Department
A department is an organization of civil servants headed by
a Minister who is a member of Cabinet. The senior civil servant in each
department is called a Deputy Minister and he or she guides the day-to-day operations of the department.
Agency
An agency is a component of government which is not a "department" as
defined above. An agency may, for example, be a crown corporation or
a hospital board. An agency is a government organization that belongs to::
- Part 1 regular departments and some agencies
- Part 2 School Personnel
- Part 3 Regional Hospital Corporations and Schools of Nursing
- Part 4 Other Corporations, Agencies and Commissions.
For more information regarding Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4, refer to the
Public Service Labour
Relations Act, (First Schedule).
Offices such as the Office of the Auditor General and the Office of the
Chief Electoral Officer are also considered agencies.
As of June 2001, most Part 1 and 4 departments and agencies have joined
InfoSource for access to their contact information. In the future,
InfoSource would like to include the remaining agencies.
