Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

According to the Constitution Act, 1867, Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of Canada and head of state. Since the Queen cannot be present in Ontario all of the time, she has a personal representative, known as the Lieutenant Governor, to exercise her powers and duties.

The office of Lieutenant Governor dates back over 220 years​ to before Confederation. In 1791, Major-General John Graves Simcoe became the first Lieutenant Governor of the newly formed province of Upper Canada (later Ontario), and set about establishing and locating a permanent capital at York (now Toronto).