The Ontario Public Service
The Government of Ontario includes ministries, agencies and Crown corporations. Its workforce of 60,000+ public servants is called the Ontario Public Service (OPS).
About the OPS
Information about the Ontario public service, the organization that provides government services to you.
Ministries
Learn about the roles and responsibilities of Ontario’s ministries and read about their ministers.
Agencies and public appointments
Ontario has over 540 agencies, boards, commissions, councils, authorities and foundations.
Ontario’s Secretary of the Cabinet
The Secretary of the Cabinet is the Premier’s Deputy Minister, the Head of the Ontario Public Service and the Clerk of the Executive Council.
Meet the Secretary of the Cabinet
Michelle E. DiEmanuele was appointed Secretary of the Cabinet on June 20, 2021.
Michelle has spent her career in the public and private sectors leading large-scale service change and cultural transformation. A dynamic, people- and service-oriented leader, Michelle is known for her ability to lead large, complex organizations through periods of significant change and renewal, driving high levels of service and financial performance for consumers, the public and vulnerable populations through effective leadership.
Michelle built her 24-year Ontario Public Service career serving across multiple ministries, leading teams and files across the social, health and justice portfolios, as well within central agencies. Her commitment to people-centred outcomes and her work with the most vulnerable in her society include her role as Associate Secretary of the Cabinet, Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Chair of the Public Service Commission of Ontario and Deputy Minister of Government and Consumer Services.
During this time, Michelle led the transformation of human resources, information technology and business services for the Ontario Government, reforming them to a more modernized service delivery operation. She also served as interim CEO at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), implementing 177 recommendations in the provincial Ombudsman’s report on the OLG, including the rollout of Ticket Checkers and the “sign your ticket” campaign. Michelle also led the renewal of public services through ServiceOntario, including the introduction of the first-ever “Money Back Guarantee” for government services in North America.
Michelle returned to the OPS after more than a decade serving as President and CEO of Trillium Health Partners (THP), one of the largest community-based acute care hospital networks in Canada. Among her accomplishments at THP, she led the largest voluntary hospital merger in Canada of Credit Valley Hospital and Trillium Health Centre, established the Institute for Better Health, forged a number of notable partnerships in the community to improve health care delivery and outcomes, and led the organization through a global pandemic.
Beyond a dedication to public service, Michelle has also served as Vice President of Branch and Small Business Banking, Retail Markets/Human Resources at CIBC, and Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development at Brookfield Properties Ltd. She has also been recognized as a trailblazer and change leader from the Hall of Fame of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, Top 40 under 40. She is the recipient of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Order of Ontario. She’s also served on various public and private sector boards and councils including the Toronto Police Services Board’s Transformational Task Force. She currently serves as a member on the Advisory Council to the Order of Ontario.
In 2023, Michelle was bestowed with an honorary Doctor of Laws (Hon. LL.D.) from the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University for her dedication to public service, community building and transformative leadership. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Waterloo and her Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Toronto. Michelle is married with 2 grown children.
Learn about previous Secretaries
Meet the team
Learn more about Deputy Ministers.
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