Order of Canada - Creation

Creation

The process of founding the Order of Canada began in early 1966 and came to a conclusion on 17 April 1967, when the organisation was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II, on the advice of her then Canadian prime minister, Lester B. Pearson, who was assisted with the establishment of the order by John Matheson. The association was then officially launched on 1 July 1967, the 100th anniversary of the formation of Canadian Confederation, with Governor General Roland Michener being the first inductee to the order—to the level of Companion—and on 7 July of the same year, 90 more people were appointed, including Vincent Massey, Louis St. Laurent, Hugh MacLennan, David Bauer, Gabrielle Roy, Donald Creighton, Thérèse Casgrain, Wilder Penfield, Arthur Lismer, M. J. Coldwell, Edwin Baker, Alex Colville, and Maurice Richard. During a visit to London, United Kingdom, later in 1967, Michener presented the Queen with her Sovereign's badge for the Order of Canada, which she first wore during a banquet in Yellowknife in July 1970.

From the Order of Canada grew a larger Canadian honours system, thereby reducing the use of British honours (i.e. those administered by the Queen in her British privy council). Among the awards of the Canadian honours system, the Order of Canada comes second only to membership in the Order of Merit, which is within the personal gift of Canada's monarch. By the 1980s, Canada's provinces began to develop their own distinct honours and decorations.