Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Rickford Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages on August 30, 2010.

[3] On July 15, 2013, he was appointed the Minister of State (Science and Technology, and Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario).

Nault had represented the predecessor riding of Kenora-Rainy River from 1988 until 2004, when he chose not to run in the 2004 Canadian federal election.

Rickford re-entered politics on November 18, 2017, when he was acclaimed as the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidate in Kenora—Rainy River for the 2018 election.

On June 29, 2018, Rickford was appointed Ministry of Energy, Mines, Northern Development and Indigenous Affairs in the cabinet of Premier Doug Ford.