Throughout this process of gradually increasing Canadian independence, the role of governor general took on additional responsibilities. Although the post initially still represented the Government of the United Kingdom (that is, the monarch in his British council), the office was gradually Canadianized until, with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and the establishment of a separate and uniquely Canadian monarchy, the governor general became the direct personal representative of the independently and uniquely Canadian sovereign, the monarch in his Canadian council.

The present version of the office emerged with Canadian Confederation and the passing of the British North America Act, 1867, which defines the role of the governor general as 'carrying on the Government of Canada on behalf and in the Name of the King, by whatever Title he is designated'. Consequently, the office is, along with the Crown, the oldest continuous institution in Canada. Following the British conquest of the colony, the British monarch appointed governors of the Province of Quebec (later the Canadas) from 1763 onward. The office began in the 17th century, when the French crown appointed governors of the colony of Canada. Since 1959, it has also been traditional to alternate between francophone and anglophone officeholders-although many recent governors general have been bilingual. The commission is for an indefinite period-known as serving at His Majesty's pleasure-though five years is the usual length of time. The King, on the advice of his Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to carry on the Government of Canada in the King's name, performing most of his constitutional and ceremonial duties. The King is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but he resides in his oldest and most populous realm, the United Kingdom.

The governor general of Canada ( French: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently King Charles III.

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