Explore our list of current & past Poets Laureate across Canada. We aim to keep a full and current list, however Canada is vast! If you have a correction or would like to add a Poet Laureate, please email info@poets.ca.
To learn more about the role of a Poet Laureate, check out our blog post, All About Poets Laureate.
Parliamentary Poets Laureate
Georgette LeBlanc // 2018 – 2020
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George Elliott Clarke // 2016 – 2018
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Michael Pleau // 2014 – 2016
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Fred Wah // 2011 – 2013
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Pierre DesRuisseaux // 2009 – 2011
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John Steffler // 2006 – 2008
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Pauline Michel // 2004 – 2006
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George Bowering // 2002 – 2004
Alberta
Banff:
Steven Ross Smith // 2019-2020
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Amelie Patternson // 2017-2018
Calgary:
Sheri-D Wilson // 2018-2020
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Micheline Maylor // 2016 – 2018
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derek beaulieu // 2014 – 2016
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Kris Demeanor // 2012 – 2014
Edmonton:
Nisha Patel // 2019 – present
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Ahmed “Knowmadic” Ali // 2017-2019
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Pierrette Requier // 2015 – 2017
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Mary Pinkoski// 2013 – 2015
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Anna Marie Sewell // 2011 – 2012
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Roland Pemberton // 2006 – 2011
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E.D. Blodgett // 2007 – 2009
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Alice Major // 2005 – 2007
British Columbia
Comox Valley:
Natalie Nickerson // 2017-2019
Nanaimo:
Youth Poet Laureate // 2019 – 2021
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Tina Biello // 2017 – 2020
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Kailey DeFehr
Youth Poet Laureate // 2017 – 2018
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Naomi Beth Wakan // 2013 – 2016
New Westiminster:
Alan Hill // 2017 – present
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Candice James // 2010 – 2016
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Don Benson // 1999 – 2007
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Edna Anderson // 1998 – 1999
Surrey:
Renée Sarojini Saklikar // 2015 – 2018
Tofino:
Joanna Streetly // 2018 – present
Vancouver:
Miss Christie Lee (Christie Charles) // 2018-2021
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Rachel Rose // 2014 – 2017
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Evelyn Lau // 2011 – 2014
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Brad Cran // 2009 – 2011
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George McWhirter // 2007 – 2009
Victoria:
John Barton //2019 – 2022
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Yvonne Blomer // 2015 – 2018
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Argatu Ali
Youth Poet Laureate // 2018 – 2019
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Maita Cienska
Youth Poet Laureate // 2017 – 2018
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Ann-Bernice Thomas
Youth Poet Laureate // 2016 – 2017
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Janet Marie Rogers // 2012 – 2014
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Linda Rogers // 2009 – 2011
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Carla Funk // 2006 – 2008
Manitoba
Winnipeg:
Di Brandt // 2017-present
New Brunswick
Fredericton:
Jenna Lyn Albert 2019 – 2021
Ian Letourneau, 2016 – 2018
Moncton:
Kayla Geitzler (Anglophone) 2019 – Present
Jean-Philippe Raiche (Francophone) 2019 – Present
Sackville:
Shoshanna Wingate //2019 – 2021
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Marilyn Lerch // 2013 – 2017
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Douglas Lochead // 2002 – 2011
Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John’s:
Mary Dalton // 2019 – 2020
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George Murray // 2014 – 2017
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Tom Dawe // 2010 – 2013
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Agnes Walsh // 2006 – 2009
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
Cape Breton:
Rita Joe (1932 – 2007)
Lifetime “Poet Laureate of the Mi’kmaq people”
Halifax:
Dr. Afua Cooper // 2018 – 2020
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Rebecca Thomas // 2016 – 2018
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El Jones // 2013 – 2015
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Tanya Davis // 2011 – 2012
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Shauntay Grant // 2009 – 2011
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Lorri Neilsen Glenn // 2005 – 2009
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Sue MacLeod // 2001 – 2005
Nunavut
Ontario
Barrie:
Victoria Butler // 2018 – present
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Damian Lopes // 2014 – present
Brantford:
John B Lee // granted in 2005 in perpetuity
Cobalt:
Ann Margetson
Cobourg:
Jessica Outram // 2019 – 2022
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Ted Amsden // 2011 – 2018
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Jill Battson // 2009 – 2011
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Eric Winter // 1997 – 2009
Dufferin County:
Harry Posner // 2017-present
Emery:
Laurence Hutchman // 2018 – present
Kingston:
Jason Heroux // 2019 – present
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Helen Humphreys // 2015 – 2019
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Eric Folsom // 2011 – 2015
London:
Tom Cull // 2016 – present
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Penn Kemp // 2011 – 2013
Mississauga:
Paul Edward Costa // 2019 – 2021
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Pujita Verma
Youth Poet Laureate // 2018 – 2020
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Wali Shah // 2017 – 2019
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Rebecca Zseder
Youth Poet Laureate // 2016 – 2018
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Anna Yin // 2015 – 2017
Norfolk County
John B. Lee // granted in 2011 in perpetuity
Ottawa:
Margaret Michèle Cook (French) & Diana Young (English) // 2019 – 2021
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Andrée Lacelle (French) & Jamaal Jackson Rogers (English) // 2017 – 2019
Owen Sound:
Richard-Yves Sitoski // 2019 – 2021
Lauren Best // 2017-2019
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Rob Rolfe & Larry Jensen // 2015 – 2017
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Terry Burns // 2013 – 2014
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Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm // 2011 – 2012
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Kristan Anderson // 2008 – 2010
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Liz Zetlin // 2007 – 2008
Sudbury:
Chloé LaDuchesse // 2018 – 2020
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Kim Fahner // 2016 – 2018
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Thomas Leduc // 2014 – 2015
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Daniel Aubin // 2012 – 2013
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Roger Nash // 2010 – 2011
Toronto:
A. F. Moritz // 2019 – 2022
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Anne Michaels // 2016 – 2019
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George Elliott Clarke // 2012 – 2015
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Dionne Brand // 2009 – 2012
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Pier Giorgio Di Cicco // 2004 – 2009
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Dennis Lee // 2001 – 2004
Windsor:
Mary Ann Mulhern // 2019 – 2022
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Samantha Badaoa (Youth Poet Laureate) // 2019 – 2020
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Marty Gervais // 2011 – 2019, Poet Laureate Emeritus
Woodstock:
Barry C. Butson // in perpetuity
Prince Edward Island
PEI Provincial Poet Laureate:
Julie Pellissier-Lush // 2019 – present
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Deidre Kessler // 2016 – 2019
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Diane Hicks Morrow // 2013 – 2016
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Hugh MacDonald // 2009 – 2013
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David Helwig // 2008 – 2009
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Frank Ledwell (1930 – 2008) // 2004 – 2007
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John Smith // 2002 – 2004
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan Provincial Poet Laureate:
Bruce Rice // 2019 – present
Youth Poet Laureate // 2019 – present
Brenda Schmidt // 2017-2018
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Gerald Hill // 2016 – 2017
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Judith Krause // 2014 – 2015
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Donald Kerr // 2011 – 2013
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Robert Currie // 2007 – 2010
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Lousie B. Halfe // 2005 – 2006
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Glen Sorestad // 2000 – 2004
Moose Jaw
Robert Currie & Gary Hyland // Lifetime Poets Laureate
Yukon
Yukon Provincial Poet Laureate:
pj johnson // 1994 – present