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
 * 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