The Great Seal of Canada is used on all state documents such as proclamations and commissions of cabinet ministers, senators, judges and senior government officials. The governor general is the official keeper of the Great Seal, however the Registrar General is responsible for its custodianship on a day-to-day basis.
The first Great Seal of Canada depicted Queen Victoria seated beneath a canopy and was carved in United Kingdom in 1869 and sent to Canada to replace a temporary seal which had been used since Canadian Confederation in 1867.
The current seal was made by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1952 at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada in 1952. It bears the effigy of the Queen in her robes, holding the orb and sceptre, and shows her sitting on the coronation chair. The existing seal will be destroyed and a new seal will be struck when her successor assumes the throne.
Commissions issued under the Great Seal of Canada are governor-generals, federal cabinet ministers and members of the Queen's Privy Council, lieutenant governors of provinces, provincial administrators, ambassadors and high commissioners, federally appointed judges, senators, officers of parliament, deputy ministers, of permanent federal commissions, boards and corporations, regular members of permanent international commissions, Commissioners under the Inquiries Act, Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Canada's territories, Chief of the Defence Staff, Commissioner and Officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police upon their first appointment to the rank of an officer, Federally appointed Queen's Counsel, Commissioners to administer oaths, and persons to whom the issuance of a commission under the Great Seal is provided for by law.
Documents issued under the Great Seal of Canada are letters patent constituting the officer of the governor general; proclamations; land grants by the Crown; and election writs.
This sub-series contains correspondence, photographs and records related to the creation, design and issuance of the Great Seal of Canada. Researchers should also consult the linked accession records.
