Lists of Canadians

Canadians are people who are identified with Canada through residential, legal, historical, or cultural means. This list groups people by their area of notability.

Architects

Hans Blumenfeld OC (1892–1988) – architect and city planner
Joan Burt (1930–2021) – architect
Douglas Cardinal OC RAIC (born 1934) – architect of Canadian Museum of Civilization
Mary Clark (born 1936) – architect and transportation planner
Ernest Cormier OC RAIC (1885–1980) – architect of Supreme Court of Canada building
A. J. Diamond OC RAIC (1934–2022) – architect of Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Margaret Synge Dryer (1921–1963) – architect
Arthur Erickson CC RAIC (1924–2008) – architect of Simon Fraser University, Robson Square, and the Embassy of Canada in Washington
David Ewart ISO (1841–1921) – Chief Dominion Architect (1896 to 1914), architect of Dominion Archives Building, Royal Canadian Mint, Victoria Memorial Museum, Connaught Building in Ottawa^[1]
Étienne Gaboury RAIC OAA (1930–2022) – architect of the Embassy of Canada in Mexico and the Royal Canadian Mint building in Winnipeg
Frank Gehry CC LLD (hc) PhD (hc) DEng (hc) DArch (hc) DA (hc) AIA (1929–2025) – architect of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Experience Music Project, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Art Gallery of Ontario
Dan Hanganu OQ DArch (hc) RAIC OAQ (1939–2017) – architect of Pointe-à-Callière Museum and Montreal Archival Centre
Gregory Henriquez FRAIC OAA AIA (born 1963) RAIC – architect of the Woodward's Building, TELUS Garden, and redevelopment of Honest Ed's location
Stephen Irwin RAIC RIBA OAA (1939–2019) – architect of Purdy's Wharf
Bruce Kuwabara FRAIC OAA AIA (born 1949) RAIC – architect of the Gardiner Museum, and Kitchener City Hall
E. J. Lennox RAIC OAA (1854–1933) – architect of Old City Hall in Toronto, and Casa Loma
John M. Lyle FRIBA OAA (1872–1945) RAIC – architect of the New York Public Library, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, and Toronto's Union Station
Raymond Moriyama CC OOnt (1929–2023) – architect of the Ontario Science Centre, Ottawa City Hall, and Canadian War Museum
Samuel Oghale Oboh FAIA, FRAIC, Architect, AAA (born 1971) – 2015 president of the RAIC – architect of the International Law Enforcement Academy Botswana and the Botswana Police College; Lead Architect of the Alberta Legislature Centre Redevelopment Master Plan
John Ostell (1813–1892) – architect of the McGill University Arts Building, and the Montreal Custom House
Joseph Perrault (1866–1923) – architect of Centre d'histoire de Montréal
Francis Rattenbury RAIC AIBC (1867–1935) – architect of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, and the Empress Hotel
Moshe Safdie CC LLD (hc) FRAIC FAIA (born 1938) – architect of Habitat 67, the National Gallery of Canada, and Vancouver Library Square
Fariborz Sahba (born 1948) – master's degree from Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran, architect of Lotus Temple, and Terraces (Baháʼí)
Henry Sears (1929–2003) – Massey medal-winning architect, urban and gallery planner
Brigitte Shim (born 1958) – Order of Canada for architecture, and Integral House
Bing Thom CM FRAIC AIBC (1940–2016) – architect of Central City Centre
Ronald Thom FRAIC AIBC (1923–1986) – architect of Massey College, the Shaw Theatre, and Trent University
Douglas A. Webber (1901–1971) – architect of several buildings in Nova Scotia

Artists

Actors

Animators

Ryan Larkin (1943–2007) – nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Walking, 1969

Broadcasters

Comedians

Musicians

Photographers

Visual arts

Cartoonists

Michael de Adder (born 1967) – editorial cartoonist and caricaturist
Danny Antonucci (born 1957) – creator of Ed Edd n Eddy
Kate Beaton (born 1983) – creator of Hark! A Vagrant
Chester Brown (born 1960) – creator of Yummy Fur, Underwater and Louis Riel
John Byrne (born 1950) – influenced superhero characters like The Fantastic Four and Superman
Andy Donato (born 1937) – editorial cartoonist for the Toronto Sun
Hal Foster (1892–1982) – artist for Tarzan comic strip, creator of Prince Valiant
J.D. Frazer (born 1965) (moniker: Illiad) – creator of the webcomic User Friendly
Gregory Gallant (born 1962) (moniker: Seth) – creator of Palookaville
Lynn Johnston CM OM (born 1947) – creator of For Better or For Worse
John Kricfalusi (born 1955) (moniker: John K.) – creator of Ren and Stimpy
Graeme MacKay (born 1968) – editorial cartoonist
Sean Martin (1950–2020) – creator of the print and webcomic "Doc and Raider"
Todd McFarlane (born 1961) – creator of Spawn
Win Mortimer (1919–1998) – illustrator for DC Comics' Superman and Batman
Terry Mosher OC DLitt (hc) (born 1942) (moniker: Aislin) – Montreal Gazette newspaper
Len Norris (1919–1997) – long-time editorial columnist for the Vancouver Sun
Ryan North (born 1980) – creator of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics
Scott Ramsoomair (born 1981) – creator of the webcomic VG Cats
Joe Shuster (1914–1992) – co-creator of Superman
Dave Sim (born 1956) – creator of Cerebus the Aardvark
Fiona Staples (born 1984) – co-creator of Saga
Paul Szep (born 1941) – editorial cartoonist for the Boston Globe 1967–2001
Ben Wicks CM (1926–2000) – illustrator, comic strip cartoonist, and humanitarian

Astronauts

Roberta Bondar OC OOnt ScD (hc) FRCP(C) FRSC (born 1945) – first Canadian woman in space
Marc Garneau CC CD ScD (hc) (1949–2025) – first Canadian man in space
Chris Hadfield OOnt MSC LLD (hc) DEng (hc) (born 1959) – first Canadian to walk in space, first Canadian to command the International Space Station
Jeremy Hansen (born 1976), flew around the Moon on the 2026 Artemis II mission, first non-American to fly above low Earth orbit and to the Moon's vicinity
Steven MacLean ScD (hc) (born 1954)
Julie Payette CQ FMC (born 1963)
David Saint-Jacques (born 1970), B.Eng., Ph.D., M.D.
Robert Thirsk (born 1953) – holds Canadian record for longest time spent in space (204 days)
Bjarni Tryggvason ScD (hc) (1945–2022)

Athletes

Businesspeople and entrepreneurs

Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Baron Beaverbrook PC (1879–1964) – publishing baron, entrepreneur
Francesco Aquilini (born 1969) – chairman of the Aquilini Investment Group and owner of the Vancouver Canucks
David Asper (born 1958) – chairman, Canwest Global Communications
Izzy Asper OC QC OM (1932–2003) – chairman, Canwest Global Communications
Meghan Athavale – entrepreneur and visual artist
Jeannine Bailliu – economist, policy advisor at the Bank of Canada
Keenan Beavis (born 1995) – entrepreneur and investor, founder of Longhouse
Conrad Black (born 1944) – Lord Black of Crossharbour KCSG LLD (hc) (born 1944) – entrepreneur, publisher
Willard Boyle (1924–2011) – invented charge-coupled device
Sophie Brochu (born 1963) – economist and businesswoman, president and CEO of Gaz Métro/Énergir and Hydro-Québec
Edgar Bronfman, Sr. (1929–2013) – head of Seagram's and long-time president of the World Jewish Congress
Samuel Bronfman CC (1889–1971) – founder of Seagram's
Robert Campeau (1923–2017) – real-estate mogul
Jack Kent Cooke (1912–1997) – owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings, Washington Redskins and the Chrysler Building
James Alexander Cowan (1901–1978) – public relations consultant and founder of Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Samuel Cunard Bt (1787–1865) – founder of Cunard Line
William Davidson (1740–1790) – lumberman, shipbuilder, merchant
Christine M. Day (born 1962) – former CEO of the Canadian clothing company Lululemon Athletica
Michael DeGroote OC (1932–2022) – businessman and philanthropist
Paul Desmarais PC CC (1927–2013) – chairman, Power Corporation of Canada

Craig Dobbin OC (1935–2006) – founder, chairman and CEO of CHC Helicopter Corporation
Denzil Doyle (born 1932/1933) – founding president of Digital Equipment Corporation's Canadian subsidiary
James Hamet Dunn Bt (1874–1956) – financier, steel magnate
Timothy Eaton (1834–1907) – founder of Eaton's department stores
Bernie Ebbers (1941–2020) – former CEO of WorldCom
Sam Feldman (born 1949) – music executive
Alfred Fuller (1885–1973) – Fuller Brush Company
Arcadi Gaydamak (born 1952) – owner of Beitar Jerusalem
Percy Girouard KSMG (1867–1932) – railway builder, governor
Angèle Grenier – maple syrup producer known for her legal battles with the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers
Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance Film Festival, British Independent Film Awards and the Independent Film Trust
Charles Guillimin (1676–1739) – shipbuilder, merchant and moneylender
Zabeen Hirji (born 1960) – speaker, writer, former Chief Human Resources Officer, Royal Bank of Canada
Janet Holder – business executive, head of Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines
K. C. Irving OC ONB (1899–1992) – industrialist
Suresh Joachim (born 1968) – co-founder of WBBAS, No Poverty No Disease No War, World Peace Marathon, and Suresh Joachim International Group of Companies
F. Ross Johnson (1931–2016) – former CEO of RJR Nabisco
Ron Joyce CM (1930–2019) – original partner with Horton in Tim Hortons, primary builder of the chain
Moez Kassam (born 1980) – hedge fund manager, founder of Anson Group
Izaak Walton Killam (1885–1955) – major financier
James L. Kraft (1874–1953) – entrepreneur and inventor, founder of L. Kraft & Bros. Company, which later became Kraft Foods Inc
Richard L'Abbé OC (born 1956 or 1957) – co-founder and former CEO of Med-Eng Systems Inc, a company specializing in bomb disposal suits and helmets
Guy Laliberté OC CQ (born 1959) – founder and owner of the Cirque du Soleil
Bernard Lamarre (1931–2016) – chairman & C.E.O., Lavalin Group, 1972–1991; senior advisor, SNC-Lavalin Inc., 1991–2016
Cindy Lee – founder of T & T Supermarket^[2]
Michael Lee-Chin LLD (hc) (born 1951) – CEO of AIC Diversified Canada Split Corp. and the National Commercial Bank of Jamaica
Li Ka-shing (born 1928) – chairman of the board of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa
Victor Li (born 1964) – deputy chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited
William Secondo Lombardo (1930–2009) – owner of Lombardo Construction and CEO of Peerless-Cascade Plastics
Pete Luckett (born 1953) – owner of Pete's Frootique and host of The Food Hunter
William Christopher Macdonald (1831–1917) – tobacco manufacturer, education philanthropist
Terry Matthews OC FREng (born 1943) – entrepreneur, chairman of Mitel and Wesley Clover
Louis B. Mayer (1885–1957) – co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios
Harrison McCain CC ONB (1927–2004) – New Brunswick potato magnate
Colonel Samuel McLaughlin CC CD ED (1871–1972) – Buick automobile manufacturer
Simon McTavish (1750–1804) – fur trader
Hartland Molson OC GOQ OBE (1907–2002) – senator, president of Molson Breweries
John Molson (1763–1836) – founder of Molson Breweries
Peter Munk OC (1927–2018) – founder of Barrick Gold
Saadia Muzaffar – entrepreneur, author and founder of TechGirls Canada
Stephan Ouaknine – businessman in telecommunications and renewable energy
Jim Pattison CM OBC (born 1928) – chairman, president, CEO, and owner of the Jim Pattison Group
Pierre Péladeau CM OQ (1925–1997) – founder of Quebecor Inc.
Pierre Karl Péladeau (born 1961) – president, CEO of Quebecor Inc., Québecor Média Inc. and Sun Media Corporation
Marie Penny (died 1970) – owner and operator of one of the largest 20th-century frozen fish companies in Newfoundland
John Draper Perrin (1890–1967) – entrepreneur, financier, mining executive
Richard Porritt OC (1901–1985) – mining industry executive
Jean Pouliot (1923–2004) – founder of CFCF et Télévision Quatre Saisons
John Redpath (1796–1869) – canal builder, sugar refinery founder
Paul Reichmann (1930–2013) – developer of Canary Wharf
Edward Samuel Rogers OC (1933–2008) – president and CEO of Rogers Communications
John Roth (born 1942) – former CEO of Nortel Networks
Lino Saputo (born 1937) – founder of Saputo
Isadore Sharp OC (born 1931) – founder of the Four Seasons Hotel chain
E. D. Smith (1858–1943) – founder of E. D. Smith & Sons Ltd
Levy Solomons (1730–1792) – merchant and fur trader
Paul Soubry (born 1963) – ceo of New Flyers
John F. Stairs (1848–1904) – entrepreneur, statesman
Frank Stronach CM (born 1932) – entrepreneur, founder of Magna International
E. P. Taylor (1901–1989) – entrepreneur, thoroughbred horse breeder
Nat Taylor (1906–2004) – originator of Cineplex Entertainment
Kenneth Thomson, Baron Thomson of Fleet (1923–2006)
Roy Thomson, Baron Thomson of Fleet GBE (1894–1976) – entrepreneur, publisher
William Cornelius Van Horne KCMG (1843–1915) – constructed the Canadian Pacific Railway
Jack L. Warner (1892–1978) – founder of Warner Bros. Studios
Galen Weston OC OOnt (1940–2021) – owner of Loblaws, Holt Renfrew, and Selfridges
Chip Wilson (born 1956) – founder of Lululemon Athletica
Walter Wolf (born 1939) – oil drilling equipment supplier and Formula 1 team owner
Bob Young (born 1953/1954) – self-publishing website, owner of CFL Hamilton Tiger Cats

Criminals and suspects

Marie-Joseph Angélique (1710–1734) – executed for setting the city of Montreal on fire
Johnson Aziga (born 1956) – first person to be charged with first-degree murder in Canada for spreading HIV
Paul Bernardo (born 1964) – serial killer, serial rapist
Richard Blass (1945–1975) – multiple murderer
Edwin Alonzo Boyd (1914–2002) – bank robber
Alfonso Caruana (born 1946) – mobster
Paul Joseph Cini (born 1944) – Canada's first skyjacker, sentenced to life imprisonment
John Etter Clark (1915–1956) – provincial politician, teacher, farmer, mass murderer
Robert Cook (1937–1960) – mass murderer
Jacques Cossette-Trudel (1947–2023) – FLQ terrorist
Louise Cossette-Trudel (born 1947) – FLQ terrorist
Vincenzo Cotroni (1911–1984) – mobster
Frank Cotroni (1931–2004) – mobster
John Martin Crawford (1962–2020) – serial killer
Matthew de Grood (born 1993) – mass murderer
Raynald Desjardins (born 1953) – mobster
Evelyn Dick (1920–?) – convicted of infanticide; convicted and acquitted of having murdered her husband
Terry Driver (1965–2021) – murderer
Valery Fabrikant (born 1940) – former university professor and mass murderer
Larry Fisher (1949–2015) – convicted of the murder for which David Milgaard (see "Wrongfully convicted", below) was originally convicted and subsequently exonerated
Charles Guité (born c. 1943) – fraud
John Hamilton (1899–1934) – bank robber, killer
Victor Hoffman (1946–2004) – mass murderer
Karla Homolka (born 1970) – serial killer
Bindy Johal (1971–1998) – Vancouver gangster
David Michael Krueger (1939–2010) – serial killer and child rapist
Jacques Lanctôt (born 1945) – FLQ terrorist
Yves Langlois (born 1947) – FLQ terrorist
Robert Latimer (born 1953) – convicted of second-degree murder
Allan Legere (1948–2026) – serial killer
Blake Leibel (born 1981) – murderer
Marc Lépine (1964–1989) – mass murderer
Denis Lortie (born 1959) – murderer
Luka Rocco Magnotta (born 1982) – murderer
Grace Marks (c. 1828–after c. 1873) – convicted of murder in 1843
Bruce McArthur (born 1951) – serial killer
Allan McLean (1855–1881) – son of Fort Kamloops Chief Trader and leader and eldest of the group known as the Wild McLean Boys, who went on a killing spree with his brothers and accomplice Alex Hare in the British Columbia Interior in 1876
Paddy Mitchell (1942–2007) – bank robber, leader of The Stopwatch Gang
Kenneth Murdock (born 1963) – hitman
Dale Nelson (1939–1999) – cannibal and mass murderer
Clifford Olson (1940–2011) – serial child murderer
Johnny Papalia (1924–1997) – mobster
Rocco Perri (1887–c. 1944) – gangster, bootlegger
Robert Pickton (1949–2024) – serial murderer
Monica Proietti (1940–1967) – bank robber
Kenneth Ratte (born 1963) – career criminal
Louis Riel (1844–1885) – executed for treason
Lucien Rivard (c. 1915–2002) – narcotics smuggler
Nicolo Rizzuto (1924–2010) – mobster
Vito Rizzuto (1946–2013) – mobster
Paul Rose (1943–2013) – FLQ terrorist
Frank "Dunie" Ryan (1942–1984) – gangster
Pietro Scarcella (born 1950) – mobster
Jeffrey Shuman (born 1962) – bank robber
Francis Simard (1946–2015) – FLQ terrorist
Slumach (died 1891) – Katzie man convicted and hung for the murder of Louis Bee, a Kanaka (Hawaiian) half-breed
Cathy Smith (1947–2020) – convicted of manslaughter in death of John Belushi
Stanley James Tippett – kidnapper and rapist
Colin Thatcher (born 1938) – murderer
Mark Twitchell (born 1979) – murderer
Paolo Violi (1931–1978) – mobster
Paul Volpe (1927–1983) – mobster
Elizabeth Wettlaufer (born 1967) – serial killer
Russell Williams (born 1963) – former RCAF military pilot and wing commander; convicted murderer, rank and decorations revoked upon conviction
Gabriel Wortman (1968–2020) – spree killer
Thomas Young (1931–1959) – rapist and mass murderer
Rocco Zito (1928–2016) – mobster

Wrongfully convicted or lynched

Robert Baltovich (born 1965) – wrongfully convicted of murder
Donald Marshall, Jr. (1953–2009) – wrongfully convicted of murder
David Milgaard (1952–2022) – wrongfully convicted of murder
Guy Paul Morin (born 1961) – wrongfully convicted of murder
Louie Sam (c. 1870–1884) – wrongfully accused of murder and hanged by lynch mob in Whatcom County, Washington
Steven Truscott (born 1945) – wrongfully convicted of murder

Directors

Educators

J. Willis Ambrose (1911–1974) – professor at the Queen's University at Kingston
Sonia Aïssa – professor at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Richard Lee Armstrong FRSC (1937–1991) – University of British Columbia professor, geochemist
Annie Mottram Craig Batten (1883–1964) – professor in the Vocal Faculty of the College of Music, University of Southern California
Martha Black (1945–2024) – art historian, curator and author
Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620–1700) – founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal
Stephen E. Calvert FRSC (born 1935) – University of British Columbia emeritus professor, geologist, oceanographer
Petr Cerny (1934–2018) ScD (hc) FRSC – University of Manitoba professor, mineralogist and crystallographer
Aleksis Dreimanis (1914–2011) – University of Western Ontario emeritus professor, quaternary geologist
George Georgiou (living) – university professor
James E. Gill (1901–1980) – McGill University professor, geologist
Henry C. Gunning ScD (hc) FRSC (1901–1991) – University of British Columbia professor, geologist
James Edwin Hawley (1897–1965) – professor at Queen's, geologist (Hawleyite)
Frank Hawthorne OC FRSC (born 1946) – University of Manitoba professor, mineralogist and crystallographer
Adelaide Hoodless (1858–1910) – education and women's activist
Michael Ignatieff (born 1947) – University of Toronto, Harvard University, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge professor, political science
Sue Johanson CM (1930–2023) – sex educator
Michael John Keen (1935–1991) – Dalhousie University professor, marine geoscientist
Sean Kelly (1940–2022) – Pratt Institute, NYC, Humanities & Media Studies, writer
J. Ross Mackay OC FRSC (1915–2014) – University of British Columbia professor, geologist
Eric W. Mountjoy FRSC (1931–2010) – McGill University professor, geologist
Gerard V. Middleton FRSC (1931–2021) – McMaster University professor, geologist
Anthony J. Naldrett FRSC (1933–2020) – University of Toronto emeritus professor, geologist
Santa J. Ono FCAHS (born c. 1962) – University of British Columbia 15th president & vice-chancellor, professor, medical scientist
William Richard Peltier ScD (hc) FRSC (born c. 1942) – University of Toronto professor, physicist
Jordan Peterson (born 1962) – Canadian clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto
Paula Rochon – chair in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Toronto in 2022
Egerton Ryerson (1803–1882) – public education advocate
Dora Sakayan (born 1931) – full professor, Department of German Studies, McGill University; Armenology, Contrastive Linguistics, Language Acquisition, Translation, Genocide Studies
Colin Simpson (born c. 1965) – George Brown College, best-selling author
Charles R. Stelck OC ScD (hc) FRSC (1917–2016) – University of Alberta professor, petroleum geologist, paleontologist, stratigrapher
David Strangway OC ScD (hc) FRSC (1934–2016) – geophysicist and university administrator
Thomas Symons CC OOnt (1929–2021) – founding president of Trent University, professor of Canadian Studies
Claude Vivier (1948–1983) – organ pedagogue and professor at Collège Montmorency
Roger G. Walker FRSC – McMaster University emeritus professor
William Winegard PC OC (1924–2019) – educator, engineer, scientist and former member of Parliament

Environmentalists

See Canadian environmentalists.

Fashion

Jeanne Beker (born 1952) – reporter
Sahar Biniaz (born November 17, 1985) – model
Dean and Dan Caten (born 1965) – designers known as Dsquared
Keshia Chanté (born 1988) – model and singer
Steven Cojocaru (born 1970) (known as Cojo) – critic and correspondent on Entertainment Tonight
Taryn Davidson (born 1991) – model
Linda Evangelista (born 1965) – model
Shalom Harlow (born 1973) – model and actress
Winnie Harlow (born 1994) – model
Irina Lazareanu (born 1982) – model
Jay Manuel (born 1972) – expert on America's Next Top Model and Canada's Next Top Model
Heather Marks (born 1988) – model
Kenneth G. Mills (1923–2004) – designer
Peter Nygard (born 1941) – designer
Lana Ogilvie (born 1968) – model
Coco Rocha (born 1988) – model
Monika Schnarre (born 1971) – model
Jessica Stam (born 1986) – model
Daria Werbowy (born 1983) – Polish-born Canadian model
Jason Wu (born 1982) – fashion designer, dolls artist

Humanitarians

Louise Arbour (born 1947) – former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
J. Esmonde Barry (1923–2007) – healthcare activist and political commentator in New Brunswick
Norman Bethune (1890–1939) – physician and medical innovator
Richard Maurice Bucke FRSC (1837–1902) – psychiatrist, philosopher, early author on human development and human potentials
Steve Fonyo OC Rescinded 2010 (born 1966) – retraced and completed Terry Fox's cross country cancer research fundraising marathon
Terry Fox CC OD (1958–1981) – attempted one-legged cross country run for cancer research
Marc Kielburger (born 1977) – author, social entrepreneur, columnist, humanitarian and activist for children's rights; co-founder, with his brother Craig, of the We Movement
Grey Owl (1888–1938) (real name Archibald Stanfield Belaney) – conservationist who falsely presented himself as an Aboriginal person and worked to save the beavers of Saskatchewan and Manitoba
Rick Hansen CC OBC LLD (hc) DLitt (hc) (born 1957) – paraplegic athlete who completed an around-the-world marathon for spinal cord injury research
Stephen Lewis CC (1937–2026) – AIDS activist, United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa
Harold A. Rogers OC OBE (1899–1994) – founder of Kin Canada
Jean Vanier CC GOQ (1928–2019) – activist for the mentally disabled, founder of L'Arche

Inventors

Scott Abbott – co-inventor of Trivial Pursuit
Thomas Ahearn PC (1855–1938) – invented the electric cooking range and the electric car heater
Anthony R. Barringer (1925–2009) – holds 70 patents for mineral exploration technology
Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995) – co-invented rodeo's side-delivery chute, invented reverse-opening side-delivery chute, hornless bronc saddle, one-hand bareback rigging and high-cut chaps
Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) – born in Scotland, invented the telephone in Canada and developed it in the United States
Joseph-Armand Bombardier (1907–1964) – invented the snowmobile
Gerald Bull (1928–1990) – invented the G5 howitzer and the Iraqi supergun
Herbert Henry Dow (1866–1930) – invented a method of bromine extraction known as the Dow process
Mathew Evans – co-inventor of the first electric light bulb
Charles Fenerty (c. 1821–1892) – inventor of the wood pulp process for making paper
Reginald Fessenden (1866–1932) – radio inventor who made the first radio-transmitted audio transmission and the first two-way transatlantic radio transmission; also invented sonar and patented the first television system
Sir Sandford Fleming KCMG DSc (hc) FRSC (1827–1915) – inventor of the system of Standard Time zones
Wilbur R. Franks OBE (1901–1986) – invented the anti-black-out-suit (the G-suit)
Abraham Pineo Gesner (1797–1864) – inventor of kerosene; known as the "father of the petroleum industry"
James Gosling OC (born 1955) – invented Java computer language
Chris Haney (1950–2010) – co-inventor of Trivial Pursuit
Sam Jacks (1915–1975) – inventor of ringette
George Klein OC MBE LLD (hc) (1904–1992) – developed: electric wheelchairs, microsurgical staple gun, the ZEEP nuclear reactor, and the Canadarm
James L Kraft (1874–1953) – entrepreneur and inventor, founder of L. Kraft & Bros. Company, which later became Kraft Foods Inc; patented processed cheese (AKA American cheese)
Thomas Edvard Krogh ScD (hc) FRSC (1936–2008) – developed technique of radiometric uranium-lead dating to further the precision of geochronology
Hugh Le Caine (1914–1977) – invented the music synthesizer in 1945
Cluny MacPherson (1879–1966) – invented the first general-issue gas mask used by the British Army in World War I
Wilson Markle (1938–2020) – invented film colorization process in 1983
Elijah McCoy (1844–1929) – developed automatic machinery lubricator, lawn sprinkler, the "Real McCoy"
James Naismith (1861–1939) – invented basketball
P. L. Robertson (1879–1951) – invented the Robertson screw
Henry Ruttan (1792–1871) – invented air-conditioned railway coach
Thomas F. Ryan (1872–1971) – invented five-pin bowling
Arthur Sicard (1876–1946) – invented the snowblower in 1925
Lewis Urry (1927–2004) – invented the long-lasting alkaline battery
Harry Wasylyk (1925–2013) – invented the disposable green polyethylene garbage bag in 1950
Thomas Willson (1860–1915) – invented arc lamps and process for creating calcium carbide
Henry Woodward – co-inventor of the first electric light bulb

Law

J. S. Ewart (1849–1933) – lawyer, advocate for Canadian independence
Frances Fish (1888–1975) – first woman to be called to the bar of Nova Scotia
Mabel French (1881–1955) – first woman to practice law in two separate Canadian provinces: New Brunswick and British Columbia
Catherine Latimer – lawyer and criminologist
Alfred Scow (1927–2013) – First Nations judge

Media

Samantha Bee (born 1969) – host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Stephen Brunt (born 1959) – lead sports columnist for The Globe and Mail since 1989
Stevie Cameron (1943–2024) – journalist, author
Richard Gizbert (born 1960) – cable network journalist of Al Jazeera English
Gordon Donaldson (1926–2001) – amateur historian, journalist
Barbara Frum OC LLD (hc) (1937–1992) – CBC radio and television journalist
Jian Ghomeshi (born 1967) – former musician and radio broadcaster
Ken Hechtman (born 1967) – maverick journalist jailed by Afghanistan's Taliban government as a suspected United States spy in 2001
Kenny Hotz (born 1967) – only registered Canadian journalist to cover the Gulf War
Mark Irwin CSC/ASC (born 1950) – Hollywood Director of Photography
Peter Jennings CM (1938–2005) – ABC news anchor
Jason Jones (born 1967) – senior correspondent for The Daily Show
Pat Kiernan (born 1968) – morning anchor of NY1 since 1997
Michael Kesterton (1946–2018) – The Globe and Mail columnist
Lisa LaFlamme (born 1964) – journalist, occasional chief anchor, and senior editor for CTV National News
L. Ian MacDonald (born 1947) – author, columnist, broadcaster, and diplomat
Neil Macdonald (born 1957) – CBC reporter
Robert MacNeil (1931–2024) – journalist, author, longtime co-anchor of The MacNeil/Lehrer Report on PBS
Peter Mansbridge OC LLD (hc) (born 1948) – news anchor of CBC's The National
Rick Mercer OC (born 1969) – comedian, TV personality, political satirist and author
Mosha Michael (c. 1948–2009) – Canada's first Inuk filmmaker
Cory Morgan (born 1971) – blogger, Alberta independence politician and activist, and columnist
Margaret Lally "Ma" Murray (1888–1982) – editor and co-publisher of the Bridge River-Lillooet News
Peter C. Newman CC CD LLD (hc) (1929–2023) – eminent journalist and writer
Sydney Newman OC (1917–1997) – supervisor of drama at the CBC, head of drama at the BBC, creator of the Doctor Who television series, chairman of the NFB
David Oancia (1929–1995) – journalist^[3]
Steve Paikin (born 1960) – journalist, film producer and author, best known for hosting TVOntario's Studio 2
Pete Parker (1895–1991) – made the first ever broadcast of a professional hockey game
Sandie Rinaldo (born 1950) – journalist and occasional news anchor for CTV National News
John Roberts (born 1956) – Fox News Channel reporter, previously a CNN reporter and host of The New Music on MuchMusic
Lloyd Robertson OC LLD (hc) (born 1934) – senior editor and former longtime anchor for CTV National News
Morley Safer (1931–2016) – investigative journalist for CBS News and 60 Minutes
Linus Sebastian (born 1986) – owner and founder of Linus Media Group
Shane Smith (born 1969) – founder of Vice
George Stroumboulopoulos (born 1972) – television journalist
Scott Taylor (born 1960) – publisher, Esprit de Corps magazine
Peter Trueman OC (1934–2021) – original newsman on Global TV
Robyn Urback (born 1988) – journalist and political commentator
Jan Wong (born 1952) – journalist

Medical

Evan Adams (born 1966) – First Nations medical doctor, medical advisor, Deputy Provincial Health Advisor (BC), and actor
Maria Louisa Angwin (1849–1898) – first woman licensed to practice medicine in Nova Scotia
Elizabeth Bagshaw CM (1881–1982) – physician and birth control activist
Frederick Banting KBE MC LLD (hc) ScD (hc) FRSC (1891–1941) – Nobel laureate, co-discoverer of insulin
John Cameron Bell (born 1953) – pioneer of oncolytic virus therapies for cancer
Norman Bethune (1890–1939) – surgeon, inventor, socialist, battlefield doctor in Spain and China
Wilfred Bigelow OC LLD (hc) FRSC (1913–2005) – inventor of the first artificial pacemaker
Yvette Bonny (born 1938) – pediatrician
Basil Boulton (1938–2008) – pediatrician and child health advocate
Anna L. Brown (died 1924) – leading authority on health for girls
John Callaghan OC AOE (1923–2004) – pioneer of open-heart surgery
John Dick FRSC (born 1954) – credited with discovery of cancer stem cell
Tommy Douglas PC CC SOM LLD (hc) (1904–1986) – introduced publicly funded health care in Canada; commonly known as the "father of Medicare"
Carl Goresky OC (1932–1996) – physician and scientist
David H. Hubel (1926–2013) – Nobel Prize winner in medicine for mapping the visual cortex
Harold E. Johns OC (1915–1998) – medical physicist, noted for his extensive contributions to the use of ionizing radiation to treat cancer
Doreen Kimura (1933–2013) – behavioural psychologist, world expert on sex differences in the brain
William Harding le Riche (1916–2010) – epidemiologist
Jeanne Mance (1606–1673) – established the first hospital in North America – the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal – in 1644
Ernest McCulloch CM OOnt FRSC FRS (1926–2011) – cellular biologist credited with the discovery of stem cell with James Till
Frances Gertrude McGill (1882–1959) – pioneering forensic pathologist and criminologist
Henry Morgentaler CM LLD (hc) (1923–2013) – abortion care provider who helped legalize abortion in Canada and strengthen the power of jury nullification
William Osler Bt (1849–1919) – physician, called the "father of modern medicine"; wrote Principles and Practice of Medicine
Daniel David Palmer (1845–1913) – founded the chiropractic profession
Edgar Randolph Parker (1871–1951) (known as "Painless" Parker) – flamboyant dentist
Wilder Penfield OM CC CMG FRS (1891–1976) – neurosurgeon, discovered electrical stimulation of the brain
Jack Pickup (1919–1996) – general practitioner and surgeon, also known as the "Flying Doctor of British Columbia"
Octavia Ritchie (1868–1948) – physician, suffragist and the first woman to receive a medical degree in Québec
David Sackett CC FRSC (1934–2015) – founded the first department of clinical epidemiology in Canada at McMaster University
Mary Elizabeth MacCallum Scott (1865–1941) – physician and missionary in Ceylon
Sydney Segal (1920–1997) – pediatrician and neonatologist particularly known for his work with sudden infant death syndrome
James Till OC OOnt FRSC FRS (1931–2025) – biophysicist, credited for the discovery of stem cell with Ernest McCulloch
A. Ross Tilley (1904–1988) MD FRCS(C) OBE OC – plastic surgeon
Irene Ayako Uchida OC (1917–2013) – cytogenticist, Down syndrome researcher
Amelia Yeomans (1842–1913) – physician and suffragist, first female physician in Manitoba

Military figures

General Maurice Baril OMM CD (born 1943) – military advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General, head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations, and Chief of the Defence Staff
Gustave Biéler DSO MBE (1904–1944) – Special Operations Executive agent, executed by the Nazis
Louis-Nicolas-Emmanuel de Bigault d'Aubreville – head of the nightwatch in Montreal
Air Commodore Leonard Birchall CM OBE DFC OOnt CD DMSc (hc) LLD (hc) (1915–2004) – war hero
Air Marshall Billy Bishop VC CB DSO* MC DFC ED (1894–1956) (commonly known as Billy Bishop) –World War I flying ace
Brigadier-General Jean Boyle CMM CD (born 1947) – fighter pilot, and businessman
Major General Sir Isaac Brock KB (1769–1812) – War of 1812 general
Captain Roy Brown DSC* RNAS (1893–1944) – World War I fighter pilot officially credited with shooting down the Red Baron
Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave DSO* (1890–1971) – Canadian signatory to the Japanese Instrument of Surrender
General Harry Crerar CH CB DSO CD PC (1888–1965) – "leading field commander" in World War II
Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie KCB GCMG (1875–1933) – first Canadian commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Force
Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire OC CMM GOQ MSC CD LLD (hc) ScDHum (hc) DHL (hc) (born 1946) – UN peacekeeping General, attempted to prevent the Rwandan genocide
Guy D'Artois DSO GM (1917–1999) – SOE agent, recipient of the Croix de Guerre
General John de Chastelain CH OC CMM CD LLD (hc) ScDMil (hc) FLMH (born 1937) – head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
Peter Dmytruk (1920–1943) – WWII flight sergeant and member of the French Resistance
Brigadier-General Dury, Charles PC OC QC CBE DSO (1912–1991) – soldier, businessman, and politician
John Weir Foote VC CD (1904–1988) – military chaplain, Ontario cabinet minister, and recipient of the Victoria Cross
Captain Nichola Goddard MSM (1980–2006) – first female Canadian soldier killed in combat
William Hall VC (1827–1904) – first Nova Scotian recipient of the Victoria Cross
John Kenneth Macalister (1914–1944) – SOE agent, executed by the Nazis
Vice-Admiral Bruce MacLean CMM, CD – chief of the Maritime Staff 2004–2006
Captain Simon Mailloux (born 1983) – first Canadian soldier with an amputation to deploy on a combat mission; recipient of the Sacrifice Medal
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae (1872–1918) – soldier, poet, author of In Flanders' Fields
Alan Arnett McLeod VC (1899–1918) – fighter pilot, youngest Canadian-born winner of the Victoria Cross
General Andrew McNaughton CH CB CMG DSO CD PC (1887–1966) – Co-Minister of Defence during World War II
Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Meighen (1905–1979) – lawyer and philanthropist
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Merritt VC (1908–2000) – recipient of the Victoria Cross
Major General Sydney Chilton Mewburn PC (1863–1956) – lawyer and politician, Minister of Militia and Defence
Minnie "Jerri" Mumford (1909–2002) – serving member of the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC) during World War II
Rear Admiral Leonard W. Murray (1896–1971) – commander-in-chief of the Canadian Northwest Atlantic during World War II
Henry Norwest MM & Bar (1884–1918) – sniper in World War I
Lieutenant-Colonel George Pearkes VC PC CC CB DSO MC CD (1888–1984) – recipient of the Victoria Cross, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
Francis Pegahmagabow MM** (1891–1952) – the most highly decorated aboriginal Canadian soldier of World War I
Frank Pickersgill (1915–1944) – SOE agent, executed by the Nazis
Rear Admiral Desmond Piers CM DSC CD ScDMil (hc) (1913–2005) – war hero
George Lawrence Price (1898–1918) – last soldier killed in World War I
Tommy Prince MM (1915–1977) – one of Canada's most decorated soldiers, member of the Devil's Brigade
James Ralston PC (1881–1948) – Co-Minister of Defence during World War II
Thomas Ricketts VC (1901–1967) – recipient of the Victoria Cross (Newfoundlander at the time of his award)
Harold A. Rogers OC OBE (1889–1994) – founder of Kin Canada
Roméo Sabourin (1923–1944) – SOE agent, executed by the Nazis
General Guy Simonds CC CB CBE DSO CD (1903–1974) – commander of the II Canadian Corps
Ernest Smith (1914–2005) – VC, CM, OBC, CD, Seaforth Highlander Private/ Sergeant, the last living Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, awarded for gallantry in actions at the River Savio, Northern Italy 1944
Sam Steele CB KCMG MVO (1851–1919) – member of the North-West Mounted Police, commander of Yukon detachment
William Stephenson CC MC DFC (1897–1989) (codename: Intrepid) – senior representative of British intelligence for the Western Hemisphere in World War II
Lieutenant-General Kenneth Stuart CB DSO MC (1891–1945) – Chief of the General Staff 1941–1943, educator
Tecumseh (1768–1813) – Leader of First Nations British Allies, War of 1812, died defeating American invasion
Rear Admiral Robert Timbrell CMM DSC CD (1920–2006) – first Canadian to be decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross
General Christopher Vokes CB CBE DSO CD (1904–1985) – General Officer commanding the Canadian Army Occupation Force in Europe
Brigadier Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler (1890–1962) – Corps of Royal Engineers surveyor
General Ramsey Muir Withers CMM CD LLD (hc) (1930–2014) – Chief of the Defense Staff
Sir James Lucas Yeo (1782–1818) – commander of Royal Navy forces in Canada during the War of 1812

Monarchs and Canadian royal family

Main articles:

Magicians

Shawn Farquhar (born 1962) – magician, winner of the Grand Prix Close Up at the 2009 FISM World Championship of Magic
Doug Henning (1947–2000) – credited with reviving the magic show in North America
Leon Mandrake (1911–1993) – Mandrake the Great; and his sons Lon and Ron, born in 1948 and 1949, respectively
James Randi (1928–2020) – magician, writer, skeptical investigator of paranormal and pseudo-scientific claims, founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation
Dai Vernon (1894–1992) – magician, known as "the man who fooled Houdini"

Musicians

Politicians

Adrien Arcand (1899–1967) – founder of the National Unity Party of Canada
Lloyd Axworthy PC OC OM (born 1939) – former Cabinet minister
Thomas Bain (1834–1915) – former speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
Robert Baldwin (1804–1858)
Maude Barlow LLD (hc) DHL (hc) (born 1947) – activist, chairperson of the Council of Canadians
Perrin Beatty PC (born 1950) – former cabinet minister, president of CBC
Monique Bégin PC OC ScD (hc) FRSC (1936–2023) – former cabinet minister
Thomas R. Berger OC OBC (1933–2021) – jurist
Ethel Blondin-Andrew PC (born 1951) – former Cabinet minister
Henri Bourassa (1868–1952) – Quebec politician
Pierre Bourgault (1934–2003) – president of Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale
Ed Broadbent PC CC (1936–2024) – former New Democratic Party leader
George Brown (1818–1880)
Rosemary Brown PC CC OBC LLD (hc) (1930–2003)
Tim Buck (1891–1973) – leader of the Canadian Communist Party
George-Étienne Cartier Bt KSMG PC (1814–1873) – Cabinet minister
Brock Chisholm CC MC* LLD (hc) (1896–1971) – first director-general of the World Health Organization
Joe Clark (born 1939) – 16th prime minister of Canada, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada 1976–1983, and again 1998–2003
Sheila Copps PC (born 1952)
Victor Copps (1919–1988) – mayor of Hamilton
John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, Earl of Durham GCB PC (1792–1840)
Ellen Fairclough PC CC OOnt (1905–2004) – first female member of the Canadian Cabinet
The Famous Five – 1920s women's rights activists
Janice Filmon (born 1943) – lieutenant governor of Manitoba since 2015
Iqwinder Singh Gaheer (born 1993) – member of Parliament for the riding of Mississauga—Malton
Jennifer Granholm (born 1959) – first female governor of Michigan
Gurmant Grewal (born 1957) – the "Ironman of Canadian Parliament"
Nina Grewal (born 1958) – first South Asian and Sikh woman elected to Parliament; with her husband Gurmant, the Grewals are the first married couple to concurrently serve in Canadian Parliament
Elijah Harper (1949–2013) – Cree chief (Red Sucker Lake Nation), MLA Manitoba, successfully blocked the Meech Lake Accord (proposed Constitutional amendment)
C. D. Howe PC (1886–1960) – Cabinet minister
Joseph Howe PC (1804–1873) – "father of Confederation"
Michael Kerzner – Solicitor General of Ontario
Stan Keyes PC (born 1953)
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bt (1807–1864) – co-premier of the United Province of Canada
Franklin K. Lane (1864–1921) – 1910s United States Secretary of the Interior (1913–1920)
Jack Layton PC (1950–2011) – leader of the New Democratic Party
William Lyon Mackenzie (1795–1861) – mayor of Toronto
Allan MacNab Bt (1798–1862) – prime minister of Upper Canada
Agnes Macphail (1890–1954) – first female member of Parliament (MP)
Thomas D'Arcy McGee PC (1825–1868)
Beverley McLachlin PC LLD (hc) (born 1943) – chief justice of Canada
James McMillan (1838–1902) – US senator from Michigan
Cory Morgan (born 1971) – Alberta independence politician
John Munro PC (1931–2003)
Papineau (1786–1871) – reformer and 1837 rebellion leader
Pierre Poilievre (born 1979) – member of Parliament, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the leader of the Official Opposition
Allan Studholme (1846–1919)
Nathan Eldon Tanner (1898–1982)

Provincial premiers

Main articles:

Territorial premiers

Main articles:

Indigenous leaders

A sepia photograph of Aatsista-Mahkan (Running Rabbit). He is wearing what is usually described as a buckskin outfit. It is elaborate and he is holding a pole. — Aatsista-Mahkan, taken by Edward Curtis

"A bust portrait of Métis leader Louis Riel c1870 after a carte de visite in 1884." — Louis Riel, leader of the Red River Rebellion and North-West Rebellion

Shawn Atleo (born 1967)
William Beynon (1888–1958)
Big Bear (1825–1888) – Cree leader
Joseph Brant (1742–1807) – Mohawk leader
Mary Brant (1736–1796) – leader of Six Nations women's federation
Frank Calder (1877–1943) – Nisga'a
Joe Capilano (c. 1854–1910) – Squamish
Rose Charlie (1930–2018)
Arthur Wellington Clah (1831–1916)
Heber Clifton (1871–1964)
Cumshewa – 18th-century Haida chief at the inlet now bearing his name
Harley Desjarlais
Alfred Dudoward (ca. 1850–1914)
Dan George (1899–1981) – Tsleil-Waututh (Burrard)
Joseph Gosnell (1936–2020) – Nisga'a
Simon Gunanoot (1874–1933) – Gitxsan
Guujaaw (born 1953) – modern-day Haida leader
Elijah Harper (1949–2013) – Cree
Chief Hunter Jack (died 1905) – St'at'imc
Mary John, Sr. (1913–2004)
August Jack Khatsahlano (1877–1971) – Squamish
Klattasine (died 1864) – Tsilhqot'in war chief, surrendered on terms of amnesty in times of war, hanged for murder
Koyah (fl. 1787–1795) – 18th-century chief of the Haida
George Manuel (1921–1989)
Maquinna – 18th-century Nuu-chah-nulth chief (Yuquot/Mowachaht)
Harriet Nahanee (1935–2007) – Squamish and Nuu-chah-nulth (Pacheedaht)
Nicola (1780/1785–c. 1865) – Grand chief of the Okanagan people, and jointly chief of the Nlaka'pamux-Okanagan-Nicola Athapaskan alliance in the Nicola Valley and of the Kamloops group of the Secwepemc
Andy Paull (1892–1959) – Squamish
Stewart Phillip – Okanagan leader
Chief Poundmaker (c. 1842–1886) – Cree chief
Piapot (c. 1816–1908) – Cree chief
Steven Point (born 1951) – modern Sto:lo leader, current Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia
Louis Riel (1844–1885) – leader of two Métis rebellions before being hung for treason
James Sewid (1913–1988) – Kwakwaka'wakw
Tecumseh (1768–1813) – Shawnee leader
Alec Thomas (1894–?) – Tseshaht politician
Wickanninish – 19th-century Nuu-chah-nulth chief (Opitsaht/Tla-o-qui-aht)
Walter Wright (died 1949)
Muriel Stanley Venne (1937–2024) – Métis community leader and Indigenous rights activist

Producers

Religious figures

Martyrs

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620–1700) – first Canadian saint
St. Noël Chabanel (1613–1649) – Jesuit missionary
St. Anthony Daniel (1601–1648) – Jesuit missionary
St. Jean de Brébeuf (1593–1649) – Jesuit missionary
St. Jean de Lalande (died 1646) – Jesuit missionary
St. Saint Charles Garnier (1606–1649) – Jesuit missionary
St. René Goupil (1608–1642) – first North American martyr of the Roman Catholic Church
St. Isaacs Jogues (1607–1646) – Jesuit missionary
St. Gabriel Lallemant (1610–1649) – Jesuit missionary

Religious community leaders

Alexis André (1832–1893) – Catholic missionary priest, spiritual advisor to Louis Riel
Aloysius Matthew Ambrozic (1930–2011) – archbishop emeritus of Toronto
André Besette (1845–1937) – Holy Cross Brother known as the "Miracle Man of Montreal"
Linda Bond (born 1946) – General of The Salvation Army, 2011–2013
Arnold Brown (1913–2002) – General of The Salvation Army, 1977–81
Hugh B. Brown (1883–1975) – Latter-day Saint apostle
Ranj Dhaliwal (born 1976) – Sikh, writer, activist and co-founder of the Sikh Youth orthodox political party in Surrey, British Columbia
Lionel Groulx (1878–1967) – Roman Catholic priest, historian, nationalist, and traditionalist
Albert Lacombe (1827–1916) – Roman Catholic missionary
John G. Lake (1870–1935) – leader of the Pentecostal Movement, born in St. Marys, Ontario
Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger (1904–1991) – Catholic clergyman and humanitarian
Merlin Lybbert (1926–2001) – general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
David Mainse (1936–2017) – broadcaster, founder of 100 Huntley Street and CITS-TV
Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944) – founder of the Foursquare Church
William D. Morrow – general superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
Bishop Michael Power (1804–1847) – Roman Catholic bishop of Toronto
Alexandre-Antonin Taché (1823–1894) – Roman Catholic priest, missionary of the Oblate order
Nathan Eldon Tanner (1898–1982) – Latter-day Saint apostle
John Taylor (1808–1887) – president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Kateri Tekakwitha (1656–1680) – "the Lily of the Mohawks", first Native American canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church
Rúhíyyih Khanum (1910–2000) – wife of Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Baháʼí Faith until 1957; she was appointed as a Hand of the Cause; in 2004, CBC viewers voted her number 44 on the list of "greatest Canadians" on the television show The Greatest Canadian^[4]
Bramwell Tillsley (1931–2019) – general of The Salvation Army, 1993–1994
Clarence Wiseman (1907–1985) – general of The Salvation Army, 1974–1977

Religious cult figures

Roch Thériault (1947–2011) – cult leader
Brother XII (1878–1934) – cult leader

Scholars

Louise Arbour (born 1947) – jurist
Marc van Audenrode (born 1961) – economist
Pratima Bansal – economist
Timothy Brook (born 1951) – professor, historian and writer
Joseph-Alphonse-Paul Cadotte (1897–1979) – professor, author
Jack Chambers (1938–2026) – linguist
Thomas H. Clark (1893–1996) – McGill geology professor, namesake of Thomasclarkite
Gerald Cohen (1941–2009) – Oxford philosopher
Northrop Frye (1912–1991) – influential critic, Shakespeare and Blake scholar
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) – economist
George Grant (1918–1988) – philosopher
John Peters Humphrey (1905–1995) – legal scholar, principal drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Harold Innis (1894–1952) – political economist; author of seminal works on Canadian economic history, media and communications
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) – communications theorist, coined phrases "the medium is the message" and "global village"
Steven Pinker (born 1954) – psychologist, cognitive scientist, writer of popular science
John Ralston Saul (born 1947) – businessman, essayist, diplomat
F. R. Scott (1899–1985) – law professor, philosopher, poet
Guy Sylvestre (1918–2010) – literary critic
David Sztybel (born 1967) – philosopher
Charles Taylor (born 1931) – philosopher
William R. White (born 1943) – economist
Marc Zender – Mayanist

Scientists

Robert Campbell Aitken (born 1963) – electrical engineer
Judie Alimonti (1960–2017) – immunologist
Sidney Altman (1939–2022) – molecular biologist, winner of Nobel Prize in chemistry
Brenda Andrews (born 1957) – academic, researcher and biologist specializing in systems biology and molecular genetics.
Albert Bandura (1925–2021) – psychologist
Neil Banerjee – earth scientist
Karen Bailey – plant pathologist
Karen Beauchemin (born 1956) – livestock ruminant nutrition
Robert Bell FRSC (1841–1917) – geologist
Walter A. Bell (1889–1969) – geologist, paleontologist
Manjul Bhargava (born 1974) – mathematician and Fields medallist
Selwyn G. Blaylock ScD (hc) (1879–1945) – chemist and mining executive
Stewart Blusson OC (born 1939) – geologist, diamond prospector, multimillionaire and philanthropist
Adolfo J. de Bold (1942–2021) – biomedical scientist, discoverer of hormone secreted by heart muscle cells
Willard Boyle (1924–2011) – inventor of the charge coupled device, winner of Nobel Prize in Physics
Bertram Brockhouse CC FRSC (1918–2003) – designer of the Triple-Axis Neutron Spectrometer, winner of Nobel Prize for Physics
Georges Brossard CM CQ ScD (hc) (1940–2019) – entomologist, television personality and founder of the Montreal Insectarium
Moira Brown – North Atlantic right whale researcher and conservationist
Vernon Burrows (1930–2020) – oat breeder
John J. Clague FRSC (born 1946) – authority in quaternary and environmental earth sciences
Kate Crooks (1833–1871) – botanist
Claire Cupples – microbiologist
Philip J. Currie (born 1949) – palaeontologist
John William Dawson CMG FRS FRSC (1820–1899) – first Canadian-born scientist of worldwide reputation
Duncan R. Derry LLD (hc) (1906–1987) – economic geologist
Raymond Desjardins – agrometeorologist
Donald B. Dingwell – earth scientist
Martine Dorais – plant physiologist, organic horticulture
Robert John Wilson Douglas FRSC (1920–1979) – petroleum geologist
Eugenia Duodu – chemist
Lorne Elias – chemist, inventor of the explosives vapour detector EVD-1
John Charles Fields FRS FRSC (1863–1932) – mathematician and founder of the Fields Medal
J. Keith Fraser (born 1922) – geographer
Hu Gabrielse (1926–2024) – geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada
William Giauque (1895–1982) – Nobel Prize winner in chemistry
Anne-Claude Gingras – molecular geneticist
Cynthia Grant – soil fertility and crop nutrition specialist
Donald O. Hebb FRS (1904–1985) – neuroscientist, published his theory of Hebbian learning
Gerhard Herzberg PC CC ScD (hc) LLD (hc) FRSC FRS (1904–1999) – Nobel Prize winner in chemistry for molecular spectroscopy
James Hillier OC (1915–2007) – inventor of the electron microscope
Vanessa M. Hirsch – veterinary pathologist and virologist
Paul F. Hoffman OC FRSC (born 1941) – geologist noted for research into Snowball Earth events
Edward A. Irving CM ScD (hc) FRSC FRS (1927–2014) – provided the first physical evidence of continental drift
Charles Legge (1829–1881) – civil engineer
Victor Ling CC (born 1944) – medicine, drug resistance in cancer
Sir William Edmond Logan FRS (1798–1875) – founded the Geological Survey of Canada
Mary MacArthur – botanist, cytologist, horticulturalist
John Macoun (1831–1920) – botanist
Tak Wah Mak (born 1946) – immunologist who discovered the T-cell receptor
Claude Hillaire-Marcel FRSC (born 1943) – world leader in quaternary research
Rudolph A. Marcus (born 1923) – Nobel Prize in chemistry recipient for electron transfer reactions
Jerrold E. Marsden (1942–2010) – applied mathematician, founder of the Fields Institute
Ernest McCulloch CC FRSC FRS (1926–2011) – cellular biologist who, with James Till, demonstrated the existence of stem cells
Maud Menten (1879–1960) – medical scientist, made groundbreaking work in enzyme kinetics
Robert Mundell (1932–2021) – economist and Nobel laureate
John Charles Polanyi PC CC FRSC FRS (born 1929) – Nobel Prize in chemistry recipient for infrared chemiluminescence
Isabella Preston (1881–1965) – ornamental horticulturalist
Raymond A. Price OC ScD (hc) FRSC (1933–2024) – geologist
Hubert Reeves CC OQ (1932–2023) – astrophysicist and science popularizer
Soon Jai Park (1937–2018) – dry bean breeder
Elizabeth Pattey – agricultural micrometeorologist
Henry de Puyjalon (1841–1905) – biologist and ecologist
Carmelle Robert (born 1962) – astrophysicist
Laurie Rousseau-Nepton – astrophysicist, first indigenous woman in Quebec to obtain a PhD in astrophysics
Donald F. Sangster LLD (hc) ScD (hc) FRSC – geologist
Charles E. Saunders (1867–1937) – agronomist
Arthur Schawlow (1921–1999) – Nobel Prize winner in physics (for lasers)
David Schindler OC (1940–2021) – limnologist
Myron Scholes (born 1941) – Nobel Prize winner in economics
Yoshua Bengio (born 1964) – computer scientist and winner of the Turing Award
Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein – animal ethologist
Hans Selye CC (1907–1982) – pioneering stress researcher
Michael Smith CC OBE (1932–2000) – Nobel Prize winner in chemistry for site-based mutagenesis
Ralph M. Steinman (1943–2011) – Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity
Peter A Stewart (1921–1993) – physiologist, quantitative acid-base physiology
Donna Strickland (born 1959) – Nobel Prize winner in Physics, optical physicist and pioneer in the field of pulsed lasers
Richard Summerbell (born 1956) – mycologist
David Suzuki CC OBC LLD (hc) ScD (hc) ScDEnv (hc) ScDComm (hc) DHL (hc) (born 1936) – geneticist and science popularizer
Felicitas Svejda (1920–2016) – horticulturalist
Henry Taube FRSC (1915–2005) – Nobel Prize in chemistry for electron transfer reactions
Richard Taylor CC FRSC FRS (1929–2018) – Nobel Prize in physics recipient for verifying the quark theory
James Till CC FRS (1931–2025) – biophysicist who, with Ernest McCulloch, demonstrated the existence of stem cells
Joseph Tyrrell (1858–1957) – geologist, cartographer, discoverer of dinosaur bones in Alberta
William Vickrey (1914–1996) – Nobel Prize winner in economics
Harold Williams FRSC (1934–2010) – geologist, expert on the Appalachian Mountains
John Tuzo Wilson CC OBE ScD (hc) FRSC FRS FRSE (1908–1993) – geophysicist, expert in plate tectonics

Singers

Viceroys

List of governors general of Canada

Writers

Other personalities

Janis Babson (1950–1961) – organ donor, subject of two books
Antonio Barichievich (1925–2003) (known as The Great Antonio) – strongman, showman, and eccentric
Grant Bristow (born 1958) – CSIS undercover agent who started the Heritage Front, planted as political operative within Reform Party
William J. Bruce III – author, producer and celebrity publicist
Donnelly family (known as the Black Donnellys) – participants and/or victims of a vicious community feud
Dylan Ehler (born 2017) – child who mysteriously disappeared in 2020
Josiah Henson (1789–1883) – former slave, believed to be the inspiration for Uncle Tom's Cabin
Marshal Iwaasa (born 1993) – man who mysteriously disappeared in 2019
Trevor James (born 1988) – YouTuber
Harold Kandel (1906–1995) – legendary theatregoer from Toronto, Ontario known for speaking out during theatre events, now commemorated through the Harold Awards
Marc Karam (born 1980) – professional poker player
Cindy Kenny-Gilday (born 1954) – Indigenous rights activist
Anna Ruth Lang CV – recipient of the Cross of Valour
Devon Larratt (born 1975) – professional armwrestler
Sunny Leone (born 1981) – Canadian and Indian pornographic actress; Bollywood actress
René Lepage de Sainte-Claire (1656–1718) – lord-founder of Rimouski, Quebec
Bat Masterson (1853–1921) – gunfighter, fight promoter, sports journalist
Marie-Louise Meilleur (1880–1998) – oldest Canadian person in history and the 6th oldest known person in history (as of January 2026) ^[5]^[6]
Charles Vance Millar (1853–1926) – lawyer, financier, and posthumous practical joker
Sorel Mizzi (born 1986) – professional poker player
John Wilson Murray (1840–1906) – Canada's first major detective
Daniel Negreanu (born 1974) – professional poker player
Karen O'Shannacery (born 1950) – homeless advocate
Minnie Patterson (died 1911) – heroine noted for her daring rescue of everyone on board the barkentine (barque) Coloma during a severe storm in 1906
Sue Rodriguez (1950–1994) – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) sufferer and right to die advocate
Alexander Milton Ross (1832–1897) (known as The Birdman) – pre-American Civil War abolitionist and participant in the Underground Railroad
Craig Russell (1948–1990) – female impersonator and actor
Laura Secord (1775–1868) – heroine of the War of 1812, warned the British of a surprise American attack at Battle of Beaver Dams
Chris Sky (born 1983) – conspiracy theorist
Joshua Slocum (1844–1909) – first man to sail around the world solo
Byron Sonne, activist
Alexandre Trudeau (born 1973) – author, filmmaker and journalist
Margaret Trudeau (born 1948) – widow; former wife of Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Sarah Rowell Wright (1862–1930), reformer, newspaper editor, and suffragist

Fictional characters

Amuro Ray – main character in the mecha anime Mobile Suit Gundam and varying roles in subsequent sequels
Ike Broflovski – character on South Park
Tom Evans (known as Captain Canuck) – cartoon character
Benton Fraser – Mountie on the 90s television show Due South
James Howlett (aka "Logan", aka "Wolverine") – member of the X-Men
Justin Jones from Justin Time
Rodney McKay – character on Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis
Bob and Doug McKenzie – characters on SCTV
Darren Oak (known as Captain Canuck) – cartoon character
Trevor Philips – one of the three protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V
Scott Pilgrim – from the graphic novel series of the same name
Sergeant William Preston – heroic Mountie of radio and TV series from the 1950s
Peter Puck – Hockey Night in Canada symbol from the 1970s
Robin Scherbatsky – supporting character on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother
Dave Semple (known as Captain Canuck) – cartoon character
Anne Shirley – known as Anne of Green Gables
Terrance and Phillip – characters on South Park
Wade Wilson (aka "Deadpool") – comic book anti-hero

Other

National

Groupings and articles of relevance

Geographic

Lists of Canadians by city

Lists by province/territory

Search

References

↑ Fulton, Gordon W. (2005). "David Ewart". In Cook, Ramsay; Bélanger, Réal (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XV (1921–1930) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
↑ Werb, Jessica (November 4, 2009). "Cindy Lee". BC Business. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
↑ "The New China". The McGill Daily. 56 (38). November 9, 1966. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
↑ "The Greatest Canadian – Top 100 – 11 to 100". CBC. 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
↑ "Homepage". LongeviQuest-Atlas. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
↑ "Marie-Louise Meilleur". LongeviQuest. Retrieved 2026-01-02.

External links

The Dictionary of Canadian Biography – biographies of Canadians from 1000 to 1930 CE
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada – biographies of Canadian architects and lists of their buildings from 1800 to 1950
"Canada Questions and Answers: Everything You Need to Know About Canada" by canadafaq.ca
The Canadian Encyclopedia – click on "people" for links to articles about Canadians; English/French availability

This article includes a people-related list of lists.

[1] Fulton, Gordon W. (2005). "David Ewart". In Cook, Ramsay; Bélanger, Réal (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XV (1921–1930) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.

[2] Werb, Jessica (November 4, 2009). "Cindy Lee". BC Business. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.

[3] "The New China". The McGill Daily. 56 (38). November 9, 1966. Retrieved 6 June 2016.

[4] "The Greatest Canadian – Top 100 – 11 to 100". CBC. 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2008-07-05.

[5] "Homepage". LongeviQuest-Atlas. Retrieved 2026-01-02.

[6] "Marie-Louise Meilleur". LongeviQuest. Retrieved 2026-01-02.

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