates |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519204021/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-prince-charles-camilla-royal-visit-canada-latest-updates |archive-date=19 May 2022 |title=Prince Charles and Camilla's tour ends in the Northwest Territories today. Latest updates on the royal visit |newspaper=The Globe and Mail}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/charles-and-camilla-royal-visit-yellowknife-1.6459250 |title=Prince Charles and Camilla wrap up whirlwind visit to N.W.T. |date=19 May 2022 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=22 August 2022}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/prince-wales-and-duchess-cornwall-visit-canada |title=The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visit Canada |date=19 May 2022 |publisher=Clarence House |access-date=22 August 2022}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61505852 |title=Canada's indigenous leaders ask for royal apology |date=19 May 2022 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=20 May 2022}}}}

{{Main|Hereditary chiefs in Canada}}

{{See also|History of monarchy in Canada#Pre-colonial}}

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The hereditary chiefs are leaders within First Nations who represent different houses or clans and whose chieftaincies are passed down intergenerationally; most First Nations have a hereditary system.{{Citation |url=https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-powers-of-hereditary-chiefs-test-many-first-nations |last=Todd |first=Douglas |title=Powers of hereditary chiefs test many First Nations |date=26 January 2023 |newspaper=Vancouver Sun |access-date=10 March 2023}} The positions are rooted in traditional models of Indigenous governance that predate the colonization of Canada{{Citation |url=https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/hereditary-chief-definition-and-5-faqs| last1=Joseph| first1=Bob |title=Hereditary Chief definition and 5 FAQs |date=1 March 2016 |publisher=Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. |access-date=28 February 2020}}{{Cite news |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4833830/band-councils-hereditary-chiefs-indigenous-governance | last1=Abedi| first1=Maham |title=Band councils, hereditary chiefs — here's what to know about Indigenous governance |date=10 January 2019 |publisher=Global News |access-date=28 February 2020}} and are organized in a fashion similar to the occidental idea of monarchy.{{Refn|{{Cite magazine |last=Ferguson |first=Will |author-link=Will Ferguson |title=The Lost Kingdom |magazine=Maclean's |publisher=Rogers Media |location=Toronto |date=27 October 2003 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20031027_68038_68038&source=srch |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=27 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807100344/http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20031027_68038_68038&source=srch |archive-date=7 August 2011}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/2001/october/Sa21577.htm |last=Kehoe |first=Alice Beck |title=First Nations History |publisher=The World & I Online |date=October 2001 |access-date=27 January 2010}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/monarchy-canada#introduction |last=Makarenko |first=Jay |title=The Monarchy in Canada |publisher=Maple Leaf Web |date=1 June 2007 |access-date=10 March 2023 |archive-date=19 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419161314/http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/monarchy-canada#introduction |url-status=dead}}{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHebDwAAQBAJ |editor-last=Jackson |editor-first=D. Michael |title=Royal Progress: Canada's Monarchy in the Age of Disruption |last=Jakson |first=D. Michael |chapter=Introduction: The Crown in a Time of Transition |date=8 February 2020 |publisher=Dundurn |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4597-4575-9 |access-date=1 May 2023}}}} Indeed, early European explorers often considered territories belonging to different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms—such as along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, between the Trinity River and the Isle-aux-Coudres, and the neighbouring "kingdom of Canada", which stretched west to the Island of Montreal{{Cite book |last=Bourinot |first=J.G. |title=The Story of Canada |publisher=Read Books |date=2009 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GiyViOSkLcwC |isbn=978-1-4446-3974-2 |ref=CITEREF_Bourinot_2009}}—and the leaders of these communities were referred to as kings, particularly those chosen through heredity.{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=8}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/4Chiefs.html |last=Odrowaz-Sypniewska |first=Margaret |title=The Four Indian Kings |publisher=The Bear Clan |access-date=27 January 2010}}

Today, the hereditary chiefs are not sovereign; according to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Crown holds sovereignty over the whole of Canada, including reservation and traditional lands.{{Refn|{{Cite court |litigants=Haida Nation v British Columbia (Minister of Forests) |vol=3 |reporter=Haida Nation |pinpoint=73 |court=Supreme Court of Canada |date=2004 |postscript=511}}{{Cite court |litigants=Taku River Tlingit First Nation v British Columbia (Project Assessment Director) |vol=3 |reporter=Taku River |pinpoint=74 |court=Supreme Court of Canada |date=2004 |postscript=550}}{{Cite court |litigants=Mikasew Cree First Nation v Canada (Minister of Canadian Heritage) |vol=3 |pinpoint=69 |court=Supreme Court of Canada |date=2005 |postscript=388}}}} However, by some interpretations of case law from the same court, the chiefs have jurisdiction over traditional territories that fall outside of band-controlled reservation land,{{Citation |url=https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/02/14/Wetsuweten-Crisis-Whose-Rule-Law |last=Hyslop |first=Katie |title=Wet'suwet'en Crisis: Whose Rule of Law? |date=14 February 2020 |publisher=The Tyee |access-date=28 February 2020}}{{Citation |url=http://www.chonfm.com/news/chon-fm-northern-news/wetsuweten-hereditary-chiefs-it-is-complicated |title=Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs - elected Band Council - it is complicated |date=20 February 2020 |publisher=CHON-FM |access-date=28 February 2020}} beyond the elected band councils established by the Indian Act.{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indian-act| last1=Henderson| first1=William B. |title=Indian Act |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=28 February 2020}}{{Citation |title=Elected vs. hereditary chiefs: What's the difference in Indigenous communities? |url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/elected-vs-hereditary-chiefs-what-s-the-difference-in-indigenous-communities-1.4247466 |date=9 January 2019 |publisher=CTV News |access-date=28 February 2020}} Although recognized by, and accountable to, the federal Crown-in-Council (the Government of Canada), band chiefs do not hold the cultural authority of hereditary chiefs, who often serve as knowledge-keepers, responsible for the upholding of a First Nation's traditional customs, legal systems, and cultural practices.{{Refn|{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chief |last=Robinson |first=Amanda |title=Chief |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=6 November 2018 |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=28 February 2020}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/951203045| last1=Neel| first1=David| last2=Harper| first2=Elijah |title=Our Chiefs and Elders: Words and Photographs of Native Leaders |page=78 |publisher=UBC Press |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-7748-5656-0 |location=Vancouver |oclc=951203045}}}} When serving as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Judith Guichon postulated that the role of hereditary chiefs mirrored that of Canada's constitutional monarch, being the representative of "sober second thought and wisdom, not the next political cycle; but, rather, enduring truths and the evolution of our nation through generations." For these reasons, the Crown maintains formal relations with Canada's hereditary chiefs, including on matters relating to treaty rights and obligations.{{Cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/what-we-know-about-the-deal-governments-agreed-to-with-wetsuweten-hereditary-chiefs |first=Ryan |last=Tumilty |publisher=National Post |publication-date=2 March 2020 |title=What we know about the deal governments agreed to with Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs |access-date=20 March 2023}}

{{Further|Royal tours of Canada}}

File:Prince of Wales lays last stone of Victoria Bridge.jpg, lays the last stone for the Victoria Bridge in Montreal during his 1860 royal tour]]

Members of the royal family have been present in Canada since the late 18th century, their reasons including participating in military manoeuvres, serving as the federal viceroy, or undertaking official royal tours, which "reinforce [the] country's collective heritage".{{Citation |url=https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/pages/28_royalty_royaute.aspx |title="At Home in Canada": Royalty at Canada's Historic Places |publisher=Canada's Historic Places |access-date=30 April 2023}} At least one royal tour has been conducted every year between 1957 and 2018.{{Harvnb|Heard|2018|p=117}}

The "welfare and service" function of the monarchy is regarded as an important part of the modern monarchy's role and demonstrates a significant change to the institution in recent generations, from a heavily ceremonialized, imperial crown to a "more demotic and visible" head of state "interacting with the general population far beyond confined court circles."{{Harvnb|Hazell|Morris|2017|pp=26–27}} As such, a prominent feature of tours are royal walkabouts; a tradition initiated in 1939 by Queen Elizabeth when she was in Ottawa and broke from the royal party to speak directly to gathered veterans.{{Harvnb|Benoit|2002|p=3}}{{Cite book |last=Pigott |first=Peter |title=Royal Transport: An Inside Look at the History of Royal Travel |publisher=Dundurn Press |date=2005 |location=Toronto |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8WSLImiMDhAC |isbn=978-1-5500-2572-9}} Usually important milestones, anniversaries, or celebrations of Canadian culture will warrant the presence of the monarch, while other members of the royal family will be asked to participate in lesser occasions. A household to assist and tend to the monarch forms part of the royal party.

Official duties involve the sovereign representing the Canadian state at home or abroad, or her relations as members of the royal family participating in government organized ceremonies either in Canada or elsewhere;{{#tag:ref|Though the royal family represents other countries abroad, as directed by their respective cabinets, and typically the governor general will undertake state visits and other foreign duties on behalf of the Queen of Canada,{{Cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/executive-decree/023004-2020-e.html |last=Library and Archives Canada |author-link=Library and Archives Canada |title=Politics and Government > By Executive Decree > The Governor General |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=18 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811074157/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/executive-decree/023004-2020-e.html |archive-date=11 August 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2004-05/fs-2005-03_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080608231931/http://www.gg.ca/osgg-bsgg/fin/2004-05/fs-2005-03_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 June 2008 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=The Office > Annual Reports > 2004–2005 > Report on Performance |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=22 May 2009}} members of the royal family will also take part in Canadian events overseas.{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/QueenElizabethII.html |author=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |title=Elizabeth II Queen of Canada |publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |access-date=22 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418061228/http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/QueenElizabethII.html |archive-date=18 April 2008}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww1mem/vimy/battle&CFID=14831976&CFTOKEN=67789669 |author=Veterans Affairs Canada |title=Canada Remembers > Memorials to Canadians' Achievements and Sacrifices > First World War Memorials in Europe > Vimy Memorial > The Battle of Vimy Ridge > The Canadian National Vimy Memorial – Fast Facts |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=24 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617191924/http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials%2Fww1mem%2Fvimy%2Fbattle&CFID=14831976&CFTOKEN=67789669 |archive-date=17 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |last=Foot |first=Richard |title=Vimy memorial had a turbulent history of its own |newspaper=The Vancouver Sun |page=A4 |date=4 April 2007}}{{Cite book |author=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |date=1957 |contribution=Radio address to Canadians |contribution-url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/files/pdf/1957canada.pdf |editor=The Royal Household |title=Images and Broadcasts > The Queen's Speeches |location=London |publisher=Queen's Printer |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/Home.aspx |access-date=3 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150831232450/http://www.royal.gov.uk/Home.aspx |archive-date=31 August 2015 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite magazine |title=Royal Visit |magazine=Time |volume=IXX |issue=17 |location=New York |date=21 October 1957 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937945,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513184211/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937945,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 May 2007 |issn=0040-781X |access-date=22 May 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/CourtCircular/Todaysevents.aspx |author=The Royal Household |title=Past events (Court Circular) > Search the Court Circular > 13 May 1998 |publisher=Queen's Printer |access-date=22 May 2009}}{{Cite news |last=Valpy |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Valpy |title=A Queen and her agent may mix |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=8 June 2004}}{{Cite news |title=Remembering Vimy – 90th Anniversary Celebrations on CTV, April 9 |publisher=CTV |date=4 April 2007 |url=http://www.tvthrong.ca/remembering-vimy/remembering-vimy-90th-anniversary-celebrations-on-ctv-april-9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618053606/http://www.tvthrong.ca/remembering-vimy/remembering-vimy-90th-anniversary-celebrations-on-ctv-april-9 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 June 2008 |access-date=22 May 2009}}{{Cite journal |title=Royal Respect for Canada's Vimy Heroes, Queen of Canada Rededicates Memorial on French Soil |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2007 |issue=26 |page=3 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2007 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |access-date=22 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225416/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008}}{{Cite news |title=Prince Charles, Clarkson honour D-Day fallen |publisher=CTV |date=6 June 2004 |url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/20040606/d-day_charles_040605/20040606?hub=Canada&subhub=PrintStory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605233002/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/20040606/d-day_charles_040605/20040606?hub=Canada&subhub=PrintStory |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 June 2008 |access-date=22 May 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/CourtCircular/Todaysevents.aspx |author=The Royal Household |title=Past events (Court Circular) > Search the Court Circular > 14 April 2007 |publisher=Queen's Printer |access-date=22 May 2009}}{{Cite journal |title=Another Member of the Canadian Royal Family Performs Duties Abroad |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2007 |issue=26 |page=4 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2007 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |access-date=22 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225416/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/CourtCircular/Todaysevents.aspx |author=The Royal Household |title=Past events (Court Circular) > Search the Court Circular > 7–8 June 2008 |publisher=Queen's Printer |access-date=22 May 2009}}{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=67}}}}|group=n|name=Duties}}{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=http://www.royaltour.gc.ca/faq-eng.cfm |last=Government of Canada |author-link=Government of Canada |title=2010 Royal Tour > Frequently Asked Questions > Who pays for Royal Tours of Canada? |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=15 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621033614/http://royaltour.gc.ca/faq-eng.cfm |archive-date=21 June 2010}}{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=D. Michael |title=The "Working" Princess: Saskatchewan Welcomes the Princess Royal |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2004 |issue=24 |page=8 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2004 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFPRinSask.pdf |access-date=22 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225450/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFPRinSask.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008}}{{Cite news |title=Queen arrives in Saskatchewan |publisher=CBC |date=18 May 2005 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/queen-arrives-in-saskatchewan-1.564154 |access-date=22 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203051253/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/05/17/royal-visit-050517.html |archive-date=3 December 2010}}{{Cite magazine |author=The Royal Household |title=The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh pay a centenary visit to Canada, 17 – May 24, 2005 |magazine=Royal Insight Magazine |volume=May 2005 |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=London |date=2005 |url=http://194.203.40.17/output/page4120.asp |access-date=22 May 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{Cbignore|bot=medic}}}} sometimes these individuals are employed in asserting Canada's sovereignty over its territories.{{#tag:ref|In 1970, Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, and Princess Anne undertook a tour of Northern Canada, in part to demonstrate to an unconvinced American government and the Soviet Union that Canada had certain claim to its Arctic territories, which were strategic during the Cold War.{{Cite news |url=http://www.canadaka.net/link.php?id=87466 |last=Davison |first=Janet |title=Princess Anne's Ottawa tour will honour 'everyday heroes' |date=7 November 2014 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=23 November 2014}}|group=n|name=Arctic}} The advice of the Canadian Cabinet is the impetus for royal participation in any Canadian event, though, at present, the Chief of Protocol and his staff in the Department of Canadian Heritage are, as part of the State Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Program,{{Cite journal |author=Canada Post |author-link=Canada Post |title=Queen Elizabeth: 1926–2006 |journal=Canada's Stamp Details |volume=XV |issue=1 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |location=Ottawa |date=January–March 2006 |url=http://www.canadapost.ca/personal/collecting/default-e.asp?stamp=stpartl&detail=1350 |access-date=14 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023071429/http://www.canadapost.ca/personal/collecting/default-e.asp?stamp=stpartl&detail=1350 |archive-date=23 October 2007}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/actvt/105-eng.cfm |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Subjects > Citizenship and Identity > Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > Reinforcement of constitutional links with the institutions of the Canadian Monarchy |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=22 May 2009 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225075402/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/actvt/105-eng.cfm |url-status=dead}} responsible for orchestrating any official events in or for Canada that involve the royal family.{{Cite hansard |url=https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/Chamber/392/Debates/PDF/062db_2008-05-27-E.pdf |title=Debates of the Senate |house=Senate |date=27 May 2008| column_start=1373| column_end=1374 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326043230/https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/Chamber/392/Debates/PDF/062db_2008-05-27-E.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2009}}

File:Prince Philip as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Regiment.jpg with the Royal Canadian Regiment as their colonel-in-chief, April 2013]]

Conversely, unofficial duties are performed by royal family members for Canadian organizations of which they may be patrons, through their attendance at charity events, visiting with members of the Canadian Forces as colonel-in-chief, or marking certain key anniversaries. The invitation and expenses associated with these undertakings are usually borne by the associated organization. In 2005, members of the royal family were present at a total of 76 Canadian engagements, as well as several more through 2006 and 2007.{{Citation |url=https://www.monarchist.ca/files/publications/costofthecrown2009.pdf |last=Berezovsky |first=Eugene |title=The Cost of Canada's Constitutional Monarchy |edition=4 |date=2009 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |access-date=14 April 2023 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414233305/https://www.monarchist.ca/files/publications/costofthecrown2009.pdf |url-status=dead}} In the period between 2019 and 2022, they carried out 53 engagements, the number reduced, and all through the latter year and a half being virtual, because of restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Citation |url=https://www.monarchist.ca/cost-of-the-crown |author=Monarchist League of Canada |title=Canada's Constitutional Monarchy: Good Value, Small Cost |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |page=5 |volume=Winter 2021 |issue=53 |date=2021 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |access-date=1 June 2023}} The various viceroys took part in 4,023 engagements through 2019 and 2020, both in-person and virtually.{{Harvnb|Monarchist League of Canada|2021|p=3}}

Apart from Canada, the King and other members of the royal family regularly perform public duties in the other 14 Commonwealth realms in which the King is head of state. This situation, however, can mean the monarch and/or members of the royal family will be promoting one nation and not another; a situation that has been met with criticism.{{#tag:ref|Former Minister of External Affairs Mitchell Sharp commented on a situation wherein Elizabeth II was in Latin America to promote British goods at the same time a Canadian ministerial trip to the same area was underway to promote Canadian products. Sharp stated: "We couldn't ask Her Majesty to perform the function she was performing for Britain on that Latin American trip because the Queen is never recognized as Queen of Canada, except when she is in Canada."{{Cite book |last=Sharp |first=Mitchell |author-link=Mitchell Sharp |title=Which Reminds Me: A Memoir |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=1994 |location=Toronto |page=[https://archive.org/details/whichremindsmeme0000shar/page/223 223] |isbn=978-0-8020-0545-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/whichremindsmeme0000shar/page/223}} The Queen's participation in Canadian events overseas contradicts Sharp's statement, however.{{#tag:ref||group=n|name=RoyVis}}{{#tag:ref||group=n|name=Duties}}|group=n|name=Sharp}}

{{Main|Canadian royal symbols|Monarchy of Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces}}

The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign himself, described as "the personal expression of the Crown in Canada,"{{Harvnb|MacKinnon|1976|p=69}} and his image is thus used to signify Canadian sovereignty and government authority—his image, for instance, appearing on currency, and his portrait in government buildings. The sovereign is further both mentioned in and the subject of songs, loyal toasts, and salutes.{{Citation |last=Department of National Defence |author-link=Department of National Defence (Canada) |title=The Honours, Flags and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces |place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |date=1 April 1999 |pages=404, 449–450 |url=http://www.saskd.ca/heritage.pdf |id=A-AD-200-000/AG-000 |access-date=23 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325162006/http://www.saskd.ca/heritage.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009}} A royal cypher, appearing on buildings and official seals, or a crown, seen on provincial and national coats of arms, as well as police force and Canadian Forces regimental and maritime badges and rank insignia, is also used to illustrate the monarchy as the locus of authority,{{Harvnb|Department of Canadian Heritage|2010|p=2}} the latter without referring to any specific monarch.

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| footer = (Clockwise from top) equestrian statue of King Edward VII, Queen's Park, Toronto; George IV's royal charter establishing the University of Toronto; flag of the Canadian Armed Forces, with a St. Edward's Crown atop the forces' emblem; Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers, with the effigy of Elizabeth II wearing a snowflake diadem

}}

Since the days of King Louis XIV,{{Cite conference |last=McCreery |first=Christopher |title=The Crown and Honours: Getting it Right |conference=The Crown in Canada: Present Realities and Future Options |place=Kingston |publisher=Queen's University Press |date=10 June 2010 |page=1 |url=http://www.queensu.ca/iigr/conf/ConferenceOnTheCrown/CrownConferencePapers/The_Crown_and_Honours.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5sGgu5vLO?url=http://www.queensu.ca/iigr/conf/ConferenceOnTheCrown/CrownConferencePapers/The_Crown_and_Honours.pdf |archive-date=26 August 2010 |url-status=dead |access-date=11 August 2010}} the monarch is the fount of all honours in Canada and the orders,{{Cite web |url=http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/hon/nat-honour-honneur/index-eng.htm |author=Royal Canadian Mounted Police |title=Honours and Recognition Programs > Canadian National Honours |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=20 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323114038/http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/hon/nat-honour-honneur/index-eng.htm |archive-date=23 March 2009}} decorations, and medals form "an integral element of the Crown." Hence, the insignia and medallions for these awards bear a crown, cypher, and/or portrait of the monarch. Similarly, the country's heraldic authority was created by Queen Elizabeth II and, operating under the authority of the governor general, grants new coats of arms, flags, and badges in Canada. Use of the royal crown in such symbols is a gift from the monarch showing royal support and/or association and requires his approval before being added.{{Cite web |title=Royal Crown and Cypher |url=http://canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1445001063723 |website=Government of Canada |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220031029/http://canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1445001063723 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |url-status=dead}}

Members of the royal family also act as ceremonial colonels-in-chief, commodores-in-chief, captains-general, air commodores-in-chief, generals, and admirals of various elements of the Canadian Forces, reflecting the Crown's relationship with the country's military through participation in events both at home and abroad.{{#tag:ref|Such events include Troopings of the Colour, inspections of the troops, and anniversaries of key battles; whenever the sovereign or a member of his family is in Ottawa, they lay a wreath at the National War Memorial.|group=n|name=CF}} The monarch also serves as the Commissioner-in-Chief, and Prince Edward and Princess Anne as Honorary Deputy Commissioners, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.{{Harvnb|Jackson|2013|p=57}}

A number of Canadian civilian organizations have association with the monarchy, either through their being founded via a royal charter, having been granted the right to use the prefix royal before their name, or because at least one member of the royal family serves as a patron. In addition to The Prince's Trust Canada, established by Charles III when Prince of Wales, some other charities and volunteer organizations have also been founded as gifts to, or in honour of, some of Canada's monarchs or members of the royal family, such as the Victorian Order of Nurses, a gift to Queen Victoria for her Diamond Jubilee in 1897; the Canadian Cancer Fund, set up in honour of King George V's Silver Jubilee in 1935; and the Queen Elizabeth II Fund to Aid in Research on the Diseases of Children. A number of awards in Canada are likewise issued in the name of previous or present members of the royal family. Further, organizations will give commemorative gifts to members of the royal family to mark a visit or other important occasion. All Canadian coins bear the image of the monarch reigning at the time of the coin's production, with an inscription, {{Lang|la|Dei gratia Rex}} (often abbreviated to {{Lang|la|DG Rex}}), a Latin phrase translated to English as, "by the grace of God, king".{{Cite web |url=https://www.mint.ca/store/mint/learn/faces-of-the-monarch-1100026 |title=Faces of the Monarch on Coins |publisher=Royal Canadian Mint}} During the reign of a female monarch, {{Lang|la|rex}} is replaced with {{Lang|la|regina}}, which is Latin for 'queen'.

Throughout the 1970s, symbols of the monarch and monarchy were slowly removed from the public eye. For instance, the Queen's portrait was seen less in public schools and the Royal Mail became Canada Post. Smith attributed this to the attitude the government of the day held toward Canada's past;{{Harvnb|Smith|1995|p=47}} though, it never raised the policy in public or during any of the constitutional conferences held that decade. Andrew Heard argued, however, that dispensing with such symbols was necessary to facilitate the simultaneous increasing embrace of the monarch as Queen of Canada.{{Harvnb|Heard|2018|p=116}} Emblems such as the Royal Coat of Arms remained, however, and others, such as the monarch's royal standard, were created. With the later developments of the governor general's flag, foundation of the Canadian Heraldic Authority, royal standards for other members of the royal family, and the like, Canada, along with New Zealand, is one of the two realms that have "paid the greatest attention to the nationalization of the visual symbols of the monarchy."{{Harvnb|Palmer|2018|p=215}}

{{Main|Canadian identity}}

In his 2018 book, The Canadian Kingdom: 150 Years of Constitutional Monarchy, Jackson wrote that "the Canadian manifestation of the monarchy is not only historical and constitutional, it is political, cultural, and social, reflecting, and contributing to, change and evolution in Canada's governance, autonomy, and identity." Since at least the 1930s,{{Harvnb|Buchan|1969|pp=94–101}} supporters of the Crown have held the opinion that the monarch is a unifying focal point for the nation's "historic consciousness"—the country's heritage being "unquestionably linked with the history of monarchy"—and Canadian patriotism, traditions, and shared values, "around which coheres the nation's sense of a continuing personality".{{Harvnb|Buchan|1969|p=98}} This infusion of monarchy into Canadian governance and society helps strengthen Canadian identity and distinguish it from American identity,{{Cite journal |last=Skolnik |first=Michael L. |date=1990 |title=Lipset's "Continental Divide" and the Ideological Basis for Differences in Higher Education between Canada and United States |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ420197 |journal=Canadian Journal of Higher Education |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=81–93 |doi=10.47678/cjhe.v20i2.183075 |issn=0316-1218 |doi-access=free}} a difference that has existed since at least 1864, when it was a factor in the Fathers of Confederation choosing to keep constitutional monarchy for the new country in 1866.{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=20}} Former Governor General Vincent Massey articulated in 1967 that the monarchy "stands for qualities and institutions which mean Canada to every one of us and which, for all our differences and all our variety, have kept Canada Canadian."{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002 |page=86}}

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| quote = I want the Crown in Canada to represent everything that is best and most admired in the Canadian ideal. I will continue to do my best to make it so during my lifetime.{{Cite web |title=Platinum Jubilee |access-date=19 February 2022 |url=https://www.assembly.ab.ca/visit/events/platinum-jubilee |publisher=Legislative Assembly of Alberta}}

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| source = Elizabeth II, 1973

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But, Canadians were, through the late 1960s to the 2000s, encouraged by federal and provincial governments to "neglect, ignore, forget, reject, debase, suppress, even hate, and certainly treat as foreign what their parents and grandparents, whether spiritual or blood, regarded as the basis of Canadian nationhood, autonomy, and history", including the monarchy.{{Cite journal| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Gary |title=The "British" Character of Canada |journal=Monarchy Canada |issue=Spring 1996 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=April 1996 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/britchar.htm |access-date=16 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006170100/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/britchar.htm |archive-date=6 October 2007}} resulting in a disconnect between the Canadian populace and their monarch. Former Governor General Roland Michener said in 1970 that anti-monarchists claimed the Canadian Crown is foreign and incompatible with Canada's multicultural society, which the government promoted as a Canadian identifier, and Lawrence Martin called in 2007 for Canada to become a republic in order to "re-brand the nation".{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Martin (journalist) |title=Wallflowers, it's time for a new stage of nationhood |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=29 July 2007 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=https://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20070729.comartin30%2FBNStory%2FFront%2Fhome&ord=2734943&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true |location=Toronto}}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} However, Michener also stated, "[the monarchy] is our own by inheritance and choice, and contributes much to our distinctive Canadian identity and our chances of independent survival amongst the republics of North and South America." Journalist Christina Blizzard emphasized in 2009 that the monarchy "made [Canada] a haven of peace and justice for immigrants from around the world",{{Cite news |last=Blizzard |first=Christina |title=Royally impressed |newspaper=Toronto Sun |date=8 November 2009 |url=http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/christina_blizzard/2009/11/08/11674786-sun.html |access-date=8 November 2009}} while Michael Valpy contended in 2009 that the Crown's nature permitted non-conformity amongst its subjects, thereby opening the door to multiculturalism and pluralism. Johnston described the Crown as providing "space for our values and beliefs as Canadians."

{{Further|Canadian royal symbols#Artworks|Personality and image of Elizabeth II}}

Aside from official artworks, such as monuments and portraits commissioned by government bodies, Canadian painters have, by their own volition or for private organizations, created more expressive, informal depictions of Canada's monarchs and other members of the royal family, ranging from fine art to irreverent graffiti. For example, the English-Canadian artist Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith produced The Artist Painting Queen Victoria in 1895, which now resides at the National Gallery of Canada. At Library and Archives Canada is the painting The Unveiling of the National War Memorial, capturing the dedication of the monument, in Ottawa, by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939; though, the artist is unknown.{{Citation |url=https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=2937010 |author=Library and Archives Canada |title=The Unveiling of the National War Memorial, Ottawa |date=1939 |ref=OP-0992 |id=2937010 |publisher=King's Printer for Canada |access-date=24 March 2023}}

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| footer = (Clockwise from top) portrait of Elizabeth II by Lorena Ziraldo, 2014; wax figure of Prince Charles (now Charles III) at the Royal London Wax Museum, Victoria; Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith's The Artist Painting Queen Victoria, 1895; pop art portrait of Victoria, Toronto; The Unveiling of the National War Memorial, 1939; irreverent graffiti in Montreal depicting Elizabeth II

}}

Hilton Hassell depicted Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) square dancing at Rideau Hall in 1951 and a portrait of Elizabeth II by Lorena Ziraldo, of Ottawa, was featured in the Hill Times and Ottawa Citizen.

Charles Pachter, from Toronto, fashioned the painting Noblesse Oblige in 1972, which shows Queen Elizabeth II, in her Guards Regiment uniform and saluting, as she did during Trooping the Colour ceremonies, except atop a moose instead of her horse, Burmese. Despite great controversy when it was first exhibited,{{Citation |url=https://macleans.ca/uncategorized/canada-posts-diamond-jubilee-stamp-strikes-all-the-right-chords |last=Treble |first=Patricia |title=Canada Post's Diamond Jubilee stamp strikes all the right chords |date=13 February 2012 |magazine=Macleans |publisher=Rogers Media |access-date=28 March 2023}} it "has become a Canadian cultural image; the people's image".{{Cite news |last=Knelman |first=Martin |title=Charlie's royal moose is loose again |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=14 October 2009 |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/709758--knelman-charlie-s-royal-moose-is-loose-again |access-date=14 October 2009}} Pachter, subsequently made numerous variations on the theme,{{Citation |url=https://cpachter.com/painting/?album=2&gallery=4 |title=Painting |date=23 March 2011 |publisher=Charles Pachter |access-date=28 March 2023 |archive-date=29 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329052313/https://cpachter.com/painting/?album=2&gallery=4 |url-status=dead}} including Queen & Moose (1973){{Citation |url=https://www.caviar20.com/products/charles-pachter-queen-moose-painted-collage-1973 |title=Charles Pachter "Queen & Moose" Painted Collage, 1973 |publisher=Caviar 20 |access-date=29 March 2023}} and The Queen on a Moose (1988).{{Citation |url=https://www.caviar20.com/products/charles-pachter-august-rose-painting-year |title=Charles Pachter "Queen on a Moose" Acrylic on Canvas, 1988 |publisher=Caviar 20 |access-date=29 March 2023}} The artist said, "there was an amazing symmetry of putting the sovereign of her northern realm (Canada) on an animal who is the 'monarch of the north, awkward but majestic{{'"}}. Pachter made similar pieces showing Elizabeth's son, Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and his wife, Camilla, standing alongside a moose and Charles's son, Prince William, and his wife, Catherine, with Canadian wildlife, such as a moose and a squirrel.{{Citation |title=Highnesses-in-Training Greet Monarch of the North; "Hat Check" |publisher=Charles Pachter}} For Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, Pachter created a series of fake postage stamps using all his paintings that include members of the royal family, which he called "my branded images

for Canada."{{Citation |url=https://www.uc.utoronto.ca/sites/default/files/2021-03/UC-Magazine-Spring2017-Web.pdf |last=Palkowski |first=Yvonne |title=Pachter's Canada |page=14 |journal=UC: University College Alumni Magazine |date=Spring 2017 |publisher=University College |location=Toronto |access-date=29 March 2023}} Some were featured on accessory items sold at the Hudson's Bay Company.

Portraits of Elizabeth II hung in several hockey arenas across Canada after her accession in 1952. One was in place in Maple Leaf Gardens until the early 1970s, when owner Harold Ballard had it removed to construct more seating, stating, "if people want to see pictures of the Queen, they can go to an art gallery."{{Citation |url=https://puckstruck.com/2018/04/22/the-winnipeg-arenas-royal-quandary-if-the-queen-herself-walked-in-would-she-know-who-it-was |title=the winnipeg arena's royal quandary: if the queen herself walked in, would she know who it was? |date=22 April 2018 |publisher=Puckstruck |access-date=25 March 2023}} Three large portraits of Elizabeth II were created for Winnipeg Arena, on display there from the building's opening in 1955 to 1999.{{Refn|{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-portrait-that-hung-in-old-winnipeg-jets-arena-coming-home-1.2973613 |title=Queen portrait that hung in old Winnipeg Jets arena coming home |date=26 February 2015 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=25 March 2023}}{{Citation |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9117521/queen-elizabeth-painting-winnipeg-arena |last=Lambert |first=Steve |title=Plans underway to display massive painting of Queen Elizabeth from old Winnipeg Arena |date=9 September 2022 |publisher=Global News |access-date=25 March 2023}}{{Citation |url=https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/iconic-portrait-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-on-display-at-winnipeg-mall-1.6071849 |last=Unger |first=Danton |title=Iconic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on display at Winnipeg mall |date=16 September 2022 |publisher=CTV News |access-date=25 March 2023}}}}

At the time of the sesquicentennial of Confederation in 2017, Vancouver Island-based{{Citation |url=https://www.wilsonhoey.com/bio |last=Hoey |first=Timothy |title=Bio |publisher=Timothy Wilson Hoey |access-date=25 March 2023}} artist Timothy Hoey created a "Canada 150" version of his decade-long "O Canada" project, painting 150 Canadian icons in acrylic paint on 20.3 by 25.4 centimetre (eight by 10 inch) boards.{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/2017/150-paintings-87-days-one-cheezie-loving-queen-1.3896317 |last=Couture |first=Christa |title=150 paintings. 87 days. One Cheezie-loving Queen. |date=12 January 2017 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=25 March 2023}}{{Citation |url=https://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/one-artist-150-paintings-for-canadas-150th-birthday-4645200 |last=Delvin |first=Mike |title=One artist, 150 paintings for Canada's 150th birthday |date=12 January 2023 |newspaper=Times Colonist |access-date=25 March 2023}} Among them are numerous depictions of Queen Elizabeth II with other Canadian icons, such as beavers, Cheezies, the Grey Cup, the Stanley Cup, a bottle of beer (O Canada Liz Enjoying Some Wobbly-Pops),{{Citation |url=https://www.hive-elevationgallery.com/tim-hoey |title=Timothy Wilson Hoey |publisher=Elevation Gallery |access-date=25 March 2023}} Rush (O Canada Closer to the Heart), the Hudson's Bay point blanket, the Trans-Canada Highway, a birch canoe, a buckskin jacket, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police uniform, a Montreal Canadiens hockey sweater, and so on. Hoey had previously painted Elizabeth, in formal attire and tiara, holding a hockey stick in front of a Hudson's Bay point blanket; the work titled O-Canada Liz.{{Citation |url=https://www.wilsonhoey.com/o-canada?lightbox=dataItem-iww7e6lm |last=Hoey |first=Timothy |title=O-Canada Liz |publisher=Timothy Wilson Hoey |access-date=25 March 2023}} In 2021, he depicted the Queen in a decorative hat, uniform of the Vancouver Canucks from the 1978–1979 season, and full goaltender equipment.{{Citation |url=https://puckstruck.com/tag/timothy-wilson-hoey |title=Car ton bras sait porter l'épée |date=3 June 2022 |publisher=PuckStruck |access-date=25 March 2023}}

The also exist wax sculptures of Queen Elizabeth II in private museums, such as the Royal London Wax Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, and the Wax Museum of History in Niagara Falls, Ontario.{{Citation |url=http://www.infoniagara.com/attractions/Attractions-Niagara-USA/Niagara-Wax-Museum-of-History.aspx |title=Niagara's Wax Museum of History |publisher=Info Niagara |access-date=24 March 2023}}

The television series Rideau Hall, starring Bette MacDonald, was produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and aired for one season in 2002. Its premise was a brash, one-hit wonder disco artist being appointed governor general on the advice of a republican prime minister.{{Citation |last=Atherton |first=Tony |title=Rooting for Rideau Hall: Bette MacDonald stars as a spaced-out boogie mama appointed as head of state |date=11 October 2002 |newspaper=Montreal Gazette}}{{Citation |title=Comic's parody of Rideau Hall debuts as CBC-TV series |newspaper=Pembroke Observer |date=11 October 2002}}

{{External media|video1=[https://vimeo.com/748072647 Scott Thompson as The Queen] Source: Broadway Video.}}

Canadian comedian Scott Thompson regularly played a parody of Queen Elizabeth II in a Canadian context on the sketch comedy television show The Kids in the Hall,{{Citation |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/queen-elizabeth-scott-thompson-kids-in-the-hall.html |last=Clark |first=Anne Victoria |title=Scott Thompson, the Once (and Future?) Queen |date=9 September 2022 |publisher=Vulture |access-date=7 February 2023}} as well as in other productions, such as The Queen's Toast: A Royal Wedding Special{{Citation |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5546468 |title=The Queen's Toast: A Royal Wedding Special |publisher=IMDb |access-date=7 February 2023}} and Conan. Thompson also voiced a portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Canada in the animated television show Fugget About It, in the episode "Royally Screwed".{{Citation |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3173940 |title=Royally Screwed |publisher=IMDb |access-date=7 February 2023}}

The Canadian monarchy was parodied in "Royal Pudding", the third episode of the 15th season of the animated television show South Park, which first aired on 11 May 2011.{{Citation |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1913934 |title=Royal Pudding |publisher=IMDb |access-date=7 February 2023}} The opening focuses on a spoof of the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton,{{Citation |url=https://www.avclub.com/south-park-royal-pudding-1798168242 |last=O'Neil |first=Sean |title=South Park: "Royal Pudding" |date=12 May 2011 |magazine=AV Club |access-date=7 February 2023}}{{Citation |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/redeye/redeye-south-park-spoofs-royal-wedding-with-royal-pudding-20110509-story.html |last=Wagner |first=Curt |title='South Park' spoofs royal wedding with 'Royal Pudding' |date=9 May 2011 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=7 February 2023}} featuring caricatures of Queen Elizabeth II; Prince William, Prince of Wales; and Catherine, Princess of Wales. Specific mention is made of "the Queen of Canada" and "the Canadian royal family".{{Citation |url=https://www.planearium.de/downloads/scripts/scripts-1503.htm |title=Episode 1503 - Royal Pudding |publisher=Planetarium |access-date=7 February 2023}} The show subsequently, in the second episode of the 26th season, "The Worldwide Privacy Tour", parodied the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as a prince of Canada and "the wife", who, after hostile treatment at the funeral of the late Queen of Canada, go on national television and a world tour demanding people and the media not pay attention to them and branding themselves as victims.{{Citation |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/02/prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-are-not-suing-south-park |last=Murphy |first=Chris |title=Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Not Suing South Park |date=21 February 2023 |magazine=Vanity Fair |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=24 February 2023}}

{{Anchor|Canada's royal family and house}}

File:Royal motorcade (8075978363).jpg in Edmonton; Elizabeth II (front, left), Prince Philip (front, right), Prince Andrew (rear, left), and Prince Edward (rear, right)]]

The Canadian royal family is the group of people who are comparatively closely related to the country's monarch and,{{Cite book |last=Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development |author-link=Indian and Northern Affairs Canada |title=Commissioners of the Territories |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |date=2000 |location=Ottawa |page=82 |url=http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nth/pubs/comm/comm3-eng.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613193408/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nth/pubs/comm/comm3-eng.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 June 2011 |isbn=0-6626-3769-0 |access-date=24 February 2021}} as such, belong to the House of Windsor and owe their allegiance specifically to the reigning king or queen of Canada.{{Harvnb|Noonan|1998}} There is no legal definition of who is or is not a member of the royal family; though, the Government of Canada's website lists "working members of the royal family".{{Cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/royal-family/members-royal-family.html |title=The Royal Family |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |date=28 September 2020 |access-date=24 February 2021}}

Unlike in the United Kingdom, the monarch is the only member of the royal family with a title established through Canadian law and is styled by convention as His/Her Majesty,{{Cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/protocol-guidelines-special-event/styles-address.html#a1 |title=Styles of address |date=25 June 2021 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=9 August 2022}} as would be a queen consort. Otherwise, the remaining family members are, as a courtesy, styled and titled as they are in the UK, according to letters patent issued there,{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CVFKAQAAIAAJ |date=1957 |last=Hood Phillips |first=Owen |title=The Constitutional Law of Great Britain and the Commonwealth |publisher=Sweet & Maxwell |page=370}}{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUIqAQAAMAAJ |date=1963 |title=Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, Privy Council, and Order of Preference |publisher=Burke's Peerage Limited |page=XXIX}} with additional French translations.{{Cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/fr/patrimoine-canadien/services/famille-royale/membres-famille-royale.html |author=Government of Canada |title=Membres de la Famille royale |date=11 August 2017 |publisher=Publishing and Depository Services Directorate |access-date=12 April 2023}}

Those in the royal family are distant relations of the Belgian, Danish, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish royal families and,{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=22}} given the shared nature of the Canadian monarch, are also members of the British royal family. While Canadian and foreign media often refer to them as the "British royal family",{{Cite news |last=Howell |first=Peter |title=Queen rules for city critics |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=20 December 2006 |url=https://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/163172 |access-date=24 May 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{Cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite news |author=Canadian Press |author-link=Canadian Press |title=Royal wedding details emerge |newspaper=Winnipeg Sun |date=11 April 2005}} the Canadian government considers it inappropriate, as they are family members of the Canadian monarch.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ops.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=4c4f7726-bc9c-497c-ac85-158c1b8c8d9d |last=Office of the Provincial Secretary |title=About OPS > Protocol Office > Royal Visits > Royal Family Titles |publisher=Queen's Printer for Saskatchewan |access-date=1 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003102014/http://www.ops.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=4c4f7726-bc9c-497c-ac85-158c1b8c8d9d |archive-date=3 October 2011}} Further, in addition to the few Canadian citizens in the royal family,{{#tag:ref|Two Canadian citizens married into the royal family: In 1988, Sylvana Jones (née Tomaselli in Placentia, Newfoundland) wed George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, a great-grandson of King George V, and, on 18 May 2008, Autumn Kelly, originally from Montreal, married Queen Elizabeth II's eldest grandson, Peter Phillips.{{Cite news |title=Montrealer Autumn Kelly weds Queen's eldest grandson |publisher=CBC |date=17 May 2008 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/montrealer-autumn-kelly-weds-queen-s-eldest-grandson-1.766014 |access-date=24 May 2009}} The latter couple has two children, 19th and 20th in line to the throne {{As of|2024|lc=on}}, who each hold dual Canadian and British citizenship,{{Cite news |title=Queen's first great-grandchild has Canadian roots |publisher=CTV |date=30 December 2010 |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/queen-s-first-great-grandchild-has-canadian-roots-1.591055 |access-date=2 January 2011}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/the-queen-becomes-a-great-grandmother-for-the-second-time-1.789610 |title=The Queen becomes a great grandmother for the second time |date=30 March 2012 |publisher=CTV |access-date=30 March 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331172702/http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20120330/queen-great-grandmother-again-120330 |archive-date=31 March 2012}} as do the three children of George Windsor, though only the youngest, Lady Amelia Windsor, is in line to the throne, 43rd {{As of|2023|lc=on}}.{{Cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/ThecurrentRoyalFamily/Successionandprecedence/Succession/Overview.aspx |author=Royal Household |title=The current Royal Family > Succession and precedence > Succession |publisher=Queen's Printer |access-date=4 March 2015}} More distantly, Princes Boris and Hermann Friedrich of Leiningen, great-great-great grandsons of Queen Victoria, are also Canadian citizens.|group=n|name=Citizen}} the sovereign is considered Canadian,{{Refn|{{Cite court |litigants=Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh v. the Attorney-General of Canada |vol=T-1809-06 |pinpoint=14.4 |court=Federal Court of Canada |date=21 January 2008 |url=http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/2008/2008fc69/2008fc69.pdf}}{{Cite journal |last=Holloway |first=Ian |title=Constitutional Silliness and the Canadian Forces |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2007 |issue=26 |page=9 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2007 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |access-date=14 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225416/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008}}{{Citation |url=http://www.canada.com/Will+Kate+royal+influence+everywhere+Canada+already/5012163/story.html |last=Proudfoot |first=Shannon |title=Will and Kate on way, but royal influence everywhere in Canada already |date=27 June 2011 |publisher=Postmedia |access-date=15 July 2015 |newspaper=Canada.com}}}} and those among his relations who do not meet the requirements of Canadian citizenship law are considered Canadian, which entitles them to Canadian consular assistance and the protection of the King's armed forces of Canada when they are in need of protection or aid outside of the Commonwealth realms, as well as, since 2013, substantive appointment to the Order of Canada and Order of Military Merit.{{Citation |author=Elizabeth II |date=2013 |title=The Constitution of the Order of Canada |at=9.2 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14945 |access-date=2 May 2013}}{{Citation |author=Elizabeth II |date=2013 |title=The Constitution of the Order of Military Merit |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15086 |access-date=24 June 2013}}{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yj69BgAAQBAJ&dq=%22canadian+royal+family%22&pg=PT465 |last=McCreery |first=Christopher |title=The Canadian Honours System |chapter=Chapters 12 and 13 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |date=2005 |isbn=978-1-5500-2554-5}} Beyond formalities, members of the royal family have, on occasion, been said by the media and non-governmental organizations to be Canadian,{{#tag:ref|As early as 1959, it was recognized that the then-reigning Queen, Eliabeth II, was "equally at home in all her realms";{{Harvnb|Buckner|2005|p=66}} By the 1960s, loyal societies in Canada recognized the Elizabeth's cousin, Princess Alexandra, the Honourable Lady Ogilvy, as a "Canadian princess";{{Cite book |last=Gowdy |first=Douglas M. |date=18 October 1967 |publication-date=1968 |contribution=Loyal Societies Dinner in Honor of Princess Alexandra. Remarks by Douglas M. Gowdy. The Loyal Societies Toast to Canada by Col. B.J. Legge. |contribution-url=http://speeches.empireclub.org/details.asp?r=vs&ID=60981&number=1 |editor=Empire Club of Canada |editor-link=Empire Club of Canada |title=The Empire Club of Canada Addresses, 1967–1968 |pages=107–113 |location=Toronto |publisher=The Empire Club Foundation |access-date=9 September 2009 |archive-date=26 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726031840/http://speeches.empireclub.org/details.asp?r=vs&ID=60981&number=1 |url-status=dead}} and, at the time of the 2011 royal tour of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, both Michael Valpy, writing for the CBC, and The Globe and Mail referred to William as "a prince of Canada".{{Cite news |last=Valpy |first=Michael |title=So long, young royals, you did good |publisher=CBC |date=8 July 2011 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/michael-valpy-so-long-young-royals-you-did-good-1.985337 |access-date=8 July 2011}}{{Cite news |author=Editorial Board |title=The royal visit is no mere celebrity event |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |date=30 June 2011 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/the-royal-visit-is-no-mere-celebrity-event/article2082941 |access-date=5 July 2011 |archive-date=4 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704234141/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/the-royal-visit-is-no-mere-celebrity-event/article2082941 |url-status=dead}}|group=n|name=CanadianRF}} have declared themselves to be Canadian,{{#tag:ref|In 1919, Prince Edward Albert (the future King Edward VIII) asserted, "I want Canada to look upon me as a Canadian, if not actually by birth, yet certainly in mind and spirit."{{Citation |last=Fabb |first=John |title=Royal Tours of the British Empire, 1860-1927 |page=105 |location=London |publisher=B.T. Batsford |date=1989 |isbn=978-0-7134-5191-7}} Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, said in 1951 that, when in Canada, she was "amongst fellow countrymen" and,{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=66}} after acceding to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II, she, when departing the United States for Canada in 1983, stated to President Ronald Reagan, "I'm going home to Canada tomorrow".{{Cite web |url=http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/QueenElizabethII.html |title=Monarchy > Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada |publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |access-date=10 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618075325/http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/QueenElizabethII.html |archive-date=18 June 2009}} In 2005, Elizabeth said she agreed with the statement earlier made by her mother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, that Canada felt like a "home away from home";{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=11}} in the same year, she remarked, "I have always felt not only welcome but at home in Canada." Similarly, the Queen said in 2010, in Nova Scotia, "it is very good to be home".{{Cite journal |last=Treble |first=Patricia |title=Royal Redux |journal=Maclean's: The Royal Tour |page=66 |date=2011 |publisher=Rogers Media |location=Toronto}}|group=n|name=Canadians}} and some past members have lived in Canada for extended periods as viceroy or for other reasons.{{#tag:ref|Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, served as the Commander of British North American troops in Canada's Maritimes for nine years after 1791, mostly in Halifax;{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Trevor |title=Royal Canada: A History of Royal Visits for Canada since 1786 |publisher=Archive |date=1989 |location=Toronto |isbn=978-0-8866-5504-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/royalcanadaahist0000hall}} his granddaughter, Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne, lived in Canada between 1878 and 1883 as viceregal consort;{{Cite book |last=Waite |first=P. B. |contribution=Campbell, John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland, Marquess of Lorne and 9th Duke of Argyll |date=2000 |title=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |editor-last=English |editor-first=John |volume=XIV |place=Ottawa |publisher=University of Toronto/Université Laval |url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7267 |access-date=24 May 2009}} and her brother, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, resided in Canada first through 1870 as a member of the Canadian Militia, defending Canada from the Fenian Raids,{{Cite web |url=http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/ArmedForces.html |last=Toffoli |first=Gary |title=The Royal Family and the Armed Forces |publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |access-date=24 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701050507/http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/ArmedForces.html |archive-date=1 July 2007}} and then as governor general from 1911 until 1916.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/gg/fgg/bios/01/connaught_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081116035719/http://www.gg.ca/gg/fgg/bios/01/connaught_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 November 2008 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Governor General > Former Governors General > Field Marshal His Royal Highness the Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=30 April 2009}} Later, for six years beginning in 1940, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (a great-grandchild of the Duke of Kent), lived in Canada with her husband, the Earl of Athlone (himself a great-grandchild of King George III), while he served as governor general.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/gg/fgg/bios/01/athlone_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080313003341/http://www.gg.ca/gg/fgg/bios/01/athlone_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 March 2008 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Governor General > Former Governors General > Major General The Earl of Athlone |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=24 March 2009}}|group=n|name=RF2}}

File:Edward VIII unveils the figure of Canada on the Vimy Ridge Memorial.jpg unveiling the figure Canada Bereft on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in July 1936]]

According to the Canadian Royal Heritage Trust, Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn—due to his having lived in Canada between 1791 and 1800 and fathering Queen Victoria—is the "ancestor of the modern Canadian royal family". Nonetheless, the concept of the Canadian royal family did not emerge until after the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, when Canadian officials only began to overtly consider putting the principles of Canada's new status as an independent kingdom into effect.{{Harvnb|Galbraith|1989|p=7}} Initially, the monarch was the only member of the royal family to carry out public ceremonial duties solely on the advice of Canadian ministers; King Edward VIII became the first to do so when in July 1936 he dedicated the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.{{#tag:ref||group=n|name=Duties}} Over the decades, however, the monarch's children, grandchildren, cousins, and their respective spouses began to also perform functions at the direction of the Canadian Crown-in-Council, representing the monarch within Canada or abroad, in a role specifically as members of the Canadian royal family.{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|1991|p=8}}

However, it was not until October 2002 when the term Canadian royal family was first used publicly and officially by one of its members: in a speech to the Nunavut legislature at its opening, Queen Elizabeth II stated: "I am proud to be the first member of the Canadian royal family to be greeted in Canada's newest territory."{{Citation |author=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |date=4 October 2002 |publication-date=1 September 2004 |contribution=Speech Given by The Queen at the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on Friday 4 October 2002 |contribution-url=http://www.etoile.co.uk/Speech/021004Queen.html |editor-last=Voost |editor-first=Geraldine |title=Etoile's Unofficial Royalty Site |place=Iqualuit |publication-place=London |publisher=Geraldine Voost |url=http://www.etoile.co.uk |access-date=24 May 2009}}{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3glDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22canadian+royal+family%22&pg=PA210 |editor-last=Jackson |editor-first=D. Michael |last=Palmer |first=Sean |title=The Canadian Kingdom: 150 Years of Constitutional Monarchy |chapter=The Path to Nationalization: How the Realms Have Made the Monarchy Their Own |page=210 |publisher=Dundurn |location=Toronto |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-4597-4118-8 |access-date=12 April 2023}} Princess Anne used it again when speaking at Rideau Hall in 2014,{{Cite news |url=http://www.thecanadianpress.com/english/online/OnlineFullStory.aspx?filename=DOR-MNN-CP.15465426dc4f4d39a8a3cc7f30c12d04.CPKEY2008111303&newsitemid=30646704&languageid=1 |last=Pedwell |first=Terry |title=Princess Anne to take part in Remembrance Day and rededication of memorial |publisher=The Canadian Press |access-date=1 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604172205/http://www.thecanadianpress.com/english/online/OnlineFullStory.aspx?filename=DOR-MNN-CP.15465426dc4f4d39a8a3cc7f30c12d04.CPKEY2008111303&newsitemid=30646704&languageid=1 |archive-date=4 June 2015}} as did the now King Charles in Halifax the same year.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/a-special-joy-to-be-in-canada-prince-charles-says-1.1827940/comments-7.517485/comments-7.517485/comments-7.517485 |title=Hundreds Welcome Royal Visitors |publisher=CTV News |access-date=25 July 2022}} Also in 2014, then-Premier of Saskatchewan Brad Wall called Prince Edward a member of the Canadian royal family.{{Cite web |url=https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2014/september/10/royal-visit-itinerary |title=Public Itinerary for Royal Visit Announced |date=10 September 2014 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Saskatchewan |access-date=25 July 2022}} By 2011, both Canadian and British media were referring to "Canada's royal family" or the "Canadian royal family".{{Refn|{{Cite news |last=Rayner |first=Gordon |newspaper=The Telegraph |title=Royal tour: Prince William and Kate Middleton fly to Canada for first overseas tour as married couple |location=London |date=30 June 2011 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-william/8608406/Royal-tour-Prince-William-and-Kate-Middleton-fly-to-Canada-for-first-overseas-tour-as-married-couple.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-william/8608406/Royal-tour-Prince-William-and-Kate-Middleton-fly-to-Canada-for-first-overseas-tour-as-married-couple.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=5 July 2011}}{{Cbignore}}{{Cite news |last=Palmer |first=Randall |title=Canadian cities ready to welcome Royals |newspaper=Toronto Sun |location=Toronto |date=30 June 2011 |url=http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/30/canadian-cities-ready-to-welcome-royals |access-date=5 July 2011}}{{Cite news |last=Hough |first=Andrew |title=Royal tour: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's 14,000-mile first official trip |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |date=30 May 2011 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-william/8546311/Royal-tour-Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-Williams-14000-mile-first-official-trip.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-william/8546311/Royal-tour-Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-Williams-14000-mile-first-official-trip.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=5 July 2011}}{{Cbignore}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/royal-agricultural-winter-fair-prepares-for-royal-visit-535055851.html |title=Royal Agricultural Winter Fair prepares for Royal visit |author=Royal Agricultural Winter Fair |publisher=Canada Newswire |date=21 October 2015 |access-date=25 July 2022}}}}

While Heard observed in 2018 that no direct legal action has, so far, created a Canadian royal family,{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3glDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22canadian+royal+family%22&pg=PA210 |editor-last=Jackson |editor-first=D. Michael |last=Heard |first=Andrew |title=The Canadian Kingdom: 150 Years of Constitutional Monarchy |chapter=The Crown in Canada: Is There a Canadian Monarchy? |page=126 |publisher=Dundurn |location=Toronto |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-4597-4118-8 |access-date=12 April 2023}} he also asserted that the Canadian Heraldic Authority creating uniquely Canadian standards for members of the royal family other than the monarch was a symbolic "localization of the royal family";{{Harvnb|Heard|2018|p=115}} Sean Palmer agreed, stating the banners are a sign the country has taken "'ownership' not only of the Queen of Canada, but of the other members of her family as well" and that doing so was another formal affirmation of the concept of a Canadian royal family "as distinct as the Queen of Canada is from the Queen of the United Kingdom". Jai Patel and Sally Raudon also noted, in 2019, that the purpose of these heraldic banners was to recognize the owners' roles as members of the Canadian royal family.{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt6CDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22canadian+royal+family%22&pg=PT162| editor-last1=Shore| editor-first1=Chris| editor-last2=Williams| editor-first2=David V.| last1=Patel| first1=Jai| last2=Raudon| first2=Sally |title=The Shapeshifting Crown: Locating the State in Post-Colonial New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the UK |chapter=Localising the Crown |page=148 |date=2019 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-1084-9646-9 |access-date=12 April 2023}}

{{Main|Government Houses in Canada}}

{{Multiple image|image1=Ottawa - Rideau Hall.JPG|alt1=|total_width=330|caption1=Rideau Hall|image2=Residence of the Governor General (Quebec) 01.jpg|alt2=|caption2=Citadelle of Quebec|footer=Official residences of the sovereign and their representative, the governor general}}

Buildings across Canada reserved by the Crown for the use of the monarch and his viceroys are called Government House, but may be customarily known by some specific name. The sovereign's and governor general's official residences are Rideau Hall in Ottawa and the Citadelle in Quebec City.{{#tag:ref|While the government houses are the King's official residences in Canada, they are almost exclusively occupied by the sovereign's representative in each of those jurisdictions.{{Cite book |last=Lanctot |first=Gustave |title=Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada and the United States of America 1939 |publisher=E.P. Taylor Foundation |date=1964 |location=Toronto |author-link=Gustave Lanctot}}{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=XVII}}|group=n |name=Residence}}{{Refn|{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=34}}{{Harvnb|Galbraith|1989|p=9}}{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|pp=10,190}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZxEiBQAAQBAJ |last=Tidridge |first=Nathan |title=The Queen at the Council Fire: The Treaty of Niagara, Reconciliation, and the Dignified Crown in Canada |publisher=Dundurn Press |date=2015 |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4597-3068-7 |access-date=8 December 2015}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/royaltours1786200000bous |url-access=registration |quote=the queen's residence in canada.| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Gary |title=Royal Tours 1786–2010: Home to Canada |publisher=Dundurn Press |date=2010 |location=Toronto |page=[https://archive.org/details/royaltours1786200000bous/page/168 168] |isbn=978-1-4597-1165-5 |access-date=8 December 2015}}{{Cite journal |last=Aimers |first=John |author-link=John Aimers |title=The Palace on the Rideau |journal=Monarchy Canada |issue=Spring 1996 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=April 1996 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/palace.htm |access-date=20 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606042521/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/palace.htm |archive-date=6 June 2008}}{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|pp=92, 259}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5NsZAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22the+non-fiction+rideau+hall%2C+the+official+residence+in+ottawa%22+buchan&pg=PT3769 |first=John |last=Buchan |title=Complete Works of John Buchan (Illustrated) |publisher=Delphi Classics |date=2022 |location=Essex |isbn=978-1-9094-9658-3 |quote=Rideau Hall, the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and the Governor General of Canada—Buchan's last home and where he suffered the stroke that resulted in his death.}}{{Cite journal |last=Toffoli |first=Gary |title=The Hnatyshyn Years |journal=Monarchy Canada |issue=Spring 1995 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=April 1995 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/hnatysh.htm |access-date=20 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061012021157/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/hnatysh.htm |archive-date=12 October 2006}}}} Each holds pieces from the Crown Collection.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/media/fs-fd/art_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081009074914/http://www.gg.ca/media/fs-fd/art_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 October 2008 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Media > Fact Sheets > Collection of Art and Furniture at Rideau Hall > The Crown Collection at Rideau Hall |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=27 May 2009}} Though neither was used for their intended purpose, Hatley Castle in British Columbia was purchased in 1940 by the federal government for the use of George VI and his family during the Second World War{{Cite web |first=Iona |last=Campagnolo |author-link=Iona Campagnolo |title=Speech to Retired Heads of Mission Association's Gala Dinner |url=http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/whatsnew/sp/sp_may07_2004.htm |date=7 May 2004 |place=Royal Roads University, Hatley Castle, Victoria |website=www.ltgov.bc.ca |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040627085932/http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/whatsnew/sp/sp_may07_2004.htm |archive-date=27 June 2004}} and the Emergency Government Headquarters, built between 1959 and 1961 at CFS Carp and decommissioned in 1994, included a residential apartment for the sovereign or governor general in the case of a nuclear attack.{{Cite journal |last=Boutros |first=Magdaline |title=Deep History |journal=Destinations |volume=5 |issue=4 |publisher=Via Rail |location=Ottawa |date=August–September 2008}}

British royalty have also owned homes and land in Canada in a private capacity: Edward VIII owned Bedingfield Ranch, near Pekisko, Alberta;{{Cite web |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/royalvisit/prince-quiz-answers.htm |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The Canadian Monarchy > Royal Visit 2001 > Getting to Know the Prince(s) of Wales |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=8 August 2007 |archive-date=6 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506124908/http://www.pch.gc.ca/royalvisit/prince-quiz-answers.htm |url-status=dead}} and Princess Margaret owned Portland Island, which was given to her by British Columbia in 1958. She offered it back to the province on permanent loan in 1961, which was accepted in 1966, and the island and surrounding waters eventually became Princess Margaret Marine Park.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/jubilee/legacy.htm |author=British Columbia Archives |title=Golden Jubilee > Welcoming the Royals: The Archival Legacy > The Legacy |publisher=Queen's Printer for British Columbia |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228171614/http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/jubilee/legacy.htm |archive-date=28 February 2009}}

File:HRH The Duke of Connaught at Mohawk Church, Brantford (HS85-10-26794).jpg at Mohawk Chapel in 1913. The sanctuary was designated a chapel royal in 1904.]]

In addition to a maître d'hôtel, chefs, footmen, valets, dressers, pages, aides-de-camp (drawn from the junior officers of the armed forces), equerries, and others at Rideau Hall,{{Citation |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/rideau-hall-staff-recall-encounters-with-royalty |last=Laucius |first=Joanne |title=The Queen and I: Rideau Hall staff recall royal encounters |date=16 September 2022 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |accessdate=24 October 2023}} the King appoints various people to his Canadian household to assist him in carrying out his official duties on behalf of Canada. Along with the Canadian secretary to the King, the monarch's entourage includes the equerry-in-waiting to the King, the King's police officer, two ladies-in-waiting for the Queen,{{Cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/jubilee/behind.htm#insiders |last=Archives of Ontario |title=A Celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II > Behind the Scenes |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215040613/http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/jubilee/behind.htm |archive-date=15 December 2008}} the King's honorary physician, the King's honorary dental surgeon, and the King's honorary nursing officer{{Citation |last=Department of National Defence |author-link=Department of National Defence (Canada) |title=Canadian Forces Dress Instructions |pages=3–7–3 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/land-terre/downloads-telechargements/reserve/dress-tenue/CF_dress_instructions_mod2008_0514.pdf |access-date=15 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721214752/http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/land-terre/downloads-telechargements/reserve/dress-tenue/CF_dress_instructions_mod2008_0514.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2011}}—the latter three being drawn from the Canadian Forces. Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, also has a Canadian private secretary and his wife,{{Cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14708 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Working Visit to Canada by The Earl and Countess of Wessex |date=10 September 2012 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=10 September 2012}} Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, a lady-in-waiting.{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/how-prince-edward-and-sophie-forged-deep-ties-with-canada-1.1234460?cmp=rss |title=How Prince Edward and Sophie forged deep ties with Canada |date=18 September 2012 |publisher=CBC |access-date=18 September 2012}} Royal Canadian Air Force VIP aircraft are provided by 412 Transport Squadron.

There are three household regiments specifically attached to the royal household—the Governor General's Foot Guards, the Governor General's Horse Guards, and the Canadian Grenadier Guards. There are also three chapels royal, all in Ontario:{{Cite web |url=http://www.mohawkchapel.ca/history.html |title=Mohawk Chapel > History |publisher=Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks |access-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326161106/https://www.mohawkchapel.ca/history.html |archive-date=26 March 2009}} Mohawk Chapel in Brantford; Christ Church Royal Chapel, near Deseronto; and St Catherine's Chapel in Massey College, in Toronto. Though not a chapel royal, St Bartholomew's Anglican Church, located across MacKay Street from Rideau Hall, is regularly used by governors general and their families and sometimes by the sovereign and other visiting royalty, as well as by staff, their families, and members of the Governor General's Foot Guards, for whom the church serves as a regimental chapel.{{Cite web |url=http://www.stbartsottawa.ca/history_part1.html |title=The History and Architecture of St. Barts |publisher=St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church |access-date=15 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104064917/http://www.stbartsottawa.ca/history_part1.html |archive-date=4 January 2015}}

{{Multiple image

| total_width =330

| image1 =Royal Visit Toronto 2010 5.JPG

| caption1 =A Queen's Police Officer, drawn from the RCMP, with Elizabeth II in Toronto

| image2 =Will and Kate in Prince Edward Island Canada 2011.jpg

| caption2 =The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with an RCMP escort, in Charlottetown

}}

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is tasked with providing security to the sovereign, the governor general (starting from when he or she is made governor general-designate{{Cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/governor-general-designate/questions.html |title=Frequently asked questions — The Governor General Designate |author=Government of Canada |date=6 July 2021 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=3 August 2022}}), and other members of the royal family; as outlined in the RCMP Regulations, the force "has a duty to protect individuals designated by the minister of public safety, including certain members of the royal family when visiting."{{Cite web |url=https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/trnsprnc/brfng-mtrls/prlmntry-bndrs/20200621/052/index-en.aspx |title=RCMP Royal Family Security |author=Royal Canadian Mounted Police |date=10 September 2020 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=3 August 2022}} The RCMP's provision of service is determined based on threat and risk assessment, the seniority of the individual in terms of precedence and.{{#tag:ref|For example, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex resided for a time on Vancouver Island, as they were planning their future as members of the royal family, the RCMP provided the couple's security. However, when the Sussexes decided to step down as senior members of the royal family, the RCMP reassessed its provision of service. In a briefing note to the then-Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair, the force noted, "the Sussex family's stay in Canada is of a private nature and, to date, there have been no official outings wherein the Duke and Duchess are representing the Queen. There is no indication of either the Duke or Duchess participating in any official capacity for the Crown in Canada in the next two months. Should this change, however, the RCMP will assess and provide security accordingly."{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/prince-harry-rcmp-protection-1.6276872 |last=Thompson |first=Elizabeth |title=Protecting Prince Harry cost Canadians more than $334,000 |date=8 December 2021 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=3 August 2022}}|group=n|name=Sussex}} for members of the royal family, the nature of the royal tour—i.e. an official tour by the King or on behalf of the King or a working or private visit. The governor general receives round-the-clock security from the Governor General Protection Detail,{{Cite web |url=https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/protective-operations |title=Protective Operations |author=Royal Canadian Mounted Police |date=19 February 2015 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=3 August 2022}} part of the Personal Protection Group, based at Rideau Hall.

{{Main|History of monarchy in Canada}}

{{Further|List of Canadian monarchs}}

{{Multiple image|total_width=330|align=right|image1=François Ier Louvre.jpg|alt1=|caption1=King Francis I of France established colonies in Acadia and Canada in 1534.|image2=Queen Victoria, c.1870. (7936242480).jpg|alt2=|caption2=Queen Victoria in 1870, three years after her royal assent to the British North America Act, 1867, creating the Canadian federation}}

The Canadian monarchy can trace its ancestral lineage back to the kings of the Angles and the early Scottish kings and through the centuries since the claims of King Henry VII in 1497 and King Francis I in 1534; both being blood relatives of the current Canadian monarch. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper said of the Crown that it "links us all together with the majestic past that takes us back to the Tudors, the Plantagenets, Magna Carta, habeas corpus, petition of rights, and English common law."{{Cite web |url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1168 |last=Harper |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Harper |title=Prime Minister Harper introduces Australian counterpart to Parliament |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=12 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329125220/http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1168 |archive-date=29 March 2010}} Though the first French and British colonizers of Canada interpreted the hereditary nature of some indigenous North American chieftainships as a form of monarchy,{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/4Chiefs.html |last=Odrowaz-Sypniewska |first=Margaret |title=The Four Indian Kings |publisher=The Courtly Lives of Kings, Peerage, Saints, Knights, and the Commoners |access-date=24 May 2009}}{{Cite journal |last=Ferguson |first=Will |author-link=Will Ferguson |title=The Lost Kingdom |journal=Maclean's |publisher=Rogers Communications |location=Toronto |date=27 October 2003 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/switchboard/article.jsp?content=20031027_68038_68038 |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=23 December 2006}}{{Dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{Cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=8}}}} it is generally accepted that Canada has been a territory of a monarch or a monarchy in its own right only since the establishment of the French colony of Canada in the early 16th century; according to historian Jacques Monet, the Canadian Crown is one of the few that have survived through uninterrupted succession since before its inception.

After the Canadian colonies of France were, via war and treaties, ceded to the British Crown, and the population was greatly expanded by those loyal to George III fleeing north from persecution during and following the American Revolution, British North America was in 1867 confederated by Queen Victoria to form Canada as a kingdom in its own right.{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/heritage/CorporateSeal/heraldry.htm |title=Heritage Saint John > Canadian Heraldry |publisher=Heritage Resources of Saint John and New Brunswick Community College |access-date=3 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617120638/http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/heritage/CorporateSeal/heraldry.htm |archive-date=17 June 2011}}}} By the end of the First World War, the increased fortitude of Canadian nationalism inspired the country's leaders to push for greater independence from the King in his British Council, resulting in the creation of the uniquely Canadian monarchy through the Statute of Westminster, which was granted royal assent in 1931.{{Citation |last=Phillips |first=Stephen |title=Republicanism in Canada in the reign of Elizabeth II: the dog that didn't bark |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2004 |issue=22 |page=19 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2004 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFRepublicanism.pdf |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090708032249/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFRepublicanism.pdf |archive-date=8 July 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=24 May 2009}} Only five years later, Canada had three successive kings in the space of one year, with the death of George V, the accession and abdication of Edward VIII, and his replacement by George VI.

From 1786 through to the 1930s, members of the royal family toured Canada, including Prince William (later King William IV); Prince Edward, Duke of Kent; Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII); Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, and Princess Louise; Prince Leopold; Princess Marie-Louise; Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), and Princess Victoria (later Queen Mary); Prince Arthur (son of the Duke of Connaught); Princess Patricia; Prince Albert (later King George VI); Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII); Prince George, Duke of Kent; and Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.{{Citation |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/past-royal-tours/royal-visits-1786-1951.html |author=Government of Canada |title=Royal Visits from 1786 to 1951 |date=11 August 2017 |publisher=King's Printer for Canada |access-date=6 February 2023}}

File:George VI visits Woodbine Race Track.jpg in Toronto during their 1939 royal tour]]

King George VI became in 1939 the first reigning monarch of Canada to tour the country, doing so with his wife, Queen Elizabeth. Only weeks later, the King, on the advice of his Canadian Prime Minister, declared war on Nazi Germany.{{Citation |url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp303-e.htm |last=Rossignol |first=Michael |title=Parliament, the National Defence Act, and the Decision to Participate |date=August 1992 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=8 February 2023}} Throughout the conflict, George boosted the morale of his Canadian troops{{Citation |url=https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/themes/defence/caf/militaryhistory/dhh/official/book-1948-army-1939-1945-en.pdf |last=Stacey |first=C.P. |title=The Canadian Army 1939 - 1945 |date=1948 |journal=The Canada Gazette |publisher=King's Printer |location=Ottawa |pages=6, 13, 148, 182 |access-date=8 February 2023}} while Governor General the Earl of Athlone (the King's uncle) supported the war effort in Canada. The men were occasionally assisted in their efforts by other members of the royal family.

File:Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip sit on thrones before a full Parliament.jpg, wearing her coronation gown, with Prince Philip during the opening of the 23rd Canadian Parliament, October 1957]]

Elizabeth II undertook her first tour of Canada in 1951, when Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. She would go on to officiate at various moments of importance in the nation's history: She opened Parliament in 1957{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|pp=11–16}}—on the same tour, delivering, from Rideau Hall, her first-ever live television broadcast{{Harvnb|Bell|Bousfield|Toffoli|2007|p=135}}—and in 1977; opened the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959; celebrated Canada's centennial; and proclaimed the country to be fully independent, via constitutional patriation, in 1982. That act is said to have entrenched the monarchy in Canada,{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|p=12}} due to the stringent amending formula that must be followed in order to alter the monarchy in any way.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, the rise of Quebec nationalism and changes in Canadian identity created an atmosphere where the purpose and role of the monarchy came into question. Some references to the monarch and the monarchy were removed from the public eye and moves were made by the federal government to constitutionally alter the Crown's place and role in Canada, first by explicit legal amendments and later by subtle attrition.{{Refn|{{Cite news |last=Joyal |first=Serge |author-link=Serge Joyal |title=Diminishing the Crown |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=10 June 2010 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/diminishing-the-crown/article1598033 |access-date=13 August 2010 |location=Toronto |archive-date=12 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812141544/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/diminishing-the-crown/article1598033 |url-status=dead}}{{Harvnb|Tidridge|2011|p=19}}}} But, provincial and federal ministers, along with loyal national citizen's organizations, ensured that the system remained the same in essence.{{Harvnb|Phillips|2004|p=20}}

The Queen publicly expressed her personal support for the Meech Lake Accord, which attempted to bring Quebec governmental support to the patriated constitution.{{Citation |last=Geddes |first=John |title=The day she descended into the fray |magazine=Maclean's |edition=Special Commemorative Edition: The Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Remarkable years |date=2012 |page=72 |publisher=Rogers Communications}} The accord failed, prompting Elizabeth to deliver a nationally-broadcast speech in Ottawa supporting Canadian unity.{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/56.html |title=Royal Visits to Canada |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=7 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128235245/http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/56.html |archive-date=28 November 2006}} In the lead-up to the referendum on Quebec independence in 1995, the Queen was tricked by a Montreal radio DJ into revealing her desire to see the "no" side win, offering to help however she could.{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=37}}{{Cite journal |last=Bousfield |first=Arthur |title=A Queen Canada Should be Proud Of |journal=Monarchy Canada |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=April 1996 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/queenpr.htm |access-date=7 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919121013/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/queenpr.htm |archive-date=19 September 2008}} Elizabeth followed the results closely on the day of the vote.

Members of the royal family continued to be present at important national events through the decades: the Queen in 1970, 1971, and 1973, respectively, marked the anniversaries of Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island becoming Canadian provinces; celebrated Ontario's and New Brunswick's bicentennials in 1984 and the 125th anniversary of Confederation in 1992; and she opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and Nunavut's parliament in 1999. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, attended the 100th anniversary of Treaty 7 in 1977; commemorated in 1983 the bicentennial of United Empire Loyalists settling in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; and, with Diana, Princess of Wales, opened Expo 86 in Vancouver. Between them, the Queen and her family opened numerous Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings, conferences, hospitals, community centres, and the like; handed out The Duke of Edinburgh Awards at ceremonies across the country, and visited many regiments and branches of the Canadian Armed Forces.{{Citation |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/past-royal-tours.html |author=Government of Canada |title=Private and official tours since 1953 |date=23 August 2017 |publisher=King's Printer for Canada |access-date=6 February 2023}}

File:Official Diamond Jubilee Portrait of the Queen of Canada.jpg and the Order of Military Merit, 2010]]

By 2002, the royal tour and associated fêtes for the Queen's Golden Jubilee proved popular with Canadians across the country,{{Cite news |title=Queen drops puck, raises cheer in arena |publisher=CBC |date=6 October 2002 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/queen-drops-puck-raises-cheer-in-arena-1.329242 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203051409/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/06/queen_hockey021006.html |url-status=live |archive-date=3 December 2010 |access-date=13 May 2006}}{{Cite news |title=Queen helps CBC TV mark 50th anniversary |publisher=CBC |date=10 October 2002 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/queen-helps-cbc-tv-mark-50th-anniversary-1.323865 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115215452/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/10/queencbc021010.html |url-status=live |archive-date=15 November 2006 |access-date=13 May 2006}}{{Cite news |title=Queen begins visit to New Brunswick |publisher=CBC |date=11 October 2002 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/queen-begins-visit-to-new-brunswick-1.338714 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203050616/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/11/queen_friday021011.html |url-status=live |archive-date=3 December 2010 |access-date=13 May 2006}} though Canada's first republican organization since the 1830s was also founded that year. Celebrations took place across the country to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012,{{Cite press release |title=PM announces the appointment of Kevin MacLeod as Canadian Secretary to the Queen |publisher=Office of the Prime Minister |date=1 April 2009 |url=http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2501 |access-date=29 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405014141/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2501 |archive-date=5 April 2009}}{{Citation |last=Kenney |first=Jason |author-link=Jason Kenney |date=23 April 2007 |contribution=Lieutenant Governors Meeting |editor-last=Department of Canadian Heritage |editor-link=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Speeches > The Honourable Jason Kenney |place=Regina |publication-place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm |access-date=29 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611163321/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm |archive-date=11 June 2011}} the first such event in Canada since that for Victoria in 1897. On 9 September 2015, she became the second-longest reigning monarch in Canadian history (preceded only by King Louis XIV);{{Citation |url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/05/18/statement-prime-minister-canada-occasion-victoria-day |author=Office of the Prime Minister of Canada |title=Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the occasion of Victoria Day |date=18 May 2015 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=21 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529224820/http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/05/18/statement-prime-minister-canada-occasion-victoria-day |archive-date=29 May 2015}} events were organized to celebrate her as the "longest-reigning sovereign in Canada's modern era."{{Cite web |url=https://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=16169&lan=eng |author=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Message from the Governor General of Canada Marking the Historic Reign of Her Majesty The Queen |date=9 September 2015 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=9 September 2015}} Prince Charles represented his mother, the Queen, two years later, at the main events in Ottawa recognizing the 150th anniversary of Confederation.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=16779&lan=eng |author=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Royal Tour 2017 |date=18 April 2017 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=18 April 2017}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Queen expressed her support for all Canadians and thanks to those who were caring for the vulnerable and providing essential services.{{Citation |url=https://www.gg.ca/en/media/news/2020/message-her-majesty-queen-people-canada-covid-19-pandemic |author=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Message from Her Majesty The Queen to the people of Canada on the COVID-19 pandemic |date=5 April 2020 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=6 August 2022}} As the pandemic waned into 2022, celebrations were mounted around the country and throughout the year to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee;{{Citation |url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/celebrations-and-community-projects-across-the-country-for-her-majesty-the-queen-s-platinum-jubilee-819137185.html |author=CISION |title=Celebrations and community projects across the country for Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee |date=16 May 2022 |access-date=5 August 2022}} the first-ever such event in Canadian history.{{Citation |url=https://www.lgontario.ca/en/queens-platinum-jubilee/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20Canada%20and%20Ontario,to%20celebrate%20a%20platinum%20jubilee. |title=The Queen's Platinum Jubilee |author=Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario |access-date=5 August 2022}} It was also, though, the first time since at least Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 that the federal Cabinet did not advise the Crown to create an associated medal.{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/queen-elizabeth-jubilee-royal-tour-1.6455325 |last=Tasker |first=Jean-Paul |title=Monarchists criticize Canada's 'lacklustre' and 'embarrassing' Platinum Jubilee plans |date=17 May 2022 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=5 August 2022}} In response, six provinces produced their own Platinum Jubilee medals; another first.{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/platinum-jubilee-medals-provinces-royal-visit-charles-camilla-1.6421391 |last=Davison |first=Janet |title=Some provinces to offer medals to mark Queen's Platinum Jubilee after Ottawa opts out |date=17 April 2022 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=5 August 2022}}

The subject of reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous peoples came to the forefront of the public consciousness in 2021, particularly in regard to residential schools. Statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II in Winnipeg were vandalized.{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-victoria-statue-winnipeg-reactions-1.6087938 |last=Bergen |first=Rachel |title=Winnipeg police investigating toppling of queen statues at legislature |date=2 July 2021 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=4 July 2021 |archivedate=4 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704170605/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-victoria-statue-winnipeg-reactions-1.6087938}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-victoria-statue-winnipeg-1.6087684 |title=2 statues of queens toppled at Manitoba Legislature |date=1 July 2021 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=4 July 2021 |archive-date=12 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712111006/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-victoria-statue-winnipeg-1.6087684}} On the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Elizabeth made a public statement, saying she "joins with all Canadians [...] to reflect on the painful history that Indigenous peoples endured in residential schools in Canada and on the work that remains to heal and to continue to build an inclusive society."{{Cite web |url=https://www.royal.uk/queens-message-mark-canadas-first-national-day-truth-and-reconciliation |publisher=Royal.uk |date=30 September 2021 |title=The Queen's message to mark Canada's first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation |access-date=2 August 2022}} In the same year, the Queen appointed Mary Simon as the first Indigenous governor general in Canadian history.{{#tag:ref|Indigenous persons had already been appointed as lieutenant governors during Elizabeth's reign.|group=n|name=LGs}}{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-gg-mary-simon-1.6091376| last1=Tunney| first1=Catharine| last2=Tasker| first2=John Paul |title=Inuk leader Mary Simon named Canada's 1st Indigenous governor general |date=6 July 2021 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=5 August 2022}} During Charles's tour for his mother's Platinum Jubilee, the BBC's royal correspondent observed that "there [was] no shying away from acknowledging and highlighting the scandalous way many indigenous peoples have been treated in Canada."

File:Realms Lunch Coronation Event (52872267136).jpg meets Governor General Mary Simon, 5 May 2023]]

Queen Elizabeth II died on 8 September 2022 and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III. The Queen's final public statement was issued on 7 September, in the aftermath of the 2022 Saskatchewan stabbings,{{Sfn|Torrance|2022b}}{{Cite news |date=8 September 2022 |title=In last public statement, Queen Elizabeth extended condolences following Saskatchewan stabbing rampage |newspaper=Saskatoon StarPhoenix |url=https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/in-last-public-statement-queen-elizabeth-extended-condolences-following-saskatchewan-stabbing-rampage |access-date=8 September 2022 |archive-date=8 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908193354/https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/in-last-public-statement-queen-elizabeth-extended-condolences-following-saskatchewan-stabbing-rampage |url-status=live}} stating she "mourn[s] with all Canadians at this tragic time."{{Cite web |title=A message from The Queen to the Governor General and the people of Canada |url=https://www.royal.uk/message-queen-governor-general-and-people-canada |website=The Royal Family |access-date=7 September 2022 |date=7 September 2022 |archive-date=7 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907121150/https://www.royal.uk/message-queen-governor-general-and-people-canada |url-status=live}} Elizabeth reigned for almost half of Canada's history since Confederation,{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/timeline/politics-and-government |title=Timeline: Politics and government |journal=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=6 February 2023}} being only the sixth Canadian monarch since 1867.{{Citation |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-six-royal-funerals-one-changing-canada-what-the-deaths-of-monarchs |last=Annett |first=Evan |title=Six royal funerals, one changing Canada: What the deaths of monarchs have revealed about us |date=17 September 2022 |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |access-date=17 March 2023}}

Immediately following a formal meeting of the King's Privy Council for Canada, the new king was proclaimed on 10 September in a ceremony at Rideau Hall.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gg.ca/en/media/news/2022/ceremony-proclaim-accession-king-charles-iii |title=Ceremony to proclaim the Accession of the Sovereign to take place at Rideau Hall |website=gg.ca |date=9 September 2022 |access-date=10 September 2022}}{{Citation |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-king-charles-ceremony-rideau-hall-canada |author=Canadian Press |title=King Charles III proclaimed Canada's new head of state in ceremony at Rideau Hall |date=10 September 2023 |newspaper=Globe and Mail |access-date=10 September 2022}} On 4 May 2023, the King held audience with Simon and Indigenous leaders, who also attended his coronation two days later.{{Citation |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadian-indigenous-leaders-governor-general-meet-with-king-charles-1.6384480 |last=Otis |first=Daniel |title=Canadian Indigenous leaders, Governor General meet with King Charles |date=4 May 2023 |publisher=CTV News |accessdate=12 August 2023}}

Prior to the 1970s, Canadians' view of the monarchy was more focused on the person of the monarch than the institution's place in the country's framework. Smith, in 2017, and Jackson, in 2018, observed the shift continuing, especially as "the process of 'Canadianization' of the Crown picked up momentum in the early 21st century."{{Harvnb|Smith|2017|p=45}}{{Harvnb|Jackson|2018|p=15}}

Still, beginning in the later decades of the 20th century, commentators stated that contemporary Canadians had and have a poor understanding of the Canadian monarchy;{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=115}} something the Monarchist League of Canada (MLC) claims opponents of the monarchy exacerbate by spreading disinformation and then take advantage of.{{Cite web |url=https://www.monarchist.ca/index.php/our-monarchy/myths-about-the-monarchy |title=Myths About the Monarchy |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |access-date=19 August 2022}} Jackson wrote in his book, The Crown and Canadian Federalism, that this is part of a wider ignorance about Canadian civics{{Harvnb|Jackson|2013|p=11}} and Hugo Cyr agreed,{{Harvnb|Cyr|2017|p=104}} while Smith researched for his 1995 book, The Invisible Crown, he found it difficult to "find anyone who could talk knowledgeably about the subject".{{Citation |url=http://www.macleans.ca/society/the-crown-is-everywhere-so-why-dont-we-actually-understand-it |last=Treble |first=Patricia |title=The Crown is everywhere. So why don't we understand it? |date=14 November 2015 |magazine=Maclean's |publisher=Rogers Media |location=Toronto |access-date=15 November 2015}} Former Governors General Clarkson and Johnston made similar observations{{Cite book |last=Clarkson |first=Adrienne |title=Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis| editor1-last=Russell| editor1-first=Peter| editor2-last=Sossin| editor2-first=Lorne |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=2009 |location=Toronto |page=ix |isbn=978-1-4426-1014-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/parliamentarydem0000unse}} and Senator Lowell Murray wrote in 2003, "the Crown has become irrelevant to most Canadians' understanding of our system of government", which he attributed to the "fault of successive generations of politicians, of an educational system that has never given the institution due study, and of past viceregal incumbents themselves".{{Citation |last=Murray |first=Lowell |author-link=Lowell Murray |title='Which Criticisms are Founded?' Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew |editor-last=Joyal |editor-first=Serge Joyal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |date=2003 |page=136}}

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| footer = Examples of the prevalence of royal references and images around Canada (from top): Patricia Lake, named for Princess Patricia of Connaught; Queen station beneath Toronto's Queen Street, so named for Queen Victoria; badge of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary; Ontario vehicle licence plate showing the silhouette of a crown; Prince Edward Island, named for Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn; burgee of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club

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On education, teacher and author Nathan Tidridge asserted that, beginning in the 1960s, the role of the Crown disappeared from provincial education curricula, as the general subject of civics came to receive less attention. He said Canadians are being "educated to be illiterate, ambivalent, or even hostile toward our constitutional monarchy". The MLC agreed, stating Canada has "an educational system which unfortunately often fails to provide comprehensive knowledge of Canada's constitution."

Michael Valpy also pointed to the fact that "the Crown's role in the machinery of Canada's constitutional monarchy rarely sees daylight. Only a handful of times in our history has it been subjected to glaring sunshine, unfortunately resulting in a black hole of public understanding as to how it works."{{Citation |last=Valpy |first=Michael |editor-last=Russell |editor-first=Peter H.| editor2-last=Sossin| editor2-first=Lorne |title=The 'Crisis' |journal=Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=2009 |page=4 |url=http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2009/Donovan.pdf}} He later iterated, "the public's attention span on the constitutional intricacies of the monarchy is clinically short".{{Cite news |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/michael-valpy-who-takes-the-crown |last=Valpy |first=Michael |title=Who takes the Crown |date=8 June 2015 |newspaper=National Post |access-date=8 June 2015}} At the same time, it has been theorized the monarchy is so prevalent in Canada—by way of all manner of symbols, place names, royal tours, etcetera—that Canadians fail to take note of it; the monarchy "functions like a tasteful wallpaper pattern in Canada: enjoyable in an absent-minded way, but so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible".

John Pepall argued in 1990 that, among all this, a "Liberal-inspired republican misconception of the role" of governor general had taken root, though the Conservative government headed by Brian Mulroney exacerbated the matter.{{Cite journal |last=Pepall |first=John |title=Who is the Governor General? |journal=The Idler |location=Toronto |date=1 March 1990 |url=http://www.pepall.ca/archive_article.asp?YEAR=&VRT=330 |access-date=15 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706192918/http://www.pepall.ca/archive_article.asp?YEAR=&VRT=330 |archive-date=6 July 2011}} The position of prime minister has simultaneously undergone, with encouragement from its occupants, what has been described as a "presidentialization",{{Cite journal |last=Geddes |first=John |title=Will the prorogation of Parliament set off a populist revolt? |journal=Maclean's |publisher=Kenneth Whyte |location=Toronto |date=25 January 2009 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2010/01/25/the-people-speak |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=27 January 2010}}{{Citation |title=Time to address democratic deficit |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=27 January 2010 |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/756262--time-to-address-democratic-deficit |access-date=27 January 2010}} to the point that its incumbents publicly outshine the actual head of state.{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=D. Michael |title=The Senior Realms of the Queen |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Autumn 2009 |issue=30 |page=10 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2009 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2009/Autumn_2009_CMN.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229100400/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2009/Autumn_2009_CMN.pdf |archive-date=29 December 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=17 January 2010}}{{Cite book |last=Blair |first=Louisa |editor-last=Venne |editor-first=Michel |title=Vive Quebec!: new thinking and new approaches to the Quebec nation |publisher=James Lorimer & Company |date=2001 |location=Toronto |page=91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyNlYxdpdfcC |isbn=978-1-5502-8734-9}} David S. Donovan felt Canadians mostly consider the monarch and her representatives as purely ceremonial and symbolic figures,{{Citation |url=http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2009/Donovan.pdf |last=Donovan |first=David S. |title=The Governor General and Lieutenant Governors: Canada's Misunderstood Viceroys |page=2 |date=27 May 2009 |publisher=Canadian Political Science Association |access-date=22 October 2012}} while also still viewing the sovereign as British, even if they understand he is King of Canada. It was argued by Alfred Neitsch that this undermined the Crown's legitimacy as a check and balance in the governmental system,{{Harvnb|Neitsch|2006|p=39}} a situation Helen Forsey (daughter of Canadian constitutional expert Eugene Forsey) said prime ministers take advantage of, portraying themselves as the embodiment of popular democracy and the reserve powers of the Crown as illegitimate.{{Refn|See Note 2 at Government of Canada.|group=n|name=HF}} The issue is particularly acute in Quebec, where sovereigntist politicians consider the Canadian monarchy as British, foreign, and, consequently, as symbol of oppression.{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-queen-elizabeth-death-1.6579266 |last=Serebrin |first=Jacob |title=For Quebecers, the Queen's death raises questions about future of the monarchy in Canada |date=11 September 2022 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=10 March 2023}}

Beginning slightly earlier, a "growing interest in the Crown and its prerogatives" was observed, as evidenced by "a burst of articles, books and conferences"; the monarchy attracted increased attention from academics, as well as those involved with the law, government, and public policy.{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5EHDAAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+the+%22queen%27s+personal+canadian+flag%22&pg=PR2| editor-last1=Jackson| editor-first1=D. Michael| editor-last2=Lagassé| editor-first2=Philippe |last=Jouneau |first=André |title=Canada and the Crown: Essays on Constitutional Monarchy |chapter=Preface |page=xv |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-5533-9204-0 |access-date=17 April 2023}} This was attributed to the coincidental occurrence of publicly prominent events over a number of years, including the 2008 prorogation dispute; an increased use of royal symbols as directed by the Cabinet while headed by Stephen Harper, including three consecutive royal tours;{{Harvnb|Jackson|Lagassé| 2013 |pp=2–3}} court cases focusing on the Oath of Citizenship; and increasingly active governors. Smith and Lagassé noted in early 2016 that post-secondary students were giving more focus to the subject of the Crown.

Some Canadians have taken the opposite extreme view of the Crown's powers, such as when, in 2013, the leader of the Green Party of Canada, Elizabeth May, wrote to Queen Elizabeth II asking her to call a "royal inquiry" to "investigate what may potentially be criminal activities which [sic] influenced Canada's last election" and "restore Canada to a free and fair democracy." The monarch's secretary instructed May, "as a constitutional sovereign, Her Majesty acts through her personal representative, the Governor-General, on the advice of her Canadian ministers and it is to them that your appeal should be directed."{{Citation |url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/kelly-mcparland-elizabeth-may-gets-civics-lesson-from-the-queen-in-appeal-for-intervention |last=McParland |first=Kelly |title=Elizabeth May writes to the Queen and gets a civics lesson in reply |date=5 April 2013 |newspaper=National Post |accessdate=13 March 2024}} So many protesters involved in the 2022 Freedom Convoy called and emailed the office of Governor General Mary Simon to pressure her into dismissing her Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, or dissolving Parliament that Simon made a rare public statement on the role of the governor general. Lagassé pointed to that as "evidence of a recent trend in protest movements", saying, "it has become routine in Canadian politics to write a letter to the Queen, Governor General, or a lieutenant governor asking them to exercise their powers in some way, contrary to constitutional conventions. This is political theatre, no more."{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/charter-gg-disinformation-civic-awareness-1.6365223 |last=Zimonjic |first=Peter |title=What many convoy protesters get wrong about constitutional rights and the Governor General |date=27 February 2022 |publisher=CBC News |accessdate=13 March 2024}}

File:Queen Victoria in front of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly – Winnipeg (44011134692).jpg at the Manitoba Legislative Building that was destroyed by protesters on Canada Day, 2021]]

The relationship between Canada's Indigenous peoples and the monarch remains unchanged, aside from the issue of reconciliation arising in it through the late 2010s into the 2020s, when there were some assertions by activists and in the media that the monarchy and the Queen herself represented colonialism{{Refn|{{Citation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/queen-elizabeth-death-monarchy-1.6585821 |title=Monarchy and Queen Elizabeth II a symbol of colonialism for some Windsorites |date=18 September 2022 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=3 February 2023}}{{Citation |url=https://calgary.citynews.ca/2022/09/13/canada-monarchy-colonialism |last=Code |first=Jillian |title=Reflecting on the Monarchy's role in Canada and around the world |date=13 September 2022 |publisher=CityNews |access-date=2 February 2023}}{{Citation |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/09/11/quiet-opposition-or-colonial-complicity-queen-elizabeths-legacy-as-monarch.html |last=Iqbal |first=Maria |title=Quiet opposition or colonial complicity? Queen Elizabeth's legacy as monarch |date=11 September 2022 |newspaper=The Toronto Star |access-date=3 February 2022}}{{Citation |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/indigenous-leaders-call-on-king-charles-iii-to-renounce-doctrine-of-discovery-1.6064497 |last=Jones |first=Alexandra Mae |title=Indigenous leaders call on King Charles III to renounce Doctrine of Discovery |date=11 September 2022 |publisher=CTV News |access-date=3 February 2023}}}} and racism{{Citation |url=https://catalystmcgill.com/abolishing-the-british-monarchy-a-step-towards-ending-racism-in-canada |last=Hicks |first=Jenna |title=Abolishing the British Monarchy: A Step Towards Ending Racism in Canada |date=21 November 2022 |newspaper=The Capsule |access-date=3 February 2023}} and she did not do enough to either prevent or rectify supposed offences. Those who made such claims also, though, mistook the independent Canadian Crown{{Citation |url=https://iscc-iecc.ca/backgrounder/historical-perspective-on-monarchy |last=Jackson |first=D. Michael |title=Historical Perspective on Monarchy in Canada |date=14 December 2021 |publisher=Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada |access-date=3 February 2023}} as the British Crown in Canada and demonstrated a misunderstanding of the Crown-Indigenous peoples relationship{{Citation |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/02/12/abolishing-monarchy-in-canada-will-complete-colonization-of-indigenous-people.html |last=Tidridge |first=Nathan |title=Abolishing monarchy in Canada will complete colonization of Indigenous people |date=12 February 2020 |newspaper=The Toronto Star |access-date=2 February 2023}}{{Citation |url=https://rabble.ca/politics/canadian-politics/queen-elizabeth-passing-first-nations-legacy |last=Seebruch |first=Nick |title=Passing of Queen leaves complicated legacy for First Nations |date=8 September 2022 |publisher=Rabble.ca |access-date=3 February 2023}} and the workings of constitutional monarchy and responsible government,{{Cite journal |url=https://ppgreview.ca/2016/03/19/the-key-role-of-the-queen-and-her-representatives-in-reconciliation |last=Tidridge |first=Nathan |title=The key role of The Queen and her representatives in Reconciliation |journal=PP+G Review |date=19 March 2016 |access-date=2 August 2022}} in which the sovereign must, outside of constitutional crises, follow the directions of his or her ministers and parliamentarians.{{Refn|{{Cite journal |url=https://www.thetrumpet.com/24275-long-live-the-queen-statue-of-queen-victoria-torn-down/print |last=Blondeau |first=Abraham |title=Long Live the Queen? Statue of Queen Victoria Torn Down |date=6 July 2021 |journal=The Trumpet |access-date=2 August 2022}}{{Cite journal |url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2018/05/14/ndp-mp-angus-working-indigenous-affairs-minister-bennett-convincing-pope-apologize-churchs-role-residential-school-system/143707 |last=Rana |first=Abbas |title=NDP MP Angus working with Minister Bennett to convince Pope to apologize for Catholic Church's role in residential schools |journal=The Hill Times |date=14 May 2018 |access-date=2 August 2022}}{{Citation |url=https://ualawccstest.srv.ualberta.ca/2016/12/the-monarchy-in-canada-god-save-the-queen |title=The Monarchy in Canada: God Save the Queen? |date=January 2017 |publisher=The Centre for Constitutional Studies |access-date=3 February 2023 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203175314/https://ualawccstest.srv.ualberta.ca/2016/12/the-monarchy-in-canada-god-save-the-queen |url-status=dead}}}} The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, claimed in 2022, "we cannot overlook that she [Queen Elizabeth II] represented an institution, the British Crown, that has caused significant harm to Quebecers and Indigenous nations."

Within Quebec, too, the Canadian Crown is often depicted as being synonymous with the British Crown, with Quebec sovereigntists arguing that it is fundamentally foreign to Quebec and should be abolished within the province as a part of Quebec independence. For instance, in the televised Radio-Canada leaders' debate on 22 September 2022, during that year's general election in the province, the moderator, Patrice Roy, asked the panel, with "incredulous chuckles", "should we still, in Quebec, swear allegiance to the British Crown, thus Charles III [to take one's seat in the National Assembly]?"{{Citation |url=https://parliamentum.org/2022/10/19/how-would-we-amend-or-abolish-the-oath-of-allegiance-to-the-king-in-the-constitution-act-1867 |last=Bowden |first=James |title=How Would We Amend or Abolish the Oath of Allegiance to the King in the Constitution Act, 1867? |date=19 October 2022 |publisher=Parliamentum |access-date=9 March 2023}} Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet on 26 October 2022 tabled a motion in the House of Commons proposing that the "House express its desire to sever ties between the Canadian state and the British monarchy."{{Citation |url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/votes/44/1/199 |author=Parliament of Canada |title=Notes > 44th Parliament, 1st Session - Vote No. 199 |date=26 October 2022 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=3 February 2023}} This motion was defeated 266 to 44.

{{Main|Debate on the monarchy in Canada}}

{{Further|Monarchism in Canada|Republicanism in Canada}}

Outside of academic circles, there has been little national debate on the monarchy.{{Harvnb|EKOS|2002|p=34}} The position of monarch in Canada is highly protected by the Constitution Act, 1982—which mandates that any major constitutional amendment, such as any change to the monarchy, must receive the consent of the Senate, the House of Commons, and all ten provincial legislative assemblies. Abolishing the monarchy may also be complicated by the fact that First Nations treaties are officially between the Crown and Indigenous peoples.{{#tag:ref|Lagassé said, "you would need to have Indigenous peoples involved and consulted properly as well, in particular, since their treaty rights are understood to flow from treaties with the Crown."{{Citation |url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-what-happened-to-canadas-anti-monarchist-moment |last=Selley |first=Chris |title=What happened to Canada's anti-monarchist moment? |date=28 September 2022 |newspaper=National Post |access-date=27 March 2023}}|group=n|name=whathappened}}

[[Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, speaks with members of the Monarchist League of Canada at a League reception held at the Spoke Club in Toronto|thumb]]

Canada has two special-interest groups representing the debate, who occasionally argue the issue in the media: the Monarchist League of Canada (MLC) and Citizens for a Canadian Republic.{{Cite web |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/new/index.html |title=Who we are and what we do |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |access-date=28 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423185516/http://www.monarchist.ca/new/index.html |archive-date=23 April 2008}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.canadian-republic.ca/goals.html |title=Our goals |publisher=Citizens for a Canadian Republic |access-date=28 May 2009}} There are also other organizations that support and advocate the monarchy, such as the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada,{{Citation |url=https://iscc-iecc.ca/our-mission |title=Our mission |publisher=Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada |access-date=10 August 2022}} the Canadian Royal Heritage Trust,{{Cite web |url=http://www.crht.ca/Monarchy.html |title=Discovering Canada's Monarchy |publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |access-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415210925/http://www.crht.ca/Monarchy.html |archive-date=15 April 2008}} the Friends of the Canadian Crown,{{Cite journal |title=Ottawa Conference Discusses Monarchy |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |issue=31 |page=10 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=Spring–Summer 2010 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2010/Spring_Summer_2010%20CMN_lr.pdf |access-date=17 June 2010}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}} Canadian Friends of the Royal Family,{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadians-apathetic-about-prince-charles-poll-1.824074 |title=Canadians apathetic about Prince Charles: poll |date=26 October 2009 |publisher=CBC |access-date=21 September 2015}} the {{Ill|Société de la Couronne du Canada|fr|vertical-align=sup}},{{Citation |url=https://monarchistsociety.org |title=The Crown Society of Canada |publisher=The Crown Society of Canada / La Société de la Couronne du Canada |access-date=24 February 2023}} the Orange Order in Canada,{{Cite web |url=http://www.grandorangelodge.ca |title=Purpose Statement > What the Association Stands For |publisher=Loyal Orange Association |access-date=28 May 2009}} and the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.{{Cite web |last=Mackenzie |first=Anne |title=A Short History of the United Empire Loyalists |website=The United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada |page=5 |date=2008 |url=http://www.uelac.org/PDF/loyalist.pdf |access-date=28 May 2009}}

Out of Canada's four most prominent political parties, neither the Liberal Party nor the Conservative Party are officially in favour of abolishing the monarchy (the Conservative Party cite support for constitutional monarchy as a founding principle in its policy declaration){{Cite web |title=Constitution |website=Conservative Party of Canada |date=29 March 2005 |url=https://www.conservative.ca/media/20050319-CPCConstitution.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101801/http://www.conservative.ca/media/20050319-CPCConstitution.pdf |archive-date=20 May 2011 |page=1 |access-date=1 June 2010}} and the New Democratic Party has no official position on the role of the Crown. Only some individual members of Parliament belonging to these parties and the leaders of the Bloc Québécois party have made any statements suggesting abolition of the monarchy.{{Cite news |title=Bloc Québécois leader calls monarchy "ridiculous" |publisher=CTV |date=7 May 2008 |url=http://calgary.ctvnews.ca |access-date=28 May 2009}}{{Cite news |last=Thompson |first=Elizabeth |title=Royal rumble: Queen not welcome at Quebec celebrations, Duceppe says |newspaper=The Gazette |date=17 April 2007 |url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=c78844d9-74e2-4665-a030-14305de0e119 |access-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107032950/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=c78844d9-74e2-4665-a030-14305de0e119 |archive-date=7 November 2012}}

Opinion polls on the Canadian monarchy have been regularly conducted since the 1990s. An analysis of these polls in 2008 highlighted an increased disaffection with the monarchy, albeit with internal contradictions in specific polling results, with some criticizing the polling questions for using "inconsistent and sometimes ambiguous wording."{{Harvnb|Boyce|2008|p=223}} Questions often describe the monarch or monarchy as "British", terminology at odds with the contemporary situation in Canada, wherein the monarchy is a Canadian institution,{{Refn|{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|pages=2, 3, 39, 40}}}} separate from that of the United Kingdom,{{Refn|{{Cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx |author=The Royal Household |title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada > History and present government |publisher=Queen's Printer |access-date=5 March 2010 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727070332/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx |url-status=dead}}}} and it, the Crown, and royal family are referred to as Canadian.{{Refn|{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|pp=2–3, 9–10, 35–38, 40, 50, 53, 56, XII}}{{Harvnb|Monet|1979|p=5}}{{Cite web |author=Elizabeth II |author-link=Elizabeth II |date=11 February 1953 |title=An Act respecting the Royal Style and Titles |series=1 |location=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/fr-rf/titre-eng.cfm#a1 |access-date=15 May 2009 |archive-date=9 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209131104/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/fr-rf/titre-eng.cfm#a1 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.ops.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=67ee8c0d-ae95-4ab2-87ff-e0a510ce3727 |last=Office of the Provincial Secretary |title=Forms of Address |page=2 |publisher=Queen's Printer for Saskatchewan |access-date=24 July 2010 |archive-date=3 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003102104/http://www.ops.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=67ee8c0d-ae95-4ab2-87ff-e0a510ce3727 |url-status=dead}}{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2015|pp=iv, 2, 10–11, 29–30, 35}}}} Both monarchists and republicans agree the populace's general lack of understanding about the monarchy affects opinions.{{Cite web |url=http://www.canadian-republic.ca/polls.html |title=Opinion Polls in Canada |publisher=Citizens for a Canadian Republic |access-date=24 July 2010}}

The idea of a uniquely Canadian monarch,{{Cite journal| last1=Bethune| first1=Brian| last2=Treble| first2=Patricia |title=Who will wear the crown in Canada? |journal=Maclean's |issue=July 2010 |publisher=Rogers Communications |location=Toronto |date=1 July 2010 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2010/07/01/who-will-wear-the-crown |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=6 July 2010}} either one descended from the House of Windsor or coming from a First Nations royal house,{{Refn|{{Cite magazine |last=Coyne |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Coyne |title=Defending the royals |magazine=Maclean's |publisher=Roger's Communications |location=Toronto |date=13 November 2009 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/2009/11/13/defending-the-royals |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=18 February 2010}}{{Cite book |last=Clarke |first=George Elliott |author-link=George Elliott Clarke |date=7 June 2005 |publication-date=7 June 2005 |contribution=Speech to the University of Alberta Convocation |contribution-url=http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/senate/news.cfm?story=36105 |editor-last=Lingley |editor-first=Scott |title=Clarke calls on grads to help achieve the ideals of Canada |location=Calgary |publisher=University of Alberta Senate |access-date=24 May 2009 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/senate/news.cfm?story=36105 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223080137/http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/senate/news.cfm?story=36105 |archive-date=23 February 2012}}{{Cite web |url=http://themonarchist.blogspot.com/2010/06/arguments-for-repatriating-monarchy.html |title=Arguments for Repatriating the Monarchy |publisher=The Monarchist |date=25 June 2010 |access-date=23 June 2010}}{{Cite journal |last=Gillespie |first=Kevin |title=A Uniquely Canadian Crown? |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Spring-Summer 2010 |issue=31 |page=11 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2010 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2010/1/7.pdf |access-date=18 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218142140/http://www.monarchist.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2010/1/7.pdf |archive-date=18 December 2014}}}} has been proffered as an alternative. However, there has been no popular or official support for such a change.

{{Canada provinces map|border=yes|align=r8ght|AB =Monarchy in Alberta|BC =Monarchy in British Columbia|SK =Monarchy in Saskatchewan|MB =Monarchy in Manitoba|ON =Monarchy in Ontario|QC =Monarchy in Quebec|NB =Monarchy in New Brunswick|PE =Monarchy in Prince Edward Island|NS =Monarchy in Nova Scotia|NL =Monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador|YU=| NT=| NU=|| caption=Monarchy by provinces}}

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{{Notelist}}

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• {{Cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Roberts (Canadian politician) |title=Ensuring Constitutional Wisdom During Unconventional Times |journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review |volume=23 |issue=1 |publisher=Commonwealth Parliamentary Association |location=Ottawa |date=2009 |url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/32/1/32n1_09e_Roberts.pdf |access-date=21 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426045234/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/32/1/32n1_09e_Roberts.pdf |archive-date=26 April 2012}}
• {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=David E. |title=The Invisible Crown |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=1995 |location=Toronto |isbn=0-8020-7793-5}}
• {{Cite book |last=Tidridge |first=Nathan |title=Canada's Constitutional Monarchy: An Introduction to Our Form of Government |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |date=2011 |isbn=978-1-4597-0084-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JvGsvHsAtDgC}}
• {{Cite book |last=Torrance |first=David |title=The Death of a Monarch |date=8 September 2022a |publisher=House of Commons Library |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9372/CBP-9372.pdf |access-date=1 March 2023}}
• {{Cite book |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9621/CBP-9621.pdf |last=Torrance |first=David |title=The Accession of King Charles III |page=5 |date=29 September 2022b |publisher=House of Commons Library |access-date=21 April 2023}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Trepanier |first=Peter |title=Some Visual Aspects of the Monarchical Tradition |journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review |volume=27 |issue=2 |publisher=Commonwealth Parliamentary Association |location=Ottawa |date=2004 |url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/27/2/27n2_04e_trepanier.pdf |access-date=8 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20121009163622/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/27/2/27n2_04e_trepanier.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2012}}

{{Refend}}

{{Refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite book |author=Canadian Press |author-link=Canadian Press |title=Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family in Canada (Golden Jubilee) |place=Toronto |publisher=Quarry Heritage |date=2002 |isbn=1-5508-2301-9}}
• {{Cite book |last=Coates |first=Colin |title=Majesty In Canada: Essays On The Role of Royalty |place=Hamilton |publisher=Dundurn Press |date=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhFyvhpPx8MC&q=Majesty%20In%20Canada%3A%20Essays%20On%20The%20Role%20of%20Royalty&pg=PP1 |isbn=1-5500-2586-4}}
• {{Citation |last=Farthing |first=John |title=Freedom Wears a Crown |edition=First |editor-last=Robinson |editor-first=Judith |publisher=Kingswood House |date=1957 |location=Toronto |asin=B002CZW3T2}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Munro |first=Kenneth |editor-last=Coates |editor-first=Colin |title=The Crown and French Canada: The role of the Governors-General in Making the Crown relevant, 1867–1917 |journal=Imperial Canada |pages=109–121 |publisher=The University of Edinburgh |date=1977}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Munro |first=Kenneth |title=Canada as Reflected in her Participation in the Coronation of her Monarchs in the Twentieth Century |journal=Journal of Historical Sociology |pages=21–46 |date=March 2001 |doi=10.1111/1467-6443.00133 |volume=14}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Skolnik |first=Michael L. |date=1990 |title=Lipset's "Continental Divide" and the Ideological Basis for Differences in Higher Education between Canada and United States |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ420197 |journal=Canadian Journal of Higher Education |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=81–93 |doi=10.47678/cjhe.v20i2.183075 |issn=0316-1218 |doi-access=free}}
• {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=David E. |title=The Republican Option in Canada: Past and Present |place=Toronto-Buffalo-London |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=1999 |url=https://archive.org/details/republicanoption0000smit |url-access=registration |quote=The Republican Option in Canada: Past and Present. |isbn=0-8020-4469-7}}
• {{Cite book |last=Tasko |first=Patti |title=Canada's Queen: Elizabeth II: A Celebration of Her Majestys Friendship with the People of Canada |place=Toronto |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-4701-5444-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourqueenelizabet0000unse}}
• {{Cite book| last1=Tidridge| first1=Nathan| last2=Guthrie| first2=Gavin |title=The Canadian Monarchy: Exploring the role of Canada's Crown in the day-to-day life of our country |place=Toronto |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-9781-8530-5}}
• {{Cite book |last=Vaughan |first=Frederick |title=Canadian Federalist Experiment: From Defiant Monarchy to Reluctant Republic |place=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |date=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRO-zOCq1ZwC&q=Canadian%20Federalist%20Experiment%3A%20From%20Defiant%20Monarchy%20to%20Reluctant%20Republic&pg=PP1 |isbn=0-7735-2537-8}}

• {{Cite video |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/royal_visit |title=The Royal Visit |medium=Film |publisher=National Film Board |location=Ottawa |date=1939}}
• {{Cite video |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/royal_journey |people=Bairstow, David; Parker, Gudrun; Roger |title=Royal Journey |medium=Film |publisher=National Film Board |location=Ottawa |date=1951}}
• {{Cite video |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/canada_at_coronation |people=Stark, Allen |title=Canada at the Coronation |medium=Film |publisher=National Film Board |location=Ottawa |date=1953}}
• {{Cite video |people=Howe, John |title=The Sceptre and the Mace |medium=Film |publisher=National Film Board |location=Ottawa |date=1957}}
• {{Cite video |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/royal-river |people=Sparling, Gordon; Blais, Roger |title=Royal River |medium=Film |publisher=National Film Board |location=Ottawa |date=1959}}
• {{Cite video |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/queen_in_canada_1964 |people=Sparling, Gordon |title=The Queen in Canada, 1964 |medium=Film |publisher=National Film Board |location=Ottawa |date=1964}}
• {{Cite video |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/pinto_for_the_prince |people=Low, Colin; Spotton, John |title=A Pinto for the Prince |medium=Film |publisher=National Film Board |location=Ottawa |date=1979}}
• {{Cite video |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/portrait |people=Hubert, Davis |title=The Portrait |medium=Video |publisher=National Film Board |location=Ottawa |date=2012}}
• {{Cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4F968dFp4s |author=CPAC |title=The Queen's Power in Canada |publisher=YouTube |date=2018}}

{{Refend}}

{{Commons category|Canadian monarchy}}

• [https://www.canada.ca/en/services/culture/canadian-identity-society/monarchy-crown.html Government of Canada: Monarchy and the Crown]
• [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/constitutional-monarchy The Canadian Encyclopedia: Constitutional monarchy]
• [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/crown The Canadian Encyclopedia: Crown]
• [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereign The Canadian Encyclopedia: Sovereign]
• [https://iscc-iecc.ca/ Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada]
• [https://www.monarchist.ca/index.php/our-monarchy/canada-s-monarchy Monarchist League of Canada: Our Monarchy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313163734/https://www.monarchist.ca/index.php/our-monarchy/canada-s-monarchy |date=13 March 2023}}

{{Canadian monarchy}}

{{Canada topics}}

{{Charles III}}

{{Commonwealth realms}}

{{Heads of state and government of North America}}

{{Monarchies}}

{{American monarchies}}

Category:Government of Canada

Category:Government in Canada

Category:Parliament of Canada

Category:Legal history of Canada

Canada

Category:Canadian heraldry

Category:Canadian identity