List of LGBTQ politicians in Canada

Despite Canada being known as one of the most accepting countries for LGBTQ persons and home to some of the largest and most vibrant queer communities in the world, ^[1] LGBT/Queer representation in elected offices in Canada has generally been modest when compared with other developed western countries.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of LGBT politicians in Canada who have been identified or acknowledged on public record as being LGBT or queer persons. It does not include politicians who were/are openly queer or widely known as LGBTQ persons among their personal or even political associate but have never formally identified as such (by self, mainstream media outlets, or historians) to the general public or in election campaigns. The list is grouped by members of the two houses of the federal parliament, provincial legislatures, mayors, municipal councilors, and other.

Federal Parliament

House of Commons

Canada got its first openly gay MP in February 1988 when Svend Robinson, an NDP MP first elected in 1979 representing the then mostly blue-collared riding of Burnaby, came out publicly. Despite facing much abuse after the announcement, he went on to become one of the longest serving MPs with 25 years in parliament. In the following 16 years until Robinson stepped down in 2004, three other sitting MPs came out while in office - Réal Ménard of the Bloc, Robinson's close ally and fellow BC NDP MP Libby Davies, and Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative MP Scott Brison who crossed the floor to the Liberals a year after coming out and went on to become the first openly LGBT cabinet minister, serving in the cabinet of both Paul Martin and Justin Trudeau.

The 2004 general election returned the first two MPs who were openly gay when first elected: Robinson's aide and successor Bill Siksay and Ontario Liberal MP Mario Silva, and brought the number of openly LGBTQ sitting MPs to five.

The 2021 general election returned nine openly LGBTQ MPs, the high watermark for LGBT representation in parliament and with representation from the three main national parties (four Liberals, three NDPs, and two Conservatives). Three of those MPs served in cabinet concurrently between 2021 and 2024, the highest number of LGBTQ cabinet members to date.

By 2025 however, all three ministers have stepped down from cabinet and opted not to seek re-election. The 2025 election also saw the defeat or standing down of all three NDP MPs, reducing the rank of LGBTQ MPs to four (two Liberal and two Conservatives).

It is also noteworthy that of the three most established LGBTQ enclaves in Canada's three largest cities (Church and Wellesley in Toronto, Le Village gai in Montreal, and the Davie Village in Vancouver), not one have been represented by openly LGBTQ MPs.

Term: Year without specific date indicates at general election held that year
Party affiliation: █ Liberal █ Conservative █ Progressive Conservative █ New Democratic █ Bloc Québécois

MPs currently in office

		Member	Province (electoral district)	First elected	Notes
		Hon. Rob Oliphant	Ontario (Don Valley West)	2008 (out of office 2011-15)	Privy Counsellor (since 2021) Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (since 2019)
		Eric Duncan	Ontario (Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry)	2019
		Melissa Lantsman	Ontario (Thornhill)	2021	Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition (since September 2022)
		Ernie Klassen	British Columbia (South Surrey—White Rock)	2025	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries (since June 2025)

Former MPs

		Member	Province (electoral district)	Term		Notes
				Start	End
		Hon. Heward Grafftey	Quebec (Brome—Missisquoi)	1958	1968 (defeated)	Came out publicly after retirement from parliament. Cabinet minister in the Clark ministry
				1972	1980 (defeated)
		Hon. Charles Lapointe	Quebec (Charlevoix)	1974	1984 (defeated)	Came out after retirement from parliament Cabinet minister in both of P.E. Trudeau ministries (20th & 22nd)
		Svend Robinson	British Columbia (Burnaby—Douglas)	1979	2004 (stood down)	Became the first openly LGBT sitting MP when came out publicly while in office in 1988
		Ian Waddell	British Columbia (Vancouver Kingsway 1979–1988, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam 1988–93)	1979	1993 (defeated)	Later BC MLA (1996–2001) and minister (1998–2001). Came out as bisexual during his 2004 bid to return to parliament.
		Réal Ménard	Quebec (Hochelaga)	1993	2009-09-16 (resigned)	First LGBT MP from Quebec.
		Hon. Scott Brison	Nova Scotia (Kings—Hants)	1997	2000-07-24 (resigned)	Came out publicly while in office in 2002 First openly LGBTQ member of cabinet, minister in the Martin and J. Trudeau ministries First openly LGBT MP from Nova Scotia First openly LGBT candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative (2003) and the Liberal (2006) parties Crossed the floor from Progressive Conservative to the Liberal in 2003.
				2000	2019-02-10 (resigned)
		Libby Davies	British Columbia (Vancouver East)	1997	2015 (stood down)	Became the first openly LGBT woman in parliament when she publicly revealed in 2001 that she was in a same-sex relationship.
		Bill Siksay	British Columbia (Burnaby—Douglas)	2004	2011 (stood down)	First LGBT MP who was openly LGBT when first elected (along with Mario Silva)
		Mario Silva	Ontario (Davenport)	2004	2011 (defeated)	First LGBT MP who was openly LGBT when first elected (along with Bill Siksay) First LGBT MP from Ontario
		Raymond Gravel	Quebec (Repentigny)	2006-11-27	2008 (stood down)	As a Catholic priest received bishop's dispensation to seek election, but was later ordered by the Vatican to stand down
		Randall Garrison	British Columbia (Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke)	2011	2025 (stood down)
		Dany Morin	Quebec (Chicoutimi—Le Fjord)	2011	2015 (defeated)
		Philip Toone	Quebec (Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine)	2011	2015 (defeated)
		Craig Scott	Ontario (Toronto Danforth)	2012-03-19	2015 (defeated)
		Sheri Benson	Saskatchewan (Saskatoon West)	2015	2019 (defeated)	First LGBT MP from Saskatchewan Deputy leader of the NDP (2019)
		Hon. Randy Boissonnault	Alberta (Edmonton Centre)	2015	2019 (defeated)	First LGBT MP from Alberta Cabinet minister in the J. Trudeau ministry (2021–24)
				2021	2025 (stood down)
		Hon. Seamus O'Regan	Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John's South—Mount Pearl)	2015	2025 (stood down)	First LGBT MP from Newfoundland and Labrador Cabinet minister in the J. Trudeau ministry (2017–24)
		Lisa Marie Barron	British Columbia (Nanaimo—Ladysmith)	2021	2025 (defeated)
		Blake Desjarlais	Alberta (Edmonton Griesbach)	2021	2025 (defeated)	First MP to be identified as two-spirit
		Hon. Pascale St-Onge	Quebec (Brome—Missisquoi)	2021	2025 (stood down)	First lesbian cabinet minister, minister in the J. Trudeau ministry (2021–24)

Senate

Party affiliation or grouping: █ Liberal █ Conservative █ Independent Senators Group █ Progressive Senate Group

Senators currently in office

		Senator	Province (division)	Term			Notes
				Appointed on advice of		Mandatory Retirement
		Hon. René Cormier	New Brunswick		2016-11-10 (J. Trudeau)	2031-04-27
		Hon. Kim Pate	Ontario		2016-11-10} (J. Trudeau)	2034-11-10
		Hon. Marnie McBean	Ontario		2023-12-20 (J. Trudeau)	2043-01-28
		Hon. Kristopher Wells	Alberta		2024-08-31 (J. Trudeau)	2046-10-07
		Hon. Martine Hébert	Quebec (Victoria)		2025-02-27 (J. Trudeau)	2040-10-07
		Hon. Duncan Wilson	British Columbia		2025-02-28 (J. Trudeau)	2042-09-26

Former senators

		Senator	Province (division)	Term			Notes
				Appointed on advice of		End
		Hon. Laurier LaPierre	Ontario		2001-06-13 Chrétien	2004-11-21	First openly LGBT person to be appointed senator
		Hon. Nancy Ruth	Ontario (Cluny)[a]		2005-03-24 (Martin)	2017-01-06	First out lesbian to be appointed to senator. Initially affiliated with the Progressive Conservative (2005–08), joined the Conservative caucus in March 2008.

Provincial legislatures

MP		Party		Province	Term		Notes
					Start	End
	Richard Hatfield		PC	New Brunswick	June 19, 1961	October 13, 1987	Outed only after death
	Claude Charron		Parti Québécois	Quebec	April 29, 1970	April 13, 1982	Came out after resignation from the legislature
	Guy Joron		PQ	Quebec	April 29, 1970	October 29, 1973	Was out among his caucus colleagues in the legislature, but not to the general public.
					November 15, 1976	April 13, 1981
	Keith Norton		PC	Ontario	September 18, 1975	May 2, 1985	Came out after retirement from the legislature
	Dave Cooke		NDP	Ontario	June 9, 1977	January 19, 1997	Came out after retirement from the legislature
	Ian Waddell		NDP	British Columbia	May 22, 1979	October 25, 1993	Came out after retirement from the legislature
					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	December 2, 1985	September 12, 1994	First provincial legislator in Canada to be out as gay during his career in politics.
	Ian Scott		Liberal	Ontario	May 2, 1985	April 4, 1992	Came out after retirement from the legislature.
	André Boisclair		Parti Québécois	Quebec	September 25, 1989	November 15, 2007
	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	April 17, 2000	November 4, 2002
	Cecil Clarke		Progressive Conservative	Nova Scotia	March 6, 2001	March 25, 2011	Not out during his term in the legislature; came out later while serving as a mayor.
	Lorne Mayencourt		Liberal	British Columbia	May 16, 2001	September 13, 2008
	Jim Watson		OLP	Ontario	October 2, 2003	February 1, 2010
	Kathleen Wynne		Liberal	Ontario	October 2, 2003	May 3, 2022
	Doug Routley		NDP	British Columbia	May 17, 2005	September 21, 2024
	Nicholas Simons		NDP	British Columbia	May 17, 2005	October 19, 2024
	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
	Michael Connolly		NDP	Alberta	May 5, 2015	March 19, 2019
	Jennifer Rice		NDP	British Columbia	May 14, 2013	September 21, 2024
	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	November 14, 2023
	Jill Andrew		NDP	Ontario	June 7, 2018	January 28, 2025
	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
	Janet Brewster		Non-partisan consensus government	Nunavut	November 19, 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
	Luke Randall		Liberal	New Brunswick	October 21, 2024	incumbent
	Rod Wilson		New Democratic	Nova Scotia	November 26, 2024	incumbent
	Catherine McKenney		New Democratic	Ontario	February 27, 2025	incumbent
	Tyler Watt		Liberal	Ontario	February 27, 2025	incumbent

Mayors

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 2024–present
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	2020–2022
Maurice Richard	Bécancour, Quebec	1975–1985 1995–2013
Jim Watson	Ottawa, Ontario	1997–2000 2010–2022

Municipal councillors

Councillor	City	Term	Notes	Ref
Dominic Agostino	Hamilton City Council	1987–1995
Marianne Alto	Victoria City Council	2018–2022
Keenan Aylwin	Barrie City Council	2018–2022
Carle Bernier-Genest	Montreal City Council	2006–2009
Raymond Blain	Montreal City Council	1986–1992
Rebecca Bligh	Vancouver City Council	2018–present
Evert Botha	Prince Albert City Council	2016–2020
Paul Butler	Trail, British Columbia	2018–present
Robin Buxton Potts	Toronto City Council	2022–2022		[3]
Garett Cochrane	Yellowknife City Council	2022–present		[4]
Conner Copeman	Cumberland, British Columbia	2011–present
Noah Donovan	Quispamsis, New Brunswick	2021–present
Dakota Ekman	Biggar, Saskatchewan	2020–present
Stéphane Émard-Chabot	Ottawa City Council	1994–2000
Jeromy Farkas	Calgary City Council	2017–2021
Brian Fralic	Region of Queens Municipality, Nova Scotia	2012–present
Cameron Frye	Tecumseh	1972–1980	Came out at final council meeting in 1980	[5]
Randall Garrison	Esquimalt, British Columbia	2008–2011
Charlotte Gauthier	Gillams, Newfoundland and Labrador	2020–present
Joy Guyot	Golden, British Columbia	2022–present
Paul Harris	Red Deer City Council	2010–2017
Julien Hénault-Ratelle	Montreal City Council	2021–present
Alan Herbert	Vancouver City Council	1996–1999
Darren Hill	Saskatoon City Council	2006–2024
Aidan Johnson	Hamilton City Council	2014–2018
Reece Van Breda	Sioux Lookout, Ontario	2022–present
Helen Kennedy	East York Borough Council	1988–1991
Cameron Kroetsch	Hamilton City Council	2022–present		[3]
Joy Lachica	Peterborough City Council	2022–present		[3]
Robert Laramée	Montreal City Council	1994–1998 2001–2005
Howard Levine	Toronto City Council	1988–1994	Not out during his political career.
Shawn Lewis	London City Council	2018–present	Deputy mayor 2022–present	[6]
Cat McGurk	Yellowknife City Council	2022–present		[4]
Catherine McKenney	Ottawa City Council	2014–2022
Sherry McKibben	Edmonton City Council	1994–1995
Peter Meiszner	Vancouver City Council	2022–present
Chris Moise	Toronto City Council	2022–present		[3]
Alex Munter	Kanata City Council Ottawa-Carleton Regional Council	1991–1994 (Kanata) 1994–2000 (Ottawa-Carleton)
Michael Phair	Edmonton City Council	1992–2007
Sarah Potts-Halpin	Victoria City Council	2018–2022
Jasmin Parker	Saskatoon City Council	2024–Present
Gordon Price	Vancouver City Council	1986–2002
Kyle Rae	Toronto City Council	1991–2010
Ophelia Ravencroft	St. John's City Council	2021–present
Mark Renaud	Tillsonburg, Ontario	2003–2014
Richard Ryan	Montreal City Council	2013–2021
Serge Sasseville	Montreal City Council	2021–present		[7]
Mario Silva	Toronto City Council	1994–2003
Krista Snow	Halifax City Council	2003–2012
Tim Stevenson	Vancouver City Council	2002–2018		[8]
Lenore Swystun	Saskatoon City Council	2000–2003
Donovan Taplin	Wabana, Newfoundland and Labrador	2013–2017		[9]
Ariel Troster	Ottawa City Council	2022–present		[3]
Sonia Williams	Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador	2013–present
Alex Wilson	Hamilton City Council	2022–present		[3]
Kristyn Wong-Tam	Toronto City Council	2010–2022
Ellen Woodsworth	Vancouver City Council	2002–2011
Russ Wyatt	Winnipeg City Council	2002–2018 2022–present		[10]

Other

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
Enza Anderson	Candidate for Mayor of Toronto, 2000
Penny Ballem	City manager of Vancouver, British Columbia, 2008-2015
Betty Baxter	Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party, 1993
Pierre Bourgault	Leader of the Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale, 1964-1968
Allison Brewer	Leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party, 2005-2006
Lori Campbell	Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party, 2019
Keith Cole	Candidate for Mayor of Toronto, 2010
Robert Douglas Cook	Sole electoral candidate of the Gay Alliance Toward Equality, 1979
Ross Dowson	Socialist political candidate
Éric Duhaime	Leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, 2021–present
Jim Egan	Representative for Electoral Area B (Comox North) on the Comox-Strathcona Regional District board, 1981-1993	See also Egan v Canada
Norman Elder	Candidate for Toronto City Council
Jamie Lee Hamilton	First known transgender candidate for political office
Kaj Hasselriis	Candidate for Mayor of Winnipeg, 2006
Brent Hawkes	Provincial election candidate for the Ontario New Democratic Party, 1995	See also Operation Soap, Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Jamey Heath	New Democratic Party of Canada strategist
George Hislop	Toronto City Council candidate, 1980	See also We Demand Rally, Operation Soap
El-Farouk Khaki	Activist, federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party in 2008
Trevor Kirczenow	Activist, academic, federal election candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in 2019 and 2021
David Khan	Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, 2019-2021
Khelsilem	First Nations band councillor
Amita Kuttner	Interim leader of the Green Party of Canada, 2021-2022
Chris Lea	Leader of the Green Party of Canada, 1990-1996
John Alan Lee	Federal election candidate for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, 1958
Greg Malone	Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party, 2000, and the Green Party of Canada, 2019
Peter Maloney	First known gay candidate for political office
Christin Milloy	Provincial election candidate for the Ontario Libertarian Party, 2011
Micheline Montreuil	Federal candidate in 1984 and municipal candidate in 1993
Brenda Murphy	First out LGBTQ Lieutenant-Governor of a province
Peg Norman	Two-time federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party
Jeff Rock	Federal election candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada	See also Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Mary-Woo Sims	Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party, 2006 Chief commissioner of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, 1996-2001
Douglas Wilson	Federal election candidate for the New Democratic Party

Notes

1. Senators from provinces other than Quebec may name a senatorial designation of their own choosing, or use their province as their senatorial division by default.