Mary Simon in the context of "Governor-general"

The Government of Canada (French: gouvernement du Canada), formally His Majesty's Government (French: Gouvernement de Sa Majesté), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term Government of Canada refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown (together in the Cabinet) and the federal civil service (whom the Cabinet direct); it is corporately branded as the Government of Canada. There are over 100 departments and agencies, as well as over 300,000 persons employed in the Government of Canada. These institutions carry out the programs and enforce the laws established by the Parliament of Canada.

The federal government's organization and structure was established at Confederation, through the Constitution Act, 1867, wherein the Canadian Crown acts as the core, or "the most basic building block", of its Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarch, King Charles III is head of state and is personally represented by a governor general (currently Mary Simon). The prime minister (currently Mark Carney) is the head of government, who is invited by the Crown to form a government after securing the confidence of the House of Commons, which is typically determined through the election of enough members of a single political party in a federal election to provide a majority of seats in Parliament, forming a governing party. Further elements of governance are outlined in the rest of the Canadian constitution, which includes written statutes in addition to court rulings and unwritten conventions developed over centuries.

Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire and the Commonwealth. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general continue to be appointed as viceroy to represent the monarch of a personal union in any sovereign state over which the monarch does not normally reign in person (non-UK Commonwealth realm). In the British Empire, governors-general were appointed on the advice of the government of the United Kingdom and were often British aristocracy, but in the mid-twentieth century they began to be appointed on the advice of the independent government of each realm and were citizens of each independent state.

Governors-general have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and France in Indochina.

The governor general of Canada (French: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently King Charles III. The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the advice of his or her Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to administer the government of Canada in the monarch's name. The commission is for an indefinite period—known as serving at His Majesty's pleasure—usually five years. Since 1959, it has also been traditional to alternate between francophone and anglophone officeholders. The 30th and current governor general is Mary Simon, who was sworn in on 26 July 2021. An Inuk leader from Nunavik, Quebec, Simon is the first Indigenous person to hold the office.

As the sovereign's representative, the governor general carries out the day-to-day constitutional and ceremonial duties of the monarch. The constitutional duties include appointing lieutenant governors, Supreme Court justices, and senators; signing orders-in-council; summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the federal parliament; granting royal assent to bills; calling elections; and signing commissions for officers of the Canadian Armed Forces. The ceremonial duties include delivering the speech from the throne at the state opening of parliament; accepting letters of credence from incoming ambassadors; and distributing honours, decorations, and medals. Per the tenets of responsible government, the governor general acts almost always (except on the matter of honours) on the advice of the prime minister.

The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28 to elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, after Prime Minister Mark Carney advised her to dissolve Parliament. This was the first election to use a new 343-seat electoral map based on the 2021 census. Key issues of the election campaign included the cost of living, housing, crime, and newly imposed tariffs and threats of annexation from Donald Trump, the president of the United States.

The Liberal Party won a fourth term, emerging with a minority government for a third consecutive election; it also marked the first time they won the popular vote since 2015, doing so with the highest vote share for any party in a federal election since 1984, and their own highest vote share since 1980. The party's victory came after a substantial rebound in the polls, noted as being "one of the widest on record in any democracy". The election also saw the highest turnout since 1993, with 69.5% of Canada's 28 million eligible voters casting a ballot.