While the seal is affixed to Acts of Parliament that have been granted Royal Assent (and thus passing them into law), the seal is also used for granting commissions to representatives of Her Majesty the Queen, as well as cabinet ministers, judges and other senior officials. Many other officials, such as officers in Her Majesty's Canadian Forces, receive commissions affixed with the Privy Seal and not the Great Seal.

The first Great Seal of Canada was carved in the United Kingdom in 1869 and sent to Canada to replace a temporary seal which had been used since Canadian Confederation in 1867; it depicted Queen Victoria seated beneath a canopy.