This is a list of women who have served as viceroys in Canada. Canada is a constitutional monarchy with King Charles III as the reigning Canadian monarch. As the King does not reside in Canada, his daily responsibilities in the country are undertaken by the Governor General of Canada in the federal jurisdiction and by a lieutenant governor in each of the ten provincial jurisdictions. Collectively, these individuals are the King's official viceregal representatives.
This list also includes women who have served as commissioners, an office in each of Canada's three federal territories with similar function to provincial viceroys.
A total of four women have served, and one currently serving, as the Governor General of Canada.
| Image | Name | Home province | Start of mandate | End of mandate | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saskatchewan | 14 May 1984 | 28 January 1990 | First female governor general in Canadian history; appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau; member of the Fransaskois community. | ||||
| Ontario | 7 October 1999 | First visible minority and first Chinese Canadian to be appointed governor general by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien; first governor general without a military or political background. | |||||
| Quebec | 1 October 2010 | First Black Canadian woman to serve as a vicereine in Canada. Appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on advice of Prime Minister Paul Martin. | |||||
| Quebec | 2 October 2017 | 21 January 2021 | First former astronaut to serve as a vicereine in Canada. Appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. | ||||
| - bgcolor="#e6e6aa" | Quebec | 26 July 2021 | incumbent | First Inuit person to serve as a vicereine in Canada. Announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on July 6, 2021. |
A total of twenty-four women have served, or are currently serving, as the lieutenant governor of a province., there are seven serving provincial female viceroys in Canada.
| Image | Name | Province | Start of mandate | End of mandate | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 10 April 1974 | First vicereine in Canadian history; appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario by Governor General Jules Léger upon the advice of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. | ||||
| Manitoba | 23 October 1981 | 11 December 1986 | First female lieutenant governor in Manitoba. | |||
| Alberta | 22 January 1985 | 11 March 1991 | First female lieutenant governor in Alberta. | |||
| Saskatchewan | 7 September 1988 | 31 May 1994 | First female lieutenant governor in Saskatchewan. | |||
| 16 August 1990 | 30 August 1995 | First female lieutenant governor in Prince Edward Island. | ||||
| New Brunswick | 21 June 1994 | 18 April 1997 | First female lieutenant governor in New Brunswick. | |||
| Quebec | 30 January 1997 | 7 June 2007 | First female lieutenant governor in Quebec; first person with a physical disability to serve as a viceroy in Canada. | |||
| New Brunswick | 18 April 1997 | 26 August 2003 | Succeeded Margaret McCain as Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick; first woman to succeed another female vicereine in Canada. | |||
| Ontario | 24 January 1997 | 7 March 2002 | ||||
| Alberta | 11 February 2000 | 6 January 2005 | Died while in office at the age of 75. | |||
| Saskatchewan | 21 February 2000 | 1 August 2006 | ||||
| Nova Scotia | 17 May 2000 | 7 September 2006 | First female lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia. | |||
| British Columbia | 30 September 2007 | First female lieutenant governor in British Columbia. | ||||
| Prince Edward Island | 31 July 2006 | 15 August 2011 | ||||
| Nova Scotia | 7 September 2006 | 12 April 2012 | Second Black Canadian to serve as a vicereine in Canada, after Governor General Michaëlle Jean. | |||
| British Columbia | 2 November 2012 | 24 April 2018 | ||||
| Saskatchewan | 22 March 2012 | 21 March 2018 | ||||
| New Brunswick | 23 October 2014 | 2 August 2019 | Died while in office at the age of 63 | |||
| Alberta | 12 June 2015 | 26 August 2020 | ||||
| Ontario | 23 September 2014 | 14 November 2023 | ||||
| Manitoba | 19 June 2015 | 24 October 2022 | Wife of former Premier Gary Filmon. | |||
| Prince Edward Island | 20 October 2017 | incumbent | ||||
| British Columbia | 24 April 2018 | incumbent | ||||
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 3 May 2018 | 14 November 2023 | First female lieutenant governor in Newfoundland and Labrador. | |||
| New Brunswick | 8 September 2019 | incumbent | First openly LGBTQ lieutenant governor; and the first openly LGBTQ person to hold any viceregal office in Canada. | |||
| Alberta | 26 August 2020 | incumbent | First South Asian and the first Muslim to hold a viceregal office in Canada. | |||
| Manitoba | 24 October 2022 | incumbent | First Jewish lieutenant governor of Manitoba | |||
| Ontario | 14 November 2023 | incumbent | ||||
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 14 November 2023 | incumbent |
In each of the three territories of Canada, a commissioner acts as the formal head of state. Unlike the Governor General or a lieutenant governor (who are officially representatives of the Canadian monarch) the commissioners are appointed by and represent the Government of Canada. However, while they are not formally viceroys, they perform in their respective territories the same duties as a provincial lieutenant governor.
A total of thirteen women have served, or are currently serving, as a commissioner; one woman, Helen Maksagak, has served terms as a commissioner in two territories.
| Image | Name | Territory | Start of mandate | End of mandate | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yukon | 20 January 1979 | 10 October 1979 [1] | First female territorial commissioner in Canadian history; resigned from position within one year to run for public office in the 1980 Canadian federal election. | |||
| 16 January 1995 | 26 March 1999 | First female Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. | ||||
| Nunavut | 1 April 1999 | 1 April 2000 | First Commissioner of Nunavut following its creation on 1 April 1999. | |||
| Yukon | 23 June 1995 | 1 October 2000 | ||||
| Northwest Territories | 31 March 2000 | 29 April 2005 | ||||
| Nunavut | 21 April 2005 | 10 April 2010 | ||||
| Yukon | 1 December 2005 | |||||
| Nunavut | 10 April 2010 (acting) | 10 May 2010 | Would become acting Commissioner (as Deputy Commissioner) in 2015 and finally service as full Commissioner. | |||
| Nunavut | 10 May 2010 | 11 May 2015 | ||||
| Nunavut | 11 May 2015 (acting); 23 June 2015 (official) | 22 June 2020 | Two-time acting Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner, 2010 and 2015. | |||
| Northwest Territories | incumbent | |||||
| Yukon | 12 March 2018 | incumbent | ||||
| Nunavut | 22 June 2020 (acting) | 12 January 2021 | ||||
| Nunavut | 14 January 2021 | incumbent |