An order in council is a vehicle used to exercise power that the Legislative Assembly has delegated to Cabinet.  The delegation of power occurs through legislation so that decisions may be made without returning to the Legislature.

The document is a directive issued by the Lieutenant Governor on the advice of Cabinet authorizing certain actions to be done.

Orders in council serve a variety of purposes:

• implementing a policy decision;
• implementing an administrative decision beyond the sole authority of a minister; and
• recording a Cabinet decision by providing a document for public use.

An order in council is effective the day that it is signed by the Lieutenant Governor unless another date is specified in the order. 

Source: Government of Saskatchewan (www.gov.sk.ca) .