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List of female first ministers in Canada

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Map showing the number of female Premiers and Prime Ministers elected across the provinces and federally throughout their histories.
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A total of sixteen women have served as the first minister of a Canadian government. Of these, one was prime minister of the country, eleven were premiers of a province and four were premiers of a territory. There are two current first ministers in Canada who are women: Danielle Smith, 19th premier of Alberta, who assumed office on 11 October 2022, and Susan Holt, 35th premier of New Brunswick, who assumed office on 2 November 2024.

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. 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, Watson did not win her riding so her male 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 and Saskatchewan.

The most women first ministers at any 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; 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.

Only four of the sixteen women first ministers won the title by defeating an incumbent first minister in a general election. The rest won the title through a party leadership race between elections or in a non-partisan vote, although several of those went on to win a general election as the incumbent premier. No woman premier in Canadian history has ever been elected to more than one mandate. Christy Clark came closest by winning the most seats in the 2017 election, which would have been her second mandate, but she was not successful in forming government as the BC Liberals were defeated in a confidence vote shortly after.[1][2]

Portrait Name Jurisdiction Date assumed office Date departed office Duration Political party Leadership history and electoral mandates
Rita Johnston British Columbia 2 April 1991 5 November 1991 217 days British Columbia Social Credit Party Named as interim party leader—and therefore premier—in 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.
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.
Catherine Callbeck Prince Edward Island 25 January 1993 9 October 1996 3 years, 258 days Prince Edward Island Liberal Party Chosen as party leader—and therefore premier—by 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.
Kim Campbell Canada
(Federal) 		25 June 1993 4 November 1993 132 days Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Chosen as party leader—and therefore prime minister—by the 1993 party leadership election upon the retirement of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Her party lost power in the following general election.
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.
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.
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 leader—and therefore premier—in 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.
Christy Clark British Columbia 14 March 2011 18 July 2017 6 years, 126 days British Columbia Liberal Party Chosen as party leader—and 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.
Alison Redford Alberta 7 October 2011 23 March 2014 2 years, 167 days Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta Chosen as party leader—and 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 due to a number of damaging scandals.[3][4]
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 victory—and thereby became premier—in the 2012 general election. She was the first female party leader to defeat a sitting premier in a province, and the first to achieve victory without having previously inherited premiership from a previous provincial party leader. Her party lost power in the following general election.
Kathleen Wynne Ontario 11 February 2013 29 June 2018 5 years, 138 days Ontario Liberal Party Chosen as party leader—and therefore premier—by 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.
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.
Caroline Cochrane Northwest Territories 24 October 2019 8 December 2023 4 years, 45 days Nonpartisan (consensus government) Chosen as the premier of the nonpartisan government after the 2019 general election. Did not run for a second term.
Heather Stefanson Manitoba 2 November 2021 18 October 2023 1 year, 350 days Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba Chosen as party leader—and premier—by the 2021 party leadership election upon the retirement of Premier Brian Pallister. Her party was defeated in the 2023 Manitoba general election.
Danielle Smith Alberta 11 October 2022 incumbent 2 years, 30 days United Conservative Party of Alberta Chosen as party leader—and premier—by the 2022 United Conservative Party leadership election upon the resignation of Jason Kenney. She was reëlected in the 2023 Alberta general election.
Susan Holt New Brunswick 2 November 2024 incumbent 3 days New Brunswick Liberal Association Led her part to victory, defeating the incumbent, in the 2024 New Brunswick general election.

Timeline of female first ministers

[edit]
Susan HoltDanielle SmithHeather StefansonCaroline CochraneRachel NotleyKathleen WynnePauline MaroisAlison RedfordChristy ClarkKathy DunderdaleEva AariakPat DuncanKim CampbellCatherine CallbeckNellie CournoyeaRita Johnston

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Paas-Lang, Christian (17 April 2019). "Rachel Notley the latest female premier who failed to win a second mandate. What's going on?". National Post. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  2. ^ McQuigge, Michelle (17 April 2019). "Notley's loss raises questions about disappearance of female premiers". CTV News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  3. ^ Commisso, Christina (19 March 2014). "Alison Redford's approval rating plunges to 18 per cent: poll". CTV News. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  4. ^ Mason, Gary (19 March 2014). "Party infighting, low poll numbers led to Alberta Premier's resignation". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 17 February 2021.

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