List of people from Ontario
This is a list of notable people who were either born or lived in Ontario, Canada, or have spent a large part or formative part of their career in that province.
Artists
- Troy Brooks – painter
Comedians
- Kurtis Conner – Hamilton
- Derek Edwards – Timmins
- Dave Foley – Etobicoke
- Evan Fong – Toronto
- Tom Green – Pembroke
- Phil Hartman – Brantford
- Jenny Jones – London
- Mike MacDonald – Ottawa
- Norm Macdonald – Ottawa
- Howie Mandel – Toronto
- Mark McKinney – Ottawa
- Russell Peters – Brampton
- Katherine Ryan – Sarnia
- Ron Sparks – Chatham-Kent
- Scott Thompson – North Bay
- Harland Williams – Toronto
- John Wing Jr. – Sarnia
Professional athletes
- Caleb Agada – Nigerian-Canadian basketball player in the Israeli Premier League and for the Nigerian national basketball team
- Bolade Ajomale – Olympic sprinter from Richmond Hill
- Kyle Alexander – basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Sean Avery – retired hockey player from North York
- Alon Badat – Israeli soccer player from Thornhill
- Josh Bailey – hockey player, New York Islanders – Bowmanville
- Rowan Barrett – basketball player from Scarborough, top scorer in the 2002 Israel Basketball Premier League
- Anthony Bennett – basketball player from Toronto
- Sam Bennett – hockey player from Holland Landing
- Shane Bergman – CFL player from Waterford
- Reno Bertoia – Major League baseball player from Windsor
- Tajon Buchanan – soccer player – Brampton
- Marcus Carr – basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Tomer Chencinski – Israeli-Canadian football player from Thornhill
- Steve Christie – NFL placekicker – Hamilton
- Mike Craig – NHL player – Thorndale
- Laura Creavalle – bodybuilder – Toronto
- Nick Denis – mixed martial artist – North Bay
- Andre De Grasse – Olympic sprinter from Scarborough
- Phil Esposito – Sault Ste. Marie
- Tony Esposito – Sault Ste. Marie
- Simon Farine – basketball player from Toronto
- Sharon Fichman – Canadian/Israeli tennis player from Toronto
- Mike Fisher – hockey player from Peterborough
- Rick Fox – NBA player – Toronto
- Mark Friedman – NHL player from Toronto
- Greg Gardner – ice hockey player and coach
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Toronto
- Doug Gilmour – NHL player – Kingston
- Claude Giroux – NHL player – Hearst
- Wayne Gretzky – Brantford
- Brooke Henderson – Smiths Falls
- Jack Hendrickson – National Hockey League player from Kingston, Ontario and Midland, Ontario
- James Hinchcliffe – Oakville
- Tim Horton – Cochrane
- Jack Hughes – NHL ice hockey player from Toronto
- Zach Hyman – NHL ice hockey player from Forest Hill
- Cory Joseph – Pickering
- Curtis Joseph – Keswick
- Nazem Kadri – NHL player – London
- David Levin – Israeli ice hockey player – Toronto
- Jesse Levine – American-Canadian tennis player – Ottawa
- Alex "Mine Boy" Levinsky – NHL hockey player – Toronto
- Eric Lindros – London
- Jamaal Magloire – Toronto
- Frank Mahovlich – Timmins
- Connor McDavid – Newmarket
- Jamal Murray – basketball, Kitchener
- Rick Nash – Brampton
- Josh Naylor – Mississauga
- Daniel Nestor – Toronto
- Bobby Orr – Parry Sound
- Pete Orr – Richmond Hill
- Bob Plager – hockey player, Kirkland Lake
- Milos Raonic – tennis player – Thornhill
- Samuel Rothschild – ice hockey player – Sudbury
- Jim Rutherford – Beeton
- Samuel Schachter – Olympic volleyball player
- Denis Shapovalov – Israeli-Canadian tennis player – Vaughan
- Patrick Sharp – NHL player – Thunder Bay
- Marial Shayok – basketball player in the NBA and currently in the Israeli Premier Basketball League
- Simisola Shittu – British-born Canadian basketball player for Ironi Ness Ziona of the Israeli Basketball Premier League - Burlington
- Darryl Sittler – Kitchener
- Trevor Smith – hockey player – Ottawa
- Eric Staal – Thunder Bay
- Jordan Staal – Thunder Bay
- Marc Staal – Thunder Bay
- Steven Stamkos – Markham
- Andrew Sznajder – English-born Canadian tennis player – Oakville
- Tristan Thompson – Brampton
- Joe Thornton – St. Thomas
- Raffi Torres – Toronto
- Paul Tracy – Scarborough
- Mike Veisor – hockey player – Toronto
- Joey Votto – baseball player – Etobicoke
- Andrew Wiggins – NBA player – Toronto
- Nigel Wilson – Oshawa
Politicians
- Laura Curran
- Philip Downing
- Stephen Harper – 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and former Conservative Party leader – Leaside
- John T. Jarvis
- Michael Kerzner – Solicitor General of Ontario
- William Lyon Mackenzie King – 10th prime minister of Canada, longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history – Berlin now Kitchener.
- Paul Martin – 21st prime minister of Canada – Windsor
- James McMillan – Hamilton
- Lester B. Pearson – 14th prime minister of Canada – Newtonbrook
- Justin Trudeau – 23rd prime minister of Canada – Ottawa
Olympic athletes
- Alex Baumann – Sudbury
- Nathan Brannen – Cambridge
- Patrick Chan – Ottawa
- Gabrielle Daleman – Newmarket
- Victor Davis – Guelph
- Meagan Duhamel – Sudbury
- Lori Dupuis – South Glengarry
- John Fitzpatrick – Toronto
- Chris Jarvis – Grimsby
- Becky Kellar – Hagersville
- Rosie MacLennan – King City
- Conlin McCabe – Brockville
- Scott Moir – London
- Penny Oleksiak – Toronto
- Brian Orser – Belleville
- Elvis Stojko – Richmond Hill
- Adam van Koeverden – Oakville
- Tessa Virtue – London
- Simon Whitfield – Kingston
Other notable celebrities
- Thalia Assuras – London
- Samantha Bee – Toronto
- Gavin Michael Booth – Amherstburg
- William J. Bruce III – St. Catharines
- Don Cherry – Kingston
- William Winer Cooke – Brantford
- Adam Copeland – Orangeville
- Linda Evangelista – St. Catharines
- Melyssa Ford – Toronto
- Frank Gehry – Toronto
- Danielle Graham – Guelph
- Chris Hadfield – astronaut, Sarnia and Milton
- Shalom Harlow – Oshawa
- James Hobson – engineer and YouTuber, Kitchener
- Michiel Horn – Toronto
- Peter Jennings – Toronto
- Lynn Johnston – Collingwood
- Jason Jones – Hamilton
- Gail Kim – Toronto
- Lisa LaFlamme – Kitchener
- Ferdinand Larose – created the Larose Forest, Prescott and Russell
- Lainey Lui – Toronto
- Steve Mackall – Toronto
- Lorne Michaels – Toronto
- Daniel Negreanu – poker player, Toronto
- Kevin Newman – Toronto
- Jordan Peterson – professor, Toronto
- Quddus – Toronto
- James Randi – Toronto
- Ivan Reitman – Hamilton
- Jason Reso – Orangeville
- Sandie Rinaldo – Toronto
- John Roberts – Toronto
- Lloyd Robertson – Stratford
- Morley Safer – Toronto
- David Shore – London
- Lilly Singh – Toronto
- Trish Stratus – Richmond Hill
- John Saunders – sports reporter, from Ajax and other cities
- Alex Trebek – Sudbury
- Jack L. Warner – London
- Ken Westerfield – disc sports pioneer, from Toronto
- Lauren Williams – Toronto
Bands, musicians, singers, and rappers
- Lee Aaron – Belleville
- Annihilator (band) – Ottawa
- Bryan Adams – Kingston
- Alexisonfire – St. Catharines
- Paul Anka – Ottawa
- Eva Avila – Ottawa
- Barenaked Ladies – Scarborough
- Justin Bieber – Stratford
- Billy Talent – Mississauga
- Jully Black – Toronto
- Blue Rodeo – Toronto
- Broken Social Scene – Toronto
- Cancer Bats – Toronto
- Candi & The Backbeat – North York
- Alessia Cara – Mississauga
- Keshia Chanté – Ottawa
- Bruce Cockburn – Ottawa
- Deborah Cox – Toronto
- deadmau5 – Niagara Falls; real name Joel Thomas Zimmerman
- Hugh Dillon – Kingston
- Fefe Dobson – Scarborough
- Drake – Toronto
- Finger Eleven – Burlington
- Five Man Electrical Band – Ottawa
- J.D. Fortune – Mississauga
- Nelly Furtado – Forest Hill, Toronto
- Glenn Gould – Toronto
- Dallas Green – St. Catharines
- Hail the Villain – Oshawa
- Sarah Harmer – Burlington
- illScarlett – Mississauga
- Jeon Somi – Windsor
- Kardinal Offishall – Toronto
- Vikas Kohli – Mississauga
- James LaBrie – Penetanguishene
- Henry Lau – Toronto
- Avril Lavigne – Belleville and Greater Napanee
- Gordon Lightfoot – Orillia
- Lights – Timmins
- Little X – Toronto
- Guy Lombardo – London
- Brian Melo – Hamilton
- Shawn Mendes – Pickering
- Alice Merton – Oakville
- Metric – Toronto
- Kim Mitchell – Sarnia
- Alanis Morissette – Ottawa
- My Darkest Days – Toronto
- The Partland Brothers – Colgan
- Our Lady Peace – Toronto
- Peaches – Toronto
- Protest the Hero – Whitby
- Anastasia Rizikov – Toronto
- Rush – Toronto
- Saga – Oakville
- Paul Shaffer – Thunder Bay
- Sheriff – Toronto
- Silverstein – Burlington
- Snow – Toronto
- Wendy Son – Richmond Hill
- Sum 41 – Ajax
- Skye Sweetnam – Bolton
- Teenage Head – Hamilton
- Three Days Grace – Toronto
- Tokyo Police Club – Newmarket
- The Tragically Hip – Kingston
- Shania Twain – Windsor
- U.S.S. – Stouffville, Markham and Toronto
- Vanity – Niagara Falls
- Walk off the Earth – Burlington
- Tamia Washington – Windsor
- The Weeknd – Scarborough
- Michelle Wright – Merlin
- Neil Young – Toronto
- Daniel Caesar – Toronto
Authors
- Margaret Atwood – Ottawa and Toronto
- James Cameron – Kapuskasing and Niagara Falls
- Julie Czerneda – Mississauga
- Robertson Davies – Thamesville
- William Arthur Deacon – Pembroke
- Earl Doherty – Ottawa
- J. S. Ewart – advocate for Canadian independence, from Toronto
- Malcolm Gladwell – Kitchener-Waterloo
- Alistair MacLeod – Windsor
- Alice Munro – Wingham
- Michael Ondaatje – Toronto
- Robert J. Sawyer – Mississauga
- Clara E. Speight-Humberston – Acton
- Eric Walters – Toronto
Scientists and physicians
- Sir Frederick Banting – co-discoverer of insulin
- Charles Best – co-discoverer of insulin
- Norman Bethune – physician, pioneered the use of in-field blood transfusions during the Spanish Civil War, joined the Communist guerillas in China in the 1930s
- Roberta Bondar – astronaut, neurologist, from Sault Ste. Marie
- Robert Buckman – oncologist, president of Humanist Association of Canada
- Mathew Evans – inventor, created and patented the first incandescent light bulb in 1874, five years before Thomas Edison's US patent
- Wilbur Franks – physician and inventor; developed first anti-gravity or "G-suit" now used by air crews and astronauts; also noted for his work in cancer research
- James Naismith – physician, inventor of basketball
- Daniel David Palmer – founder of chiropractic
Criminals
- Paul Bernardo
- Edwin Alonzo Boyd – led the Boyd Gang in Toronto
- Karla Homolka
- Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad – Palestinian former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; deported
- Johnny Papalia
Others
- Margaret Hyndman – lawyer and women's rights advocate