This includes reviewing and controlling all government spending, approving labour agreements and workforce planning, management of the provincial contingency fund, and overseeing the procedures and directives that guide the operation of the Ontario Public Service.
Its primary role during this period was to review and approve Special Warrants and Treasury Board Orders to meet shortfalls in departmental estimates.
A private firm of auditors, Woods, Gordon and Company, recommended a complete revision of the functions of the Treasury Board to deal with the new situation.
Initially, the secretariat only has two broad functions: to support the Treasury Board as a committee of cabinet, and to provide management and budgetary advisory to ministries and agencies of government.
In 2005, the Management Board Secretariat ceased to exist, and most of its corporate management functions were reverted to a newly re-established Ministry of Government Services, while responsibilities for the provincial estimates and expenditure monitoring were transferred to the Ministry of Finance.