The Anglican Church of Canada needs to prepare for electing the 16th primate at General Synod in May 2028 and should make significant changes to the way it handles the onboarding of new primates, current primate Archbishop Shane Parker told Council of General Synod (CoGS) at its November meeting.
Convention sees the primate going from election to installation in as little as a day or two, during a meeting of General Synod, which means this person becomes actively responsible for the duties of the office very shortly after they find out they’ve been elected, he said. Complicating planning and decision-making in those early days after election is a lack of written information on where they are expected to live as primate, what salary range is available for the position and exactly what the ministry of the primate entails, he said.
To provide greater clarity, Parker proposed creating a new set of procedures for informing the primate of their choices—whether to move to Toronto and get a residence there or continue to live in their current home and commute, for example. The salary range for each option should be provided, possibly with a higher range to cover housing costs for those who relocate—and clear expectations for those who do not.
He also proposed a longer period between the election of a new primate and their formal installation, to grant new primates more time to make decisions and transition into the role.
“The person should not assume the full weight of the office the day after or two days after they are elected, considering that they are still the bishop of a diocese,” Parker said. That may mean electing and celebrating them at General Synod and then officially installing them in a smaller ceremony up to a few months later, he said.
These changes could likely be made in compliance with the existing canon on the primacy, without requiring any changes to the canon itself, chancellor of General Synod George Cadman confirmed later during the CoGS meeting. For example, the canon already provides for a period of up to 90 days before a newly elected primate takes up the office, he said.
The governance working group has already begun work on transition planning, salary ranges and relocation costs, added the chancellor, who chairs the group, and it hopes to bring options on these to CoGS’ spring 2027 meeting.
