Ministry of Infrastructure (Ontario)

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Ministry of Infrastructure
Ministère de l’Infrastructure (French)
Ministry overview
Formed2016
Preceding Ministry
JurisdictionGovernment of Ontario
Ministers responsible
Websitewww.ontario.ca/page/ministry-infrastructure

The Ministry of Infrastructure is a ministry responsible for public infrastructure in the Canadian province of Ontario. The current minister is Kinga Surma.

It is currently responsible for two crown agencies: Waterfront Toronto and Infrastructure Ontario (which was merged with the Ontario Realty Corporation in 2011).[1]

History[edit]

The maintenance and management of public infrastructure has consistently been a key function of the government since well before Confederation.

The Board of Works in the Province of Upper Canada was responsible for superintending, managing and controlling public works in the province. It was merged with a similar board in Lower Canada in 1841. The board was replaced in 1846 by the commissioners of public works who were responsible for "managing and controlling the construction, maintenance and repair of all canals, harbours, roads or parts of roads, bridges, slides, and other public works and buildings". Although legislations did not specifically designate the office of the commissioners as the Department of Public Works, that is how the commissioners refer to it in their first annual report.

At Confederation in 1867, responsibility for public works in Ontario was taken over by the Department of Public Works for Ontario, administered by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works. In 1874, legislation was passed establishing a standalone commissioner to be responsible for the Department of Public Works. From 1896 to 1900 the Provincial Instructor in Road-Making was under the department.

In 1900, both the Office of the Commissioner of Highways and the Bureau of Labour were established as part of the Department of Public Works. In 1914, the Office of the Commissioner of Highways (by then renamed the Highways Branch), was elevated to Department status, becoming the Department of Public Highways. Similarly, by 1919, the Bureau of Labour had become the Department of Labour. Also in 1900, the Colonization Roads Branch was transferred to the Department of Public Works. Formerly with the Department of Crown Lands and responsible for constructing and repairing roads in sparsely settled areas of the province, this Branch was transferred to the Department of Lands, Forests and Mines in 1919.

The Department of Public Works continued to exist until 1972, when the government was considerably re-organized as the various Departments were restructured and renamed as Ministries. The Ministry of Government Services was created, assuming most of the functions of the former Department of Public Works, including the functions of constructing and maintaining government buildings.

In 1987, the Realty Group was formed within the Ministry of Government Services to provide accommodation and real estate services for the Ontario Government. In 1993, The Ontario Realty Corporation was established as the successor entity to the Realty Group, the Ontario Mortgage Corporation, and the Ontario Land Corporation. It was established as a Crown corporation and reported through the Management Board Secretariat. The Ministry of Government Services also ceased to exist in 1993, transferring most of its corporate services function, including buildings and facilities management, to the Management Board Secretariat.

In 2003, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal was created out of the winding-up of the Ontario Superbuild Corporation, inheriting its advisory and policy development and coordination responsibilities. Between 2003 and 2008, it assumed oversight of various agencies including the Smart Growth Secretariat, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Ontario Realty Corporation, Infrastructure Ontario, and Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

Between 2008 and 2010, the Ministry was briefly merged with the Ministry of Energy to form the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure. Between 2014 and 2016, it was again briefly merged, this time with the Economic Development Ministry to form the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.

List of ministers[edit]

Name Term of office Tenure Political party
(Ministry)
Note
Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works Liberal
Conservative

(MacDonald)
John Carling July 16, 1867 December 20, 1871 4 years, 157 days
Archibald McKellar December 20, 1871 October 25, 1872 2 years, 94 days Liberal
(Blake)
October 25, 1872 March 24, 1874 Liberal
(Mowat)
Commissioner of Public Works
Christopher Finlay Fraser April 4, 1874 May 30, 1894 20 years, 56 days Resigned due to poor health.
William Harty May 30, 1894 July 21, 1896 5 years, 144 days
July 21, 1896 October 21, 1899 Liberal
(Hardy)
Francis Robert Latchford October 21, 1899 November 22, 1904 5 years, 32 days Liberal
(Ross)
William Andrew Charlton November 22, 1904 February 8, 1905 78 days
Joseph Octave Reaume February 8, 1905 May 25, 1905 9 years, 236 days Conservative
(Whitney)
Minister of Public Works
Joseph Octave Reaume May 25, 1905 October 2, 1914
Findlay George MacDiarmid October 2, 1914 November 14, 1919 5 years, 43 days Conservative
(Hearst)
Concurrently Minister of Highways (April 8, 1915 to November 14, 1919)
Frank Campbell Biggs November 14, 1919 July 16, 1923 3 years, 244 days United Farmers
(Drury)
Concurrently Minister of Highways
George Stewart Henry July 16, 1923 September 16, 1930 7 years, 62 days Conservative
(Ferguson)
Concurrently Minister of Highways
Joseph Monteith September 16, 1930 December 15, 1930 3 years, 114 days Concurrently Minister of Highways and Minister of Labour
December 15, 1930 January 8, 1934 Conservative
(Henry)
Concurrently Minister of Labour
Leopold Macaulay January 12, 1934 July 10, 1934 179 days Concurrently Minister of Highways
Thomas McQuesten July 10, 1934 October 12, 1937 3 years, 94 days
(first instance)
Liberal
(Hepburn)
Concurrently Minister of Highways
Colin Campbell October 12, 1937 January 23, 1941 3 years, 103 days
Farquhar Oliver January 23, 1941 October 27, 1942 1 year, 277 days
(first instance)
Concurrently Minister of Welfare, resigned to protest Gordon Conant being named Premier.
Thomas McQuesten October 27, 1942 May 18, 1943 203 days
(second instance)
(3 years, 297 days in total)
Liberal
(Conant)
Concurrently Minister of Highways and Minister of Municipal Affairs
Farquhar Oliver May 18, 1943 August 17, 1943 91 days
(second instance)
(2 years, 6 days in total)
Liberal
(Nixon)
George Doucett August 17, 1943 October 19, 1948 8 years, 46 days PC
(Drew)
Concurrently Minister of Highways
October 19, 1948 May 4, 1949 PC
(Kennedy)
May 4, 1949 October 2, 1951 PC
(Frost)
Fletcher Stewart Thomas October 2, 1951 January 20, 1953 1 year, 110 days
William Griesinger January 20, 1953 May 6, 1958 5 years, 106 days Resigned from the provincial cabinet in 1958 after he was implicated in a stock trading scandal involving Northern Ontario Natural Gas.
James Allan May 14, 1958 December 22, 1958 222 days (interim)
Ray Connell December 22, 1958 November 8, 1961 10 years, 165 days
November 8, 1961 June 5, 1969 PC
(Robarts)
Jack Simonett June 5, 1969 March 1, 1971 1 year, 269 days
James Auld March 1, 1971 February 2, 1972 338 days
(first instance)
PC
(Davis)
Minister of Government Services
James Snow February 2, 1972 October 7, 1975 3 years, 247 days Ministry was formally renamed from Public Works to Government Services on April 7, 1972
Margaret Scrivener October 7, 1975 February 3, 1977 1 year, 119 days
John Smith February 3, 1977 June 23, 1977 140 days
James Auld June 23, 1977 September 21, 1977 90 days
(second instance)
(1 years, 63 days in total)
George McCague September 21, 1977 January 21, 1978 122 days
Lorne Henderson January 21, 1978 August 30, 1979 1 year, 221 days
Douglas Wiseman August 30, 1979 July 6, 1983 3 years, 310 days
George Ashe July 6, 1983 February 8, 1985 1 year, 217 days
Bob Runciman February 8, 1985 May 17, 1985 98 days PC
(Miller)
Jim Gordon May 17, 1985 June 26, 1985 40 days
Elinor Caplan June 26, 1985 June 16, 1986 355 days Liberal
(Peterson)
Sean Conway June 17, 1986 September 9, 1987 1 year, 84 days
Richard Patten September 29, 1987 August 2, 1989 1 year, 307 days
Chris Ward August 2, 1989 October 1, 1990 1 year, 60 days
Frances Lankin October 1, 1990 April 22, 1991 203 days NDP
(Rae)
Fred Wilson April 22, 1991 February 3, 1993 1 year, 287 days
Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet In 1993, most of the functions performed by the Ministry of Government Services were transferred to the Secretariat of the Management Board of Cabinet.
Brian Charlton February 3, 1993 June 26, 1995 2 years, 143 days
David Johnson June 26, 1995 October 10, 1997 2 years, 106 days PC
(Harris)
Chris Hodgson October 10, 1997 February 8, 2001 3 years, 121 days
David Tsubouchi February 8, 2001 April 15, 2002 2 years, 256 days
April 15, 2002 October 22, 2003 PC
(Eves)
Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal Liberal
(McGuinty)
David Caplan October 23, 2003 June 20, 2008 4 years, 241 days
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
George Smitherman June 20, 2008 November 9, 2009 1 year, 142 days
Gerry Phillips November 9, 2009 January 18, 2010 70 days
Brad Duguid January 18, 2010 August 18, 2010 212 days
(first instance)
Duguid continued to be Minister of Energy until 2011
Minister of Infrastructure
Bob Chiarelli August 18, 2010 February 11, 2013 2 years, 177 days
(first instance)
Glen Murray February 11, 2013 June 24, 2014 1 year, 133 days Liberal
(Wynne)
Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure
Brad Duguid June 24, 2014 June 13, 2016 1 year, 355 days
(second instance)
(2 years, 202 days in total)
Minister of Infrastructure
Bob Chiarelli June 13, 2016 June 29, 2018 2 years, 16 days
(second instance)
(4 years, 193 days in total)
Monte McNaughton June 29, 2018 June 20, 2019 356 days PC
(Ford)
Laurie Scott June 20, 2019 June 18, 2021 4 years, 279 days
Kinga Surma June 18, 2021 Present PC

(Ford)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Infrastructure Ontario and Ontario Realty Corporation To Merge". Ministry of Finance. January 25, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2013.

External links[edit]