
New shoes on budget day is an unusual tradition among Canadian Ministers of Finance. The tradition holds that the Minister of Finance should purchase or wear new shoes when the budget is delivered.

Douglas Charles Abbott, was a Canadian Member of Parliament, federal Cabinet Minister, and justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Abbott's appointment directly from the Cabinet of Canada as Finance Minister to the Supreme Court is considered one of the most controversial in the Supreme Court's history.

Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett,, was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935. He led the Conservative Party from 1927 to 1938.

Edgar John "Ben" Benson, was a Canadian politician, businessman, diplomat, and university professor. He held four cabinet posts, most notably that of Minister of Finance under Pierre Trudeau, where he was instrumental in reforming Canada's income tax law. He was described as "Pierre Trudeau's unflappable finance minister, the pipe-smoking financial wizard who raised the ire of corporate Canada in the 1970s by bringing in a capital gains tax."

Sir Mackenzie Bowell was a Canadian newspaper publisher and politician, who served as the fifth prime minister of Canada, in office from 1894 to 1896.

Sir Richard John Cartwright was a Canadian businessman and politician.

Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.

John Carnell Crosbie, was a Canadian provincial and federal politician who served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to being lieutenant governor, he served as a provincial cabinet minister under premiers Joey Smallwood and Frank Moores as well as a federal cabinet minister during the Progressive Conservative (PC) governments of Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. Crosbie held several federal cabinet posts, including minister of finance, minister of justice, minister of transport, minister of international trade, and minister of fisheries and oceans.

Sir Henry Lumley Drayton, was a Canadian lawyer and politician.

Brigadier-General Charles Mills "Bud" Drury, was a Canadian military officer, lawyer, civil servant, businessman and politician.

Charles Avery Dunning was the third premier of Saskatchewan. Born in England, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 16. By the age of 36, he was premier. He had a successful career as a farmer, businessman, and politician, both provincially and federally.

William Stevens Fielding, was a Canadian Liberal politician, the seventh premier of Nova Scotia (1884–96), and the federal Minister of Finance 1896–1911 and 1921–25.
James Michael Flaherty was a Canadian politician who served as the federal minister of finance from 2006 to 2014. First elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1995 under the Progressive Conservative (PC) banner, Flaherty would sit as a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) until 2006, also serving in a number of Cabinet positions from 1997 to 2002 during Premier Mike Harris' government. He unsuccessfully ran for the PC leadership twice, before deciding to enter federal politics and running for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2006 election. With his party forming government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named Flaherty as the new finance minister, a position he would hold until his resignation in 2014. During his tenure, Flaherty tabled nine federal budgets and shaped Canadian fiscal policy through the 2008 financial crisis. He was the longest continuously serving minister in Harper's government until his resignation. Flaherty died of a heart attack three weeks after his resignation as minister. His widow, Christine Elliott, is currently the deputy premier of Ontario.

Donald Methuen Fleming, was a Canadian parliamentarian, International Monetary Fund official and lawyer, born in Exeter, Ontario, Canada.

Sir George Eulas Foster, GCMG, (Canadian) PC, (Imperial) PC was a Canadian politician and academic.

Christina Alexandra Freeland is a Canadian politician serving since 2019 as the tenth deputy prime minister of Canada and since 2020 as the minister of finance. A member of the Liberal Party, Freeland represents the Toronto riding of University—Rosedale in the House of Commons. She was first appointed to Cabinet following the 2015 election and is the first woman to hold the finance portfolio.

Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, was a politician and a father of the Canadian Confederation.

Ralph Edward Goodale is a Canadian diplomat and retired politician who has served as the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since April 19, 2021.

Walter Edward Harris, was a Canadian politician and lawyer.

Sir Francis Hincks, was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the Province of Canada (1851–1854), Governor of Barbados (1856–1862), Governor of British Guiana (1862–1869) and Canadian Minister of Finance (1869–1873).

James Lorimer Ilsley, was a Canadian politician and jurist.

Allan Joseph MacEachen, was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as a senator and several times as a Cabinet minister. He was the first deputy prime minister of Canada and served from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.

John Paul Manley is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the eighth deputy prime minister of Canada from 2002 to 2003. He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to 2004. From January 2010 to October 2018 he was president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada. He is currently the Chairman of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and serves on the advisory board of the Leaders' Debates Commission.

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer, politician, and author who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.

Archibald Woodbury McLelan, was a Canadian shipbuilder and politician, the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.

William Francis Morneau Jr. is a Canadian businessman and former Liberal Party politician who served as minister of finance and member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto Centre from 2015 to 2020.

George Clyde Nowlan, was a Canadian Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. A member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, he served from 9 August 1962–21 April 1963 as the Minister of Finance in the administration of John Diefenbaker, and was also responsible for the CBC.
Joseph Oliver, is a Canadian politician who served as Minister of Finance from 2014 to 2015. He was elected to the House of Commons in the 2011 federal election and represented the electoral district of Eglinton—Lawrence as a member of the Conservative Party until his defeat in the 2015 election. In 2017 Oliver was named non-executive chairman of the board of Echelon Wealth Partners, an independent, Canadian-owned and -operated wealth management and capital markets firm. In March 2019 he was appointed to the board of directors of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).

James Layton Ralston was a Canadian lawyer, soldier and politician.

Edgar Nelson Rhodes,, was a Canadian parliamentarian from Nova Scotia who served as Premier of Nova Scotia from 1925 to 1930.

James Alexander Robb, was a Canadian Member of Parliament and cabinet minister. Robb was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet was a Scots-Quebecer politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada and the Executive Council of the Province of Canada. After Confederation, he held the offices of Solicitor General of Canada, Minister of Public Works and Minister of Finance in the new federal government. In the United Kingdom, he held the offices of Receiver General of the Duchy of Cornwall and Privy Counsellor.

Mitchell William Sharp was a Canadian politician and a Companion of the Order of Canada, most noted for his service as a Liberal Cabinet minister. He did, however, serve in both private and public sectors during his long career.

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family. As a pharmacist, he went into business as a druggist.

Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, was a Canadian father of Confederation: served as the sixth prime minister of Canada from May 1 to July 8, 1896. As the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He briefly served as the Canadian prime minister, from seven days after parliament had been dissolved, until he resigned on July 8, 1896 following his party's loss in the 1896 Canadian federal election. His 69-day tenure as prime minister is the shortest in Canadian history.

John Napier Wyndham Turner was a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984.

Sir William Thomas White, GCMG, PC (UK), PC (Can), was a Canadian politician and Cabinet minister.

Michael Holcombe Wilson was a Canadian businessman, politician and diplomat who served as minister of finance from 1984 to 1991 and minister of international trade from 1991 to 1993 under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.