Ebbie, here are the answers to your questions.

Yes, Canadian ministers and prime ministers do each take an oath of office. It can be stated 2 ways, it seems. You can "swear" or you can "declare" that you will do thus and so and be loyal to thus and so. If you swear, then you can end it with "so help me God". If you declare, however, then you don't bother with the "so help me God", so it's your choice whether to put God in the equation or not. Here are the details of the various oaths:

Canadian Oaths of office

Oath of Allegiance

I, __________, do swear (declare) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors.

So help me God.

The Oath of the Members of the Privy Council

I, __________, do solemnly and sincerely swear (declare) that I shall be a true and faithful servant to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, as a member of Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada. I will in all things to be treated, debated and resolved in Privy Council, faithfully, honestly and truly declare my mind and my opinion. I shall keep secret all matters committed and revealed to me in this capacity, or that shall be secretly treated of in Council. Generally, in all things I shall do as a faithful and true servant ought to do for Her Majesty.

So help me God.

Oath of Office (of a minister or prime minister)

I, _________, do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear (declare) that I will truly and faithfully, and to the best of my skill and knowledge, execute the powers and trusts reposed in me as ...........

So help me God.

Note: Individuals may choose to affirm their oath. In those cases, the word "swear" is replaced by the word "declare" and the expression "So help me God." is omitted.

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So, if the prime minister wanted to and it was Bill Shatner, he could, for example, say, "I, William Shatner, do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will truly and faithfully, and to the best of my skill and knowledge, execute the powers and trusts reposed in me as Prime Minister."

Period. That would be if he chose to declare it, and not mention God in any way.

But the really big difference from the USA is this:

1. It's not a great big huge public event (I have no recollection of ever seeing any Canadian prime minister take an oath of office...it just happens quietly the day after the election, and it happens in some government setting or in the governor-general's office or something like that.

2. It doesn't cost anything to do it. ;-) It's just a legal formality that involves very few people and takes about half a minute.


As you can see, the English Queen (or King) is considered the titular head of state. She never does anything here, though. She doesn't affect anything here. She doesn't tell our Canadian government what to do or anything like that...she is just a symbolic head of state...like a living crest or flag or something symbolic like that which is a leftover from an ancient tradition.

When I was a kid, I thought it was neat having a Queen. Kids are more openhearted and less cynical when it comes to stuff like that. They haven't developed pet political grudges to chew on yet, generally speaking, the way you find later when they have become adults.