Departments Designated to Support Sport and Disability Minister

Summary#

This is the Order Designating the Department of Health and the Department of Canadian Heritage to Provide Support to the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities: SI/2023-37. It repeals an earlier order and says the Department of Health will support the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities on physical activity, while the Department of Canadian Heritage will support the Minister on all other responsibilities. The order (P.C. 2023-762) was made on July 26, 2023 and published in the Gazette on August 16, 2023.

What it does#

• Under the Salaries Act, it repeals the previous Order in Council P.C. 2021-925 (SI/2021-77).
• It designates the Department of Health to provide support to the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities for matters relating to physical activity.
• It designates the Department of Canadian Heritage to provide support to the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities for all of the Minister’s other responsibilities.

Who's affected#

• The Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities (administratively).
• The Department of Health and the Department of Canadian Heritage, and their staff who will carry out the designated support roles.
• Other federal employees and units that coordinate with those departments on sport, physical activity or disability-related issues.
• It is primarily an internal government change; the notice does not itself change laws, funding levels, or public program rules.

Why it matters#

• It clarifies which federal department is responsible for providing administrative and policy support to the Minister on different topics.
• That can change who stakeholders contact within the federal government for issues about physical activity versus other sport and disability matters.
• Repealing the 2021 order updates the formal assignment of those support duties, which affects how the central government organizes these responsibilities.