Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named the Liberal MPs that will make up his middle bench: those who didn't make the cut for the front bench, but also aren't relegated to the back.

Parliamentary secretaries assist and represent ministers in their absence, including taking questions in the House of Commons on the minister's behalf.

The appointments come at a busy time for the nascent government has it struggles to meet commitments on refugees and undertakes an ambitious agenda to reform the tax system and the way Members of Parliament are elected.

Trudeau's parliamentary secretaries are:

Celina Caesar-Chavannes (Whitby), Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

Adam Vaughan (Spadina-Fort York), Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Intergovernmental Affairs)

Peter Schiefke (Vaudreuil–Soulanges), Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Youth)

Michel Picard (Montarville), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Jean-Claude Poissant (La Prairie), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

Pamela Goldsmith-Jones (West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Omar Alghabra (Mississauga Centre), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs)

Arif Virani (Parkdale–High Park), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Yvonne Jones (Labrador), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs

Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra), Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board

Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North), Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Greg Fergus (Hull-Aylmer), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

Terry Beech (Burnaby North–Seymour), Parliamentary Secretary for Science

Gudie Hutchings (Long Range Mountains), Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Tourism

François-Philippe Champagne (Saint-Maurice Champlain), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Sean Casey (Charlottetown), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Bill Blair (Scarborough-Southwest), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Leona Alleslev (Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement

David Lametti (LaSalle-Émard-Verdun), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade

Kamal Khera (Brampton West), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health

Terry Duguid (Winnipeg South), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

Kate Young (London West), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Karina Gould (Burlington), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development

Kim Rudd (Northumberland-Peterborough South), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources

Randy Boissonnault (Edmonton Centre), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Stéphane Lauzon (Argenteuil–La Petite-Nation), Parliamentary Secretary for Sport and Persons with Disabilities

Anju Dhillon (Dorval–Lachine–LaSalle), Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women

Emmanuel Dubourg (Bourassa), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue

Karen McCrimmon (Kanata–Carleton), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence

Jonathan Wilkinson (North Vancouver), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change

John McKay (Scarborough–Guildwood), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence

Rodger Cuzner (Cape Breton–Canso), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour

Pablo Rodriguez (Honoré-Mercier), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

Mark Holland (Ajax), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions

Serge Cormier (Acadie-Bathurst), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Beyond providing help for ministers, appointing parliamentary secretaries also helps Trudeau reward MPs and bolster the regional representation on his team.

With the added responsibilities, MPs chosen for the role also get a $16,600 raise on top of their normal MP salary of $167,400.