Canada is known to be one of the most accepting countries when it comes to LGBT rights.[1] LGBT rights in Canada have been raising since the year of 1969 when same-sex sexual activities were legalized.The elected officials and politicians of Canada reflect the rights and laws that have been passed. The following is a list of openly LGBT politicians in Canada grouped by Senate, House of Commons, provincial legislatures, mayors, municipal councilors, and other. There is information included about what province they were elected in and from, what party they identify as, who they were nominated by, when their term began and ended (if it has), and any additional notes about the politician.
| Senator | Party | Province | Nominated by | Term | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | |||||||||
| Laurier LaPierre | Liberal | Ontario | Jean Chrétien | June 13, 2001 | November 21, 2004 | LaPierre became the first openly LGBT senator | ||||
| Nancy Ruth | Progressive Conservative (2005-2008) Conservative (2008-2017) | Ontario | Paul Martin | March 24, 2005 | January 6, 2017 | Ruth became the first openly lesbian senator | ||||
| René Cormier | Independent Senators Group | New Brunswick | Justin Trudeau | November 10, 2016 | incumbent | |||||
| Kim Pate | Independent Senators Group | Ontario | Justin Trudeau | November 10, 2016 | incumbent | |||||
| Marnie McBean | Non-affiliated | Ontario | Justin Trudeau | December 20, 2023 | incumbent | |||||
| MP | Party | Province | Term | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | ||||||||
| Heward Grafftey | Progressive Conservative | Quebec | March 31, 1958 | June 24, 1968 | came out after retirement | ||||
| October 30, 1972 | February 17, 1980 | ||||||||
| Charles Lapointe | Liberal | Quebec | 1974 | 1984 | came out after retirement | ||||
| Ian Waddell | NDP | British Columbia | May 22, 1979 | October 25, 1993 | came out after retirement | ||||
| Svend Robinson | NDP | British Columbia | May 22, 1979 | June 28, 2004 | Robinson became the first openly LGBT member of parliament when he came out in 1988 | ||||
| Réal Ménard | Bloc Québécois | Quebec | October 25, 1993 | September 16, 2009 | First LGBT member of parliament from Quebec, came out in 1994 | ||||
| Libby Davies | NDP | British Columbia | June 2, 1997 | October 19, 2015 | Davies became the first openly lesbian member of parliament when she came out in 2001 | ||||
| Scott Brison | (Progressive Conservative, later Liberal) | Nova Scotia | June 2, 1997 | July 24, 2000 | First LGBT member of parliament from Nova Scotia, came out in 2002 | ||||
| November 27, 2000 | February 10, 2019 | ||||||||
| Bill Siksay | NDP | British Columbia | 2004 | 2011 | first LGBT member of parliament to be out at the time of election | ||||
| Mario Silva | Liberal | Ontario | June 28, 2004 | May 2, 2011 | First openly LGBT member of the House of Commons from Ontario | ||||
| Raymond Gravel | Bloc Québécois | Quebec | November 27, 2006 | October 14, 2008 | |||||
| Rob Oliphant | Liberal | Ontario | October 14, 2008 | May 2, 2011 | |||||
| October 19, 2015 | incumbent | ||||||||
| Randall Garrison | NDP | British Columbia | May 2, 2011 | incumbent | |||||
| Dany Morin | NDP | Quebec | 2011 | 2015 | |||||
| Philip Toone | NDP | Quebec | May 2, 2011 | August 4, 2015 | |||||
| Craig Scott | NDP | Ontario | March 19, 2012 | October 19, 2015 | |||||
| Sheri Benson | NDP | Saskatchewan | October 19, 2015 | September 11, 2019 | First LGBT member of parliament from Saskatchewan | ||||
| Randy Boissonnault | Liberal | Alberta | October 19, 2015 | October 21, 2019 | First LGBT member of parliament from Alberta | ||||
| September 20, 2021 | incumbent | ||||||||
| Seamus O'Regan | Liberal | Newfoundland and Labrador | October 19, 2015 | incumbent | First LGBT member of parliament from Newfoundland and Labrador | ||||
| Eric Duncan | Conservative | Ontario | September 2, 2020 | incumbent | |||||
| Lisa Marie Barron | NDP | British Columbia | September 20, 2021 | incumbent | |||||
| Blake Desjarlais | NDP | Alberta | September 20, 2021 | incumbent | first two-spirit member of parliament | ||||
| Melissa Lantsman | Conservative | Ontario | September 20, 2021 | incumbent | |||||
| Pascale St-Onge | Liberal | Quebec | September 20, 2021 | incumbent | |||||
| MP | Party | Province | Term | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | ||||||||
| Richard Hatfield | PC | New Brunswick | June 19, 1961 | October 13, 1987 | Outed only after death in 1991; premier of the province from 1970. | ||||
| Claude Charron | Parti Québécois | Quebec | 1970 | 1982 | Came out after resignation from the legislature | ||||
| Guy Joron | PQ | Quebec | 1970 | 1973 | Was out among his caucus colleagues in the legislature, but not to the general public. | ||||
| 1976 | 1981 | ||||||||
| Keith Norton | PC | Ontario | 1975 | 1985 | Came out after retirement from the legislature, while serving as chief of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. | ||||
| Ian Waddell | NDP | British Columbia | May 22, 1979 | October 25, 1993 | Came out late in career | ||||
| May 28, 1996 | May 16, 2001 | ||||||||
| Phil Gillies | PC | Ontario | March 19, 1981 | September 10, 1987 | Came out after retirement from the legislature | ||||
| Maurice Richard | Liberal | Quebec | 1985 | 1994 | First provincial legislator in Canada to be out as gay during his career in politics. | ||||
| Ian Scott | Liberal | Ontario | 1985 | 1992 | Came out after retirement from the legislature. | ||||
| André Boisclair | Parti Québécois | Quebec | September 25, 1989 | November 15, 2007 | First out gay leader of a political party with legislative representation. | ||||
| André Boulerice | Parti Québécois | Quebec | September 25, 1989 | September 12, 2005 | [2] | ||||
| Mike Farnworth | NDP | British Columbia | October 17, 1991 | May 16, 2001 | |||||
| May 17, 2005 | incumbent | ||||||||
| Dominic Agostino | Liberal | Ontario | June 8, 1995 | March 24, 2004 | |||||
| Andrew Thomson | NDP | Saskatchewan | June 20, 1995 | November 20, 2007 | Came out after retirement from the legislature | ||||
| Ted Nebbeling | Liberal | British Columbia | May 28, 1996 | May 17, 2005 | |||||
| Tim Stevenson | NDP | British Columbia | May 28, 1996 | May 16, 2001 | |||||
| Agnès Maltais | Parti Québécois | Quebec | November 30, 1998 | October 1, 2018 | |||||
| Jim Rondeau | NDP | Manitoba | September 21, 1999 | March 6, 2016 | |||||
| George Smitherman | Liberal | Ontario | June 3, 1999 | January 4, 2010 | |||||
| Dale Eftoda | Liberal | Yukon | 2000 | 2002 | |||||
| Cecil Clarke | Progressive Conservative | Nova Scotia | March 6, 2001 | March 25, 2011 | |||||
| Lorne Mayencourt | Liberal | British Columbia | May 16, 2001 | September 13, 2008 | |||||
| Jim Watson | OLP | Ontario | October 2, 2003 | February 1, 2010 | Came out after retiring from the legislature, while serving as Mayor of Ottawa. | ||||
| Kathleen Wynne | Liberal | Ontario | October 2, 2003 | May 3, 2022 | Premier from 2013 to 2018. | ||||
| Doug Routley | NDP | British Columbia | May 17, 2005 | incumbent | |||||
| Nicholas Simons | NDP | British Columbia | May 17, 2005 | incumbent | |||||
| Cheri DiNovo | NDP | Ontario | September 14, 2006 | December 31, 2017 | |||||
| Paul Ferreira | NDP | Ontario | February 28, 2007 | September 30, 2007 | |||||
| Sylvain Gaudreault | PQ | Quebec | March 26, 2007 | August 28, 2022 | |||||
| Jennifer Howard | NDP | Manitoba | May 22, 2007 | April 19, 2016 | |||||
| Spencer Chandra Herbert | NDP | British Columbia | October 29, 2008 | incumbent | |||||
| Jenn McGinn | NDP | British Columbia | October 29, 2008 | May 12, 2009 | |||||
| Mable Elmore | NDP | British Columbia | May 12, 2009 | incumbent | |||||
| Glen Murray | OLP | Ontario | February 4, 2010 | September 1, 2017 | |||||
| Gerry Rogers | NDP | Newfoundland and Labrador | October 27, 2011 | April 17, 2019 | |||||
| Réjean Hébert | Liberal | Quebec | September 4, 2012 | April 7, 2014 | |||||
| Joanne Bernard | Liberal | Nova Scotia | October 8, 2013 | May 30, 2017 | |||||
| Manon Massé | QS | Quebec | April 7, 2014 | incumbent | |||||
| Wade MacLauchlan | Liberal | Prince Edward Island | May 4, 2015 | March 26, 2019 | Premier from 2015 to 2019. | ||||
| Michael Connolly | NDP | Alberta | May 5, 2015 | March 19, 2019 | |||||
| Jennifer Rice | NDP | British Columbia | May 14, 2013 | incumbent | |||||
| Ricardo Miranda | NDP | Alberta | May 5, 2015 | March 19, 2019 | |||||
| Estefan Cortes-Vargas | NDP | Alberta | May 5, 2015 | March 19, 2019 | |||||
| Julie Green | non-partisan consensus government | Northwest Territories | November 23, 2015 | incumbent | |||||
| Jill Andrew | NDP | Ontario | June 7, 2018 | incumbent | |||||
| Terence Kernaghan | NDP | Ontario | June 7, 2018 | incumbent | |||||
| Suze Morrison | NDP | Ontario | June 7, 2018 | May 3, 2022 | |||||
| Jeremy Roberts | PC | Ontario | June 7, 2018 | May 3, 2022 | |||||
| Youri Chassin | Coalition Avenir Québec | Quebec | October 1, 2018 | incumbent | |||||
| Jennifer Maccarone | Quebec Liberal Party | Quebec | October 1, 2018 | incumbent | |||||
| Janis Irwin | NDP | Alberta | April 16, 2019 | incumbent | |||||
| Lela Evans | NDP | Newfoundland and Labrador | May 16, 2019 | incumbent | |||||
| Uzoma Asagwara | NDP | Manitoba | September 10, 2019 | incumbent | |||||
| Lisa Naylor | NDP | Manitoba | September 10, 2019 | incumbent | |||||
| Lane Tredger | NDP | Yukon | April 12, 2021 | incumbent | |||||
| Lisa Lachance | NDP | Nova Scotia | August 17, 2021 | incumbent | |||||
| Lise Vaugeois | NDP | Ontario | June 2, 2022 | incumbent | |||||
| Kristyn Wong-Tam | NDP | Ontario | June 2, 2022 | incumbent | |||||
| Elenore Sturko | Conservative | British Columbia | September 10, 2022 | incumbent | |||||
| Nathaniel Teed | NDP | Saskatchewan | September 26, 2022 | incumbent | |||||
| Brooks Arcand-Paul | NDP | Alberta | May 29, 2023 | incumbent | |||||
| Court Ellingson | NDP | Alberta | May 29, 2023 | incumbent | |||||
| Tyler Blashko | NDP | Manitoba | October 3, 2023 | incumbent | |||||
| Logan Oxenham | NDP | Manitoba | October 3, 2023 | incumbent | |||||
| Mayor | City | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marianne Alto | Victoria, British Columbia | 2022–present | ||
| David Bailey | County of Brant, Ontario | 2018–present | ||
| Cecil Clarke | Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia | 2012–2020 | ||
| Eric Duncan | North Dundas, Ontario | 2010–2018 | ||
| Kevin Haché | Caraquet, New Brunswick | 2015–2021 | ||
| Lisa Helps | Victoria, British Columbia | 2014–2022 | ||
| Julie Lemieux | Très-Saint-Rédempteur, Quebec | 2017–present | First transgender mayor in Canada | |
| Réal Ménard | Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Quebec | 2010–2017 | ||
| Kevin Morrison | Goderich, Ontario | 2014–2018 | ||
| Glen Murray | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1998–2004 | ||
| Ted Nebbeling | Whistler, British Columbia | 1990–1996 | ||
| Colin Ratushniak | La Ronge, Saskatchewan | 2020–present | ||
| Maurice Richard | Bécancour, Quebec | 1975–1985 1995–2013 | ||
| Jim Watson | Ottawa, Ontario | 1997–2000 2010–2022 |
People who did not hold a political office at the federal, provincial or municipal levels, but have some other form of political significance.
| Person | Role | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate for Mayor of Toronto, 2000 | ||||
| City manager of Vancouver, British Columbia, 2008-2015 | ||||
| Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party, 1993 | ||||
| Leader of the Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale, 1964-1968 | ||||
| Leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party, 2005-2006 | ||||
| Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party, 2019 | ||||
| Candidate for Mayor of Toronto, 2010 | ||||
| Sole electoral candidate of the Gay Alliance Toward Equality, 1979 | ||||
| Socialist political candidate | ||||
| Leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, 2021-present | ||||
| Representative for Electoral Area B (Comox North) on the Comox-Strathcona Regional District board, 1981-1993 | See also Egan v Canada | |||
| First known transgender candidate for political office | ||||
| Candidate for Mayor of Winnipeg, 2006 | ||||
| Provincial election candidate for the Ontario New Democratic Party, 1995 | ||||
| New Democratic Party of Canada strategist | ||||
| Toronto City Council candidate, 1980 | ||||
| Activist, federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party in 2008 | ||||
| Activist, academic, federal election candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in 2019 and 2021 | ||||
| Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, 2019-2021 | ||||
| First Nations band councillor | ||||
| Interim leader of the Green Party of Canada, 2021-2022 | ||||
| Leader of the Green Party of Canada, 1990-1996 | ||||
| Federal election candidate for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, 1958 | ||||
| Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party, 2000, and the Green Party of Canada, 2019 | ||||
| First known gay candidate for political office | ||||
| Provincial election candidate for the Ontario Libertarian Party, 2011 | ||||
| Federal candidate in 1984 and municipal candidate in 1993 | ||||
| First out LGBTQ Lieutenant-Governor of a province | ||||
| Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party, 2006 Chief commissioner of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, 1996-2001 | ||||