Accordingly, the role is a temporary one meant to serve only during a vacancy in the governor general's office, and is not a title that is consistently held by the chief justice at all times.
The office of administrator may also exist in a provincial context, when a lieutenant governor is unable to perform their role representing the Crown in right of a province.
The first was in 1931, while Duff was still a puisne justice, between the departure of the Marquess of Willingdon for England on January 16, 1931, and the arrival of the Earl of Bessborough on April 4; in this context, on March 12 of that year, he became the first Canadian-born person ever to read a Speech from the Throne to open a session of the Parliament of Canada.
[3] After becoming chief justice in 1933, he served a second stint as administrator from February 11 to June 21, 1940, between the death of the Baron Tweedsmuir in office and the appointment of the Earl of Athlone.
The incumbent, Field Marshal the Viscount Alexander of Tunis, then left Canada, with Thibaudeau Rinfret becoming administrator until Massey could be sworn in.
Following Georges Vanier's death in office in March 1967, Robert Taschereau served as administrator for several weeks until the appointment of Roland Michener.