Generally, the Provincial Secretary acted as a province's Registrar-General and was responsible for formal documents and records such as licences, birth and death certificates, land registries and surveys, business registrations and writs.
In 1972 the Progressive Conservative government of Bill Davis adopted the provincial secretary title for a non-departmental cabinet portfolio in which the occupant either having responsibility spreading over several ministries, assisting a senior minister in an area or as a secondary portfolio for a senior minister giving him a broader responsibility or mandate area.
The positions were retained by Davis' successor, Frank Miller, in 1985 but were abolished when the Progressive Conservatives lost power to David Peterson's Liberals in 1985.
In addition, Secretariats were established for each field in order to provide analytical and research support to the Provincial Secretaries and the Cabinet Committees.
Premier Frank Miller continued with the practice of appointing Provincial Secretaries, but when David Peterson ascended to the Premiership in 1985, the secretariats were terminated.