Chief Dominion Architect was a position created in 1871 by the Government of Canada to help design public federal buildings across Canada. The role reported to the Minister of Public Works. From World War II onwards to 1973 (renamed Chief Architect) the role was diminished with work being contracted out to third parties and finally replaced with a bureaucrat (Assistant Deputy Minister for Design and Construction, Department of Public Works and now Assistant Deputy Minister for the Real Property Branch, Public Works and Government Services Canada) responsible for finding external architects instead.