List of people from British Columbia

This is a list of notable people born, raised, or long-time resident in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Premiers

See List of premiers of British Columbia

Members of Parliament

• Jim Abbott
• David Anderson
• Thomas Speakman Barnett
• Dave Barrett, former Premier of British Columbia
• Ron Basford
• Don Bell
• Thomas Berger
• Hewitt Bostock
• Margaret Bridgman
• Chuck Cadman
• Iona Campagnolo, later Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia
• Kim Campbell, also Prime Minister of Canada
• Pat Carney
• Raymond Chan
• Mary Collins
• Chuck Cook
• Jean Crowder
• Nathan Cullen
• John Cummins
• Libby Davies
• Stockwell Day
• Amor De Cosmos, second Premier of British Columbia
• Edgar Dewdney, later Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia
• Herb Dhaliwal
• Ujjal Dosanjh, former Premier of British Columbia
• Tommy Douglas
• John Duncan
• David Emerson
• Paul Forseth
• Hedy Fry
• Jim Gouk
• Gurmant Grewal
• Nina Grewal
• Herbert Wilfred Herridge
• Russ Hiebert
• Jay Hill
• Betty Hinton
• Frank Howard
• William Irvine
• Pauline Jewett
• Peter Julian
• Douglas Jung
• Jim Karpoff
• Sophia Leung
• Gary Lunn
• Grace MacInnis
• Ian Alistair Mackenzie
• Roy MacLaren
• Len Marchand
• Keith Martin
• Gerry McGeer
• James Moore
• Henry Nathan, Jr.
• Stephen Owen
• George Pearkes, later Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia
• Art Phillips, former mayor of Vancouver
• Elmore Philpott
• John Reynolds
• Nelson Riis
• Svend Robinson
• Paul St. Pierre
• Tom Siddon
• Bill Siksay
• Bob Skelly
• Darrel Stinson
• Chuck Strahl
• John Turner, also Prime Minister of Canada
• Ian Waddell
• Mark Warawa
• Randy White

Jurists

• Beverley McLachlin, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
• Anthony Palmer, justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia

Other politicians

• Emery Barnes
• Wesley Drewett Black (Provincial Secretary 1952-1972)
• Richard Blanshard, first Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island
• Rosemary Brown
• Sir James Douglas, colonial governor (all colonies)
• Jennifer Granholm, governor of Michigan; naturalized US citizen
• Edward John
• Arthur Kennedy, governor of the united colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia
• David Lam, philanthropist and Lieutenant-Governor
• Rafe Mair
• Grace McCarthy
• Joy McPhail
• Frederick Seymour, Governor of Vancouver Island and of British Columbia
• William Fraser Tolmie
• Joseph Trutch, colonial Lieutenant-Governor and first Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of British Columbia

Scientists

• Ian Affleck, physicist
• Robert Edward Bell, nuclear physicist
• Margaret Benston, chemist, computer scientist
• Michael Bigg, marine biologist
• Jim Chamberlin, aerodynamicist
• Wade Davis, ethnobotanist
• James E. Gill, geologist
• John R. Hendricks, mathematician
• Abram Hoffer, biochemist, physician
• Frances Oldham Kelsey, pharmacologist
• Vit Klemes, hydrologist
• Mel Krajden, medical scientist
• Robert T. Lackey, fisheries scientist, ecologist, zoologist
• Robert Langlands, mathematician
• Jerrold E. Marsden, applied mathematician
• Bill Mathews, geologist, volcanologist, engineer
• Brian McConaghy, forensic scientist
• Patrick McTaggart-Cowan, meteorologist
• Faron Moller, computer scientist
• Barth Netterfield, astrophysicist
• Edward Faraday Odlum, geologist
• Santa J. Ono, biologist
• David Pearson, computer scientist
• Robert Methven Petrie, astronomer
• Jerilynn Prior, medical scientist, endocrinologist
• Scott D. Sampson, paleontologist
• Martin Schechter, epidemiologist
• Robert Fletcher Shaw, engineer
• John Alexander Sinton, medical scientist, doctor, malariologist
• Frank Smith, psycholinguist
• Michael Smith, biochemist
• Wayne Smith, statistician
• David Suzuki, biologist, ecologist
• Robert Thirsk, engineer, physician, astronaut
• John Lancelot Todd, physician, parasitologist
• Bjarni Tryggvason, engineer, astronaut
• Paul Tseng, applied mathematician
• William Vickrey, Nobel Prize-winning economist
• Andrew J. Weaver, climate scientist
• Franklin White, public health scientist

Show business personalities

• Bryan Adams, singer (Kingston Ont)
• Pamela Anderson, actress (Baywatch, V.I.P.)
• Aaron Ashmore, actor (Warehouse 13)
• Shawn Ashmore, actor (X-Men)
• Fadi Awad, artist, musician, producer, art projects manager, director
• Randy Bachman, musician (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) (Winnipeg)
• Long John Baldry, musician, songwriter
• Fairuza Balk, actress (The Wizard of Oz)
• Gil Bellows, actor
• Peter Breck, actor
• Michael Bublé, singer
• Raymond Burr, actor (Perry Mason)
• Jim Byrnes, musician, actor (Highlander)
• Nicholas Campbell, actor (Da Vinci's Inquest)
• Chris Carter, screenwriter, producer, director (X-Files)
• Kim Cattrall, actress (Sex in the City)
• Sarah Chalke, actress (Scrubs)
• William B. Davis, actor (X-Files)
• Yvonne De Carlo, actress (The Munsters)
• Edward Dmytryk, film director
• James Doohan, actor (Star Trek)
• Aryana Engineer, actress (Orphan)
• Roy Forbes (Bim), musician
• Judith Forst, opera singer
• David Foster, songwriter, record producer
• Nelly Furtado, singer
• Chief Dan George, actor (Little Big Man, Cariboo Cowboy)
• Matthew Good, musician
• June Havoc, actress
• Ben Heppner, opera singer
• Jacob Hoggard, musician (Hedley)
• John Ireland, actor
• Robert Ito, actor
• Carly Rae Jepsen, musician
• Alexz Johnson, singer, actress
• Joe Keithley, musician, songwriter (D.O.A.)
• Elias Koteas, actor (The Thin Red Line)
• Diana Krall, musician
• Kristin Kreuk, actress (Smallville)
• Nicholas Lea, actor (X-Files)
• Leon Mandrake, illusionist (Mandrake the Magician)
• Eric McCormack, actor
• Sarah McLachlan, musician
• Rosa Mendes, professional wrestler
• Joni Mitchell, singer/songwriter
• Cory Monteith, actor, singer
• Carrie-Anne Moss, actress
• Barbara Parkins, actress
• Jason Priestley, actor
• John Qualen, actor
• Mike Reno, musician, songwriter
• Ryan Reynolds, actor
• Donnelly Rhodes, actor (Da Vinci's Inquest)
• Coco Rocha, fashion model, Jehovah's Witness
• Seth Rogen, actor, comedian, writer, producer (The 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Zack & Miri Make A Porno)
• Michael Shanks, actor
• Nell Shipman, actress, film director
• Alexis Smith, actress
• Cobie Smulders, actress (How I Met Your Mother)
• Dorothy Stratten, actress, model
• Bobby Taylor, Motown singer (Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers)
• Jon Mikl Thor, singer, performer and bodybuilder
• Meg Tilly, actress
• Tina Tyler, pornographic actress

Sports personalities

• Glenn Anderson
• Jason Bay
• Russell Baze
• Mitch Berger
• Rod Brind'Amour
• Dayana Cadeau
• John Davison
• Ryan Dempster
• Craig Forrest
• Terry Fox
• Jeff Francis
• Freddy Fuller
• Danny Gare
• Nancy Greene
• Rick Hansen
• Rich Harden
• Shawn Horcoff
• Daniel Igali
• Barret Jackman
• Harry Jerome
• Teyo Johnson
• Paul Kariya
• Andrew Ladd
• Silken Laumann
• Bob Lenarduzzi
• Trevor Linden
• Adam Loewen
• Willie Mitchell
• Greg Moore
• Justin Morneau
• Brendan Morrison
• Steve Nash
• Cam Neely
• Rob Niedermayer
• Scott Niedermayer
• Pat Onstad
• Simon Pond
• Mark Recchi
• Gareth Rees
• Cliff Ronning
• Joe Sakic
• Paul Spoljaric
• John Tenta
• Cliff Thorburn
• John van't Schip
• Larry Walker
• Percy Williams
• Steve Yzerman

Artists

• Emily Carr, artist
• Fred Herzog, photographer
• Clive Holden, poet, filmdirector and visual artist
• Attila Richard Lukacs, artist
• Len Norris, editorial cartoonist
• Sophie Pemberton, painter
• Bill Reid, artist
• Jack Shadbolt, artist
• Godfrey Stephens, artist
• Shane Wilson, artist

Journalists and writers

• Doug Beardsley, poet and educator
• Bill Bissett, poet
• Robert Bringhurst, poet
• Douglas Coupland, author (genX fiction)
• Ranj Dhaliwal, author (crime-fiction)
• Philip K. Dick, author (science fiction)
• Ralph Edwards, naturalist/author (Caruso of Lonesome Lake)
• Timothy Findley, author
• Allan Fotheringham, columnist (politics, often satirical)
• Austin Gary, author
• William Gibson, author (Neuromancer)
• Terry Glavin, columnist/author and naturalist (ecology, fisheries, politics)
• John Stephen Hill, playwright Steve Hill (When I'm 64)
• Bruce Hutchison, editor/columnist and author (The Fraser)
• W.P. Kinsella, author/columnist (Shoeless Joe Goes To Iowa)
• Malcolm Lowry, novelist (Under the Volcano, October Ferry To Gabriola)
• Eswyn Lyster, genealogist and war bride author (Most Excellent Citizens, Trafford Press 2010)
• Alan Morley, journalist and historian (Vancouver: From Milltown to Metropolis)
• Margaret Lally "Ma" Murray, editor, columnist
• Susan Musgrave, poet
• Kliph Nesteroff, writer, broadcaster
• Spider Robinson, author (science fiction)
• George Ryga, playwright (The Ecstasy Of Rita Joe)
• Paul St. Pierre (Breaking Smith's Quarter Horse)
• Robin Skelton, poet
• Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun religion reporter
• Margaret Trudeau, author
• Jack Wasserman, columnist (society, show biz, politics)

Others

• Brother Twelve, cult leader
• Mary John, Sr.
• David Lam, philanthropist and Lieutenant-Governor
• Masajiro Miyazaki, osteopath, coroner and "bush doctor"
• Jim Pattison, businessman and Fortune 500 member
• Caspar Phair, Lillooet pioneer and first government agent
• Arran Stephens, author; founder of Nature's Path