List of Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada

This is a list of the Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada, who were the heads of government of the Province of Canada from the 1841 unification of Upper Canada and Lower Canada until Confederation in 1867.

Each administration was led by two men, one from Canada West (now Ontario) and one from Canada East (now Quebec). Officially, one of them at any given time had the title of Premier, while the other had the title of Deputy.

Colour key

• Green - reformers (Reform Party, Rouges Party, etc.)
• Yellow - conservatives (see Family Compact, Château Clique)
• Red - Liberal Party, Clear Grits
• Blue - Liberal-Conservative Party, Parti bleu

List

Canada West Premier			Canada East Premier			Term of office
1 (1 of 2)		Deputy premier (until 1842) / Premier William Draper (1801-1877)	1		Premier Samuel Harrison[1] (1802-1867)	5 February 1841	12 January 1842
			2		Deputy premier Charles Richard Ogden (1791-1866)	12 January 1842	14 September 1842
2		Deputy premier Robert Baldwin^2 (1804-1858)	3 (1 of 2)		Premier Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine^2 (1807-1864)	26 September 1842	27 November 1843
3		Acting premier[2] Sir Dominick Daly (1789-1868)	4		Acting premier[2] Sir Dominick Daly (1789-1868)	27 November 1843	12 December 1843
1 (2 of 2)		Premier William Draper (1801-1877)	5		Deputy premier Denis-Benjamin Viger (1774-1861)	12 December 1843	17 June 1846
			6		Deputy premier Denis-Benjamin Papineau (1789-1854)	17 June 1846	28 May 1847
5		Premier Henry Sherwood (1807-1855)				28 May 1847	11 March 1848
Responsible government[3]
6		Deputy premier Robert Baldwin (1804-1858)	3 (2 of 2)		Premier Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (1807-1864)	11 March 1848	28 October 1851
7		Premier Sir Francis Hincks (1807-1885)	7		Deputy premier Augustin-Norbert Morin (1803-1865)	28 October 1851	11 September 1854
8		Premier Sir Allan Napier MacNab (1798-1862)				11 September 1854	27 January 1855
			8 (1 of 2)		Deputy premier (until 1856) / Premier Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (1795-1865)	27 January 1855	24 May 1856
9 (1 of 3)		Deputy premier (until 1857) / Premier Sir John A. Macdonald (1815-1891)				24 May 1856	26 November 1857
			9 (1 of 2)		Deputy premier Sir George-Étienne Cartier (1814-1873)	26 November 1857	2 August 1858
10		Premier George Brown (1818-1880) Clear Grit Party	10 (1 of 2)		Deputy premier Antoine-Aimé Dorion (1818-1891) Rouge Party	2 August 1858	6 August 1858
9 (2 of 3)		Deputy premier Sir John A. Macdonald (1815-1891)	9 (2 of 2)		Premier Sir George-Étienne Cartier (1814-1873)	6 August 1858	24 May 1862
11		Premier John Sandfield MacDonald (1812-1872) Liberal Party	11		Deputy premier Louis-Victor Sicotte (1812-1889) Liberal Party	24 May 1862	15 May 1863
			10 (2 of 2)		Deputy premier Antoine-Aimé Dorion (1818-1891) Liberal Party	15 May 1863	30 May 1864
9 (3 of 3)		Deputy premier Sir John A. Macdonald (1815-1891) Liberal-Conservative Party	8 (2 of 2)		Premier Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (1795-1865) Liberal-Conservative Party	30 May 1864	30 July 1865
			12		Premier Sir Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau (1808-1894) Liberal-Conservative Party	30 July 1865	30 June 1867

Notes

1. This was a coalition of the moderate wings of the conservative and reform factions, rather than a regionally-based one.
2. All members of the governing Lafontaine-Baldwin coalition, except Daly, resigned in a protest over unapproved patronage appointments by the British-appointed governor: "the Metcalfe crisis". Daly would continue on as a member of the successor cabinet, headed by Draper.
3. In 1848, with the introduction of responsible government, Lafontaine and Baldwin became the first democratically elected leaders of the Province of Canada.