List of female first ministers in Canada

A total of thirteen women have served as the first minister of a Canadian government. Of these, one was prime minister of the country, eight were premiers of a province and four were premiers of a territory. One is currently in office.

Women have been eligible to become premier since they first gained the right to vote, beginning in 1916 in Manitoba and extending to all jurisdictions when Quebec allowed women to vote in 1940 (the Northwest Territories did not allow women to vote until later, but it did not have premiers at the time). Women soon began to be appointed to cabinet positions, starting with Mary Ellen Smith in British Columbia in 1921, but it was not until decades later that women began to serve as leaders of a major party. Hilda Watson became the first woman to lead her party to victory in a general election in 1978. However, since Yukon did not have premiers at the time, and Watson did not win her riding, her successor became the first Government Leader of the Yukon. The first female premier was Rita Johnston in 1991 in British Columbia. Today, every Canadian jurisdiction has had at least one female premier except for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

The most female first ministers at one time was six, for 277 days from 11 February to 15 November 2013. These six included the premiers of Canada's four most populated provinces, so during that time approximately 88% of Canadians had a female premier. The longest-serving female premier is Christy Clark, who served as premier of British Columbia for over six years, from 14 March 2011 to 18 July 2017.

Three of the thirteen female premiers won the title by defeating an incumbent premier in a general election, and another three earned their positions through consensus government systems that lack political parties. The rest won the title through a party leadership race, although several then went on to win a general election as the incumbent premier. No female premier in Canadian history has ever been re-elected to form government. Out of all of the female premiers that have won an election and went on to form government, none of them were re-elected, that is, not one succeeded in being returned to office. Christy Clark won the 2013 BC election and she led her party to win the most seats in the 2017 election, but she was not successful in forming government as the BC Liberals were defeated in a confidence vote shortly after.[1][2][3]

The only currently serving female first minister in Canada is Caroline Cochrane (13th Premier of the Northwest Territories), who assumed office on 24 October 2019.

Rank Portrait Name of Premier Province / Territory Date Assumed Office Date Departed Office Duration Political Party Leadership history and electoral Mandates
1st Rita Johnston British Columbia 2 April 1991 5 November 1991 217 days British Columbia Social Credit Party Named as interim party leaderand therefore premierin 1991 upon the resignation of Premier Bill Vander Zalm in the Fantasy Gardens scandal. Confirmed as party leader in the 1991 party leadership election. Her party lost power in the following general election.
2nd Nellie Cournoyea Northwest Territories 14 November 1991 22 November 1995 4 years, 8 days Nonpartisan (consensus government) Chosen as the premier of the nonpartisan government after the 1991 general election for one term.
3rd Catherine Callbeck Prince Edward Island 25 January 1993 9 October 1996 3 years, 258 days Prince Edward Island Liberal Party Chosen as party leaderand therefore premierby the 1993 party leadership election upon the retirement of Premier Joe Ghiz. She then led her party to win the 1993 general election. She was the first provincial female party leader to lead a party to election or re-election. She resigned after dropping in the polls.
4th Kim Campbell Canada (federal) 25 June 1993 4 November 1993 132 days Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Chosen as party leaderand therefore prime ministerby the 1993 party leadership election upon the retirement of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Her party lost power in the following general election.
5th Pat Duncan Yukon 5 June 2000 5 November 2002 2 years, 153 days Yukon Liberal Party Named party leader while her party was the third party opposition in 1998. Became leader of the opposition partway through the 29th Yukon Legislature. Led her party to victory and thereby became premier in the 2000 general election. She was the first woman to defeat a sitting premier. Her party lost power in the following general election.
6th Eva Aariak Nunavut 19 November 2008 19 November 2013 5 years, 0 days Nonpartisan (consensus government) Chosen as the premier of the nonpartisan government after the 2008 general election for one term.
7th Kathy Dunderdale Newfoundland and Labrador 3 December 2010 24 January 2014 3 years, 52 days Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador Chosen as interim party leaderand therefore premierin 2010 upon the retirement of Premier Danny Williams after serving as his deputy premier. Her party leadership was confirmed at the 2011 party leadership election. She then led her party to victory in the 2011 general election. She resigned after dropping in the polls.
8th Christy Clark British Columbia 14 March 2011 18 July 2017 6 years, 126 days British Columbia Liberal Party Chosen as party leaderand therefore premier by the 2011 party leadership election upon the retirement of Premier Gordon Campbell. Led her party to victory in the 2013 general election. She won a plurality of seats in the 2017 general election, but immediately lost a confidence vote and resigned.
9th Alison Redford Alberta 7 October 2011 23 March 2014 2 years, 167 days Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta Chosen as party leaderand therefore premier by the 2011 party leadership election upon the retirement of Premier Ed Stelmach. Then led her party to victory in the 2012 general election. She resigned after dropping in the polls.[4][5]
10th Pauline Marois Quebec 19 September 2012 23 April 2014 1 year, 216 days Parti Québécois Chosen as party leader while her party was the third party opposition by the 2007 party leadership election. Led her party to become the official opposition in the 2008 general election and later led her party to victoryand thereby became premierin the 2012 general election. She was the first female party leader to defeat a sitting premier in a province. Her party lost power in the following general election.
11th Kathleen Wynne Ontario 11 February 2013 29 June 2018 5 years, 138 days Ontario Liberal Party Chosen as party leaderand therefore premierby the 2013 party leadership election upon the retirement of Premier Dalton McGuinty. Then led her party to victory in the 2014 general election. Lost re-election in the 2018 general election.
Wynne was also the first lesbian woman to serve as a premier in Canada.
12th Rachel Notley Alberta 24 May 2015 30 April 2019 3 years, 341 days Alberta New Democratic Party Chosen as party leader while her party was the fourth party opposition by the 2014 party leadership election. Led her party to victory in the 2015 general election. Defeated in the 2019 general election and became Leader of the Opposition.
13th Caroline Cochrane Northwest Territories 24 October 2019 incumbent 1 year, 108 days Nonpartisan (consensus government) Chosen as the premier of the nonpartisan government after the 2019 general election.

Timeline of female first ministers

Caroline CochraneRachel NotleyKathleen WynnePauline MaroisAlison RedfordChristy ClarkKathy DunderdaleEva AariakPat DuncanKim CampbellCatherine CallbeckNellie CournoyeaRita Johnston

See also

References

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