List of Canadian expatriates in foreign political positions
This page lists Canadians (those born in Canada or who have previously held Canadian Citizenship who have served in political positions outside of Canada. When an individual has held multiple political offices (such as Bonar Law) the higher office attained is listed
Head of State
Individual |
Position |
Country |
Years |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga |
Presidents of Latvia |
Latvia |
1999-2007 |
Arrived in Canada as a refugee in the 1950s. Renounced her Canadian Citizenship upon being elected President of Latvia |
Head of Government
Individual |
Position |
Country |
Years |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Bonar Law |
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
United Kingdom |
1922-1923 |
Born in New Brunswick |
Edwin Leather |
Governor of Bermuda |
Bermuda |
1973–1977 |
Born in Ontario |
Paula Cox |
Premier of Bermuda |
Bermuda |
2010-Present |
Born in Canada |
Leader of a State or Province
Individual |
Position |
Country |
Years |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Frank Bell (governor) |
Governor of Nevada |
United States of America |
1890-1891 |
Born in Toronto, Ontario |
Aram J. Pothier |
Governor of Rhode Island |
United States of America |
1909-1915, 1925-1928 |
Born in Quebec |
Frank Henry Cooney |
Governor of Montana |
United States of America |
1933-1935 |
Born in Norwood, Ontario |
Stan Stephens |
Governor of Montana |
United States of America |
1989-1993 |
Born in Calgary, Alberta |
Jennifer Granholm |
Governor of Michigan |
United States of America |
2003-2011 |
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia |
Member of a federal legislature
Individual |
Position |
Country |
Years |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Charles Wentworth Upham |
Congressman |
United States |
1853-1855 |
Born in Saint John, New Brunswick. Also served in State and Municipal government in Massachusetts |
James Nesmith |
Senator |
United States |
1861-1867 |
Born in Canada to American parents |
John F. Farnsworth |
Congressman |
United States |
1863-1873 |
Born in Eaton, Canada |
John Fox |
Congressman |
United States |
1867-1871 |
Born in Fredericton, New Brunswick |
David H. Armstrong |
Senator |
United States |
1877-1879 |
Born in Nova Scotia |
Jacob Harold Gallinger |
Senator |
United States |
1885-1889 |
Born in Ontario |
James McMillan (politician) |
Senator |
United States |
1889-1902 |
Born in Ontario |
Samuel M. Stephenson |
Congressman |
United States |
1889-1897 |
Born in Hartland, New Brunswick |
Jerry Simpson |
Congressman |
United States |
1891-1895, 1897-1899 |
Born in Prince Edward Island |
James Castle (politician) |
Congressman |
United States |
1891-1893 |
Born in Quebec |
Edward Blake |
Member of Parliament |
United Kingdom |
1892-1906 |
Born in Upper Canada. Also served as Premier of Ontario and Canadian federal MP |
Arthur H. Taylor |
Congressman |
1893-1895 |
Born in Caledonia Springs, Ontario |
|
James McCleary |
Congressman |
893-1907 |
Born in Ingersol, Ontario |
|
Alexander M. Hardy |
Congressman |
United States |
1895-1897 |
Born in Simcoe, Ontario |
Joseph Millard |
Senator |
United States |
1901-1907 |
Born in Ontario |
Thomas Kearns |
Senator |
United States |
1901-1905 |
Born in Ontario |
Charles Ramsay Devlin |
Member of Parliament |
United Kingdom |
1903-1906 |
Born in Lower Canada. Also served in Canada. |
Alfred Lucking |
Congressman |
United States |
1903-1905 |
Born in Ingersol, Ontario |
Philip P. Campbell |
Congressman |
United States |
1903-1923 |
Born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia |
Duncan E. McKinlay |
Congressman |
United States |
1905-1911 |
Born in Orilla, Ontario |
Isaac Stephenson |
Senator |
United States |
1907-1915 |
Born in New Brunswick |
Archibald C. Hart |
Congressman |
United States |
1912-1913, 1913-1917 |
Born in Quebec |
Robert G. Bremner |
Congressman |
United States |
1913-1914 |
Born in Scotland. Immigrated to Canada during his youth before relocating to the United States |
Samuel D. Nicholson |
Senator |
United States |
1921-1923 |
Born in Prince Edward Island |
Daniel Sutherland |
Congressional Delegate |
United States |
1921-1931 |
Born in Nova Scotia |
Elliott W. Sproul |
Congressman |
United States |
1921-1931 |
Born in New Brunswick |
James J. Couzens |
Senator |
United States |
1922-1936 |
Born in Ontario |
Louis Monast |
Congressman |
United States |
1927-1929 |
Born in Quebec |
William R. Eaton |
Congressman |
United States |
1929-1933 |
Born in Nova Scotia |
J. Lincoln Newhall |
Congressman |
United States |
1929-1931 |
Born in Quebec |
Felix Hebert |
Senator |
United States |
1929-1935 |
Born in Quebec |
Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker |
Member of Parliament, Member of the House of Lords |
United Kingdom |
1929-1931, 1936-1970, 1970-1982 |
Born in England to a Canadian-born father |
Michael J. Hart |
Congressman |
United States |
1931-1935 |
Born in Quebec |
James E. Murray |
Senator |
United States |
1934-1961 |
Born in Ontario |
Beverley Baxter |
Member of Parliament |
United Kingdom |
1935-1964 |
Born in Toronto |
Alphonse Roy |
Congressman |
United States |
1938-1939 |
Born in Quebec. Also served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. |
William Aitken (MP) |
Member of Parliament |
United Kingdom |
1950-1964 |
Born in Nova Scotia |
John C. Mackie |
Congressman |
United States |
1965-1967 |
Born in Toronto |
Weston E. Vivian |
Congressman |
United States |
1965-1967 |
Born in the Dominion of Newfoundland |
S. I. Hayakawa |
Senator |
United States |
1977-1983 |
Born in British Columbia |
Geoff Davis |
Congressman |
United States |
2005-Present |
Born in Quebec |
Gino Bucchino |
Member of the Chamber of Deputies |
Italy |
2006-Present |
Naturalized Canadian. Represents Italians in North America |
Cabinet Ministers
Individual |
Position |
Country |
Years |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gojko Šušak |
Ministry of Defence (Croatia) |
Croatia |
1991-1998 |
Naturalized Canadian |
Gregory So |
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development |
Hong Kong |
2011-Present |
Naturalized Canada. Renounced Citizenship upon accepting his position. |
Gabriel Leung |
Undersecretary for Food and Health |
Hong Kong |
2011-? |
|
Municipal
Individual |
Position |
Country |
Years |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Solomon Juneau |
founding mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
United States |
1846 |
Born in Repentigny, Quebec to Metis parents |
Joseph Medill |
Mayor of Chicago Illinois |
United States |
1870-1872 |
Born in New Brunswick |
Woodford A. Yerxa |
Mayor of Fargo, North Dakota |
United States |
1883-1885 |
born in St. John's, New Brunswick, Canada, March 1856 |
Charles Scott |
Mayor of Fargo, North Dakota |
United States |
1886-1887 |
Born in Canada about 1850 |
Walter Lambert |
Mayor of Wyandotte, Michigan |
United States |
1895-1897 |
Born in Amherstberg, Canada |
Samuel Dickie |
Mayor of Albion, Michigan |
United States |
1896-1897 |
Born in Burford Township, Ontario |
Finlay Ross |
Mayor of Wichita, Kansas |
United States |
1897-1900, 1905-1906 |
Born in Toronto, Ontario |
Victor A. Alderson |
Mayor of Wausau, Wisconsin |
United States |
1900 |
Born in Summerville, Ontario |
Benjamin Franklin McLean |
Mayor of Wichita, Kansas |
United States |
1901-1904, 1923-1924 |
Born in Canada |
Hubert S. Amiot |
Mayor of Wyandotte, Michigan |
United States |
1922-1927 |
Born in Windsor, Ontario |
Jon Heese |
Tsukuba city councilor |
Japan |
2008-Present |
Born in Manitoba. Renounced his citizenship to become a Japanese national |
High Office in a Foreign Political Party
Individual |
Party |
Country |
Years |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jack Kavanagh |
Communist Party of Australia |
Australia |
1930s |
|
Rajesh Sharma |
Vice-President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha |
India |
Born in Toronto |
|
Misc
- Joe Juneau - Founder of the City of Juneau, Alaska - Born in Quebec
- Abdullahi Afrah - Naturalized Canadian who led the Islamic Courts Union, attempting to take over the government of Somalia. May have served as Minister of Trade in 2007 1
- Elie Vézina - Special US Ambassador to Haiti. Born in Quebec 2