In the federal government, what is the Prime Minister responsible for?

Discover Canada records this in one direct sentence. The guide writes: In the federal government, the Prime Minister selects the Cabinet ministers and is responsible for the operations and policy of the government. The responsibility the test wants is therefore operations and policy of the government.

Two halves of one role. Discover Canada commits the Prime Minister to TWO duties in this single sentence: selecting the Cabinet ministers AND responsibility for the operations and policy of the government. So the Prime Minister is not merely a figurehead leader — the PM personally chooses who serves in Cabinet, then bears responsibility for how the government runs and what it stands for.

The PM is the head of government. Discover Canada writes: "There is a clear distinction in Canada between the head of state — the Sovereign — and the head of government — the Prime Minister, who actually directs the governing of the country." So the Prime Minister's responsibility for operations and policy is the practical fulfilment of the head-of-government role. The Sovereign reigns; the Prime Minister governs. "Operations" is the day-to-day administration; "policy" is the direction the government chooses to take.

The PM's reach extends beyond Cabinet. Discover Canada notes that the Governor General is "appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister, usually for five years"; that "Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister and serve until age 75"; and that "the Prime Minister may ask the Governor General to call an earlier election." So the Prime Minister's responsibility for operations and policy comes paired with appointment power over the Governor General, the Cabinet, and the Senate — and election-timing influence. The PM's responsibility for government operations and policy is therefore not a narrow administrative job but the central executive role in Canadian government, paired with broad institutional powers and constrained by Parliament's confidence.

The question is testing whether new citizens know the Prime Minister's federal responsibility. Discover Canada commits to one phrase: operations and policy of the government. The right test answer matches that.

The wrong answer choices each substitute a different role. Approving new laws is the role of royal assent — granted by the Governor General on behalf of the Sovereign, not the Prime Minister. The municipal-assemblies option describes local council voting by citizens, not a PM duty. The election-organising option describes the role of an independent election administrator, not the PM. Only the operations-and-policy answer matches the source.