Who became Canada's first prime minister on July 1, 1867?

John A. Macdonald became Canada’s first prime minister on July 1, 1867.

That was the day the Constitution Act, 1867 came into force and the Dominion of Canada was created. Governor General Viscount Monck appointed Macdonald to lead the new federal government before Canada held its first general election. Macdonald then assembled a cabinet representing the new federation’s regions, language communities and religious interests.

Macdonald had been a leading architect of Confederation. He helped unite political rivals in the Great Coalition and took part in the Charlottetown, Quebec and London conferences that produced the constitutional arrangement for the new country. He served as prime minister from 1867 to 1873 and again from 1878 until his death in 1891.

Charles Tupper and George Brown were also major Confederation figures, while Alexander Mackenzie later succeeded Macdonald after his first government fell. None of them was Canada’s inaugural prime minister. Macdonald was also knighted on July 1, 1867, receiving the title Sir John A. Macdonald.