Crown Corporation & Portfolio Governance : It is unknown what organizational areas had responsibility for Crown corporation & portfolio governance at the Department of Transport (DOT - also known as Transport Canada) for most of the department's early history. Normally, oversight of the portfolio would be the Minister's responsibility rather than the department's, so it may be the case that an area within the Minister's office was originally responsible. On the other hand, it is also feasible that a unit may have existed within DOT that provided support to the Minister in this work.
Information from the 1960s starts to give hints about some of the areas responsible for oversight. DOT's 1967-68 Annual Report discussed a branch titled 'Transportation Policy and Research Branch' whose responsibilities included control and audit of Crown corporation expenditures, and providing financial advice. Its responsibilities may have also extended to oversight. DOT's Policy and Coordination Group, established after a departmental re-organization in 1985, became responsible for oversight, filing related records to the file series 4006 - Crown Corporations - General.
In 2018 the Minister of Transport has one of the largest and most diverse portfolios in the Canadian government, responsible for the activities of 9 Crown corporations, an Agency, a Tribunal and two funds, along with 42 Shared Governance Organisations that include 18 Port Authorities, 21 Airport Authorities, the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, NAV CANADA, and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. As of 2018, portfolio oversight is mostly the responsibility of the Office of Crown Corporation Governance, under the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM), Corporate Services Group. However, TC's 2015 report titled "Audit of Oversight of Crown Corporations, Shared Governance and Other Organizations" stated that different units oversaw other institutions, including: TC Marine Policy is responsible for overseeing Ridley Terminals; TC Aviation Security provides support for CATSA, TC Programs Group provides support for the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority, and TC Marine Safety is responsible for the regulations pertaining to the four pilotage authorities.
