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 Poet Laureate
GEORGETTE LEBLANC
2018 – 2020
—
GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE
2016 – 2018
—
MICHAEL PLEAU
2014 – 2016
—
FRED WAH
2011 – 2013
—
PIERRE DESRUISSEAUX
2009 – 2011
—
JOHN STEFFLER
2006 – 2008
—
PAULINE MICHEL
2004 – 2006
—
GEORGE BOWERING
2002 – 2004
Alberta
BANFF POET LAUREATE:
Steven Ross Smith
2019-2020
—
Amelie Patternson
2017-2018
CALGARY POET LAUREATE:
Sheri-D Wilson
2018-2020
—
Micheline Maylor
2016 – 2018
—
derek beaulieu
2014 – 2016
—
Kris Demeanor
2012 – 2014
EDMONTON POET LAUREATE:
Nisha Patel
2019 – present
—
Ahmed “Knowmadic” Ali
2017-2019
—
Pierrette Requier
2015 – 2017
—
Mary Pinkoski
2013 – 2015
—
Anna Marie Sewell
2011 – 2012
—
Roland Pemberton
2006 – 2011
—
E.D. Blodgett
2007 – 2009
—
Alice Major
2005 – 2007
British Columbia
COMOX VALLEY POET LAUREATE:
Natalie Nickerson
2017-2019
NANAIMO POET LAUREATE:
Valina Zanetti (Youth Poet Laureate)
2019 – 2021
—
Tina Biello
2017 – 2020
—
Kailey DeFehr (Youth Poet Laureate)
2017 – 2018
—
Naomi Beth Wakan
2013 – 2016
NEW WESTMINSTER POET LAUREATE:
Alan Hill
2017 – present
—
Candice James
2010 – 2016
—
Don Benson
1999 – 2007
—
Edna Anderson
1998 – 1999
SURREY POET LAUREATE:
Renée Sarojini Saklikar
2015 – 2018
TOFINO POET LAUREATE:
Joanna Streetly
2018 – present
VANCOUVER POET LAUREATE:
Miss Christie Lee (Christie Charles)
2018-2021
—
Rachel Rose
2014 – 2017
—
Evelyn Lau
2011 – 2014
—
Brad Cran
2009 – 2011
—
George McWhirter
2007 – 2009
VICTORIA POET LAUREATE:
John Barton
2019 – 2022
—
Yvonne Blomer
2015 – 2018
—
Argatu Ali (Youth Poet Laureate)
2018 – 2019
—
Maita Cienska (Youth Poet Laureate)
2017 – 2018
—
Ann-Bernice Thomas (Youth Poet Laureate)
2016 – 2017
—
Janet Marie Rogers
2012 – 2014
—
Linda Rogers
2009 – 2011
—
Carla Funk
2006 – 2008
Manitoba
WINNIPEG POET LAUREATE:
Di Brandt
2017-present
New Brunswick
SACKVILLE POET LAUREATE:
Shoshanna Wingate
2019 – 2021
—
Marilyn Lerch
2013 – 2017
—
Douglas Lochead
2002 – 2011
Newfoundland and Labrador
ST JOHN’S POET LAUREATE:
Mary Dalton
2019 – 2020
—
George Murray
2014 – 2017
—
Tom Dawe
2010 – 2013
—
Agnes Walsh
2006 – 2009
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
CAPE BRETON POET LAUREATE:
Rita Joe (1932 – 2007)
Lifetime
“Poet Laureate of the
Mi’kmaq people”
HALIFAX POET LAUREATE:
Dr. Afua Cooper
2018 – 2020
—
Rebecca Thomas
2016 – 2018
—
El Jones
2013 – 2015
—
Tanya Davis
2011 – 2012
—
Shauntay Grant
2009 – 2011
—
Lorri Neilsen Glenn
2005 – 2009
—
Sue MacLeod
2001 – 2005
Nunavut
Ontario
BARRIE POET LAUREATE:
Victoria Butler
2018 – present
—
Damian Lopes
2014 – present
BRANTFORD POET LAUREATE:
John B Lee
in perpetuity
COBALT POET LAUREATE:
Ann Margetson
COBOURG POET LAUREATE:
Jessica Outram
2019 – 2022
—
Ted Amsden
2011 – 2018
—
Jill Battson
2009 – 2011
—
Eric Winter
1997 – 2009
DUFFERIN COUNTY POET LAUREATE:
Harry Posner
2017-present
EMERY POET LAUREATE:
Laurence Hutchman
2018 – present
KINGSTON POET LAUREATE:
Jason Heroux
2019 – present
—
Helen Humphreys
2015 – 2019
—
Eric Folsom
2011 – 2015
LONDON POET LAUREATE:
Tom Cull
2016 – present
—
Penn Kemp
2011 – 2013
MISSISSAUGA POET LAUREATE:
Paul Edward Costa
2019 – 2021
—
Pujita Verma (Youth Poet Laureate)
2018 – 2020
—
Wali Shah
2017 – 2019
—
Rebecca Zseder (Youth Poet Laureate)
2016 – 2018
—
Anna Yin
2015 – 2017
OTTAWA POET LAUREATE:
Margaret Michèle Cook (French) & Diana Young (English)
2019 – 2021
—
Andrée Lacelle (French) & Jamaal Jackson Rogers (English)
2017 – 2019
OWEN SOUND POET LAUREATE:
Lauren Best
2017-2019
—
Rob Rolfe & Larry Jensen
2015 – 2017
—
Terry Burns
2013 – 2014
—
Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
2011 – 2012
—
Kristan Anderson
2008 – 2010
—
Liz Zetlin
2007 – 2008
SUDBURY POET LAUREATE:
Chloé LaDuchesse
2018 – 2020
—
Kim Fahner
2016 – 2018
—
Thomas Leduc
2014 – 2015
—
Daniel Aubin
2012 – 2013
—
Roger Nash
2010 – 2011
TORONTO POET LAUREATE:
A. F. Moritz
2019 – 2022
—
Anne Michaels
2016 – 2019
—
George Elliott Clarke
2012 – 2015
—
Dionne Brand
2009 – 2012
—
Pier Giorgio Di Cicco
2004 – 2009
—
Dennis Lee
2001 – 2004
WINDSOR POET LAUREATE:
Mary Ann Mulhern
2019 – 2022
—
Samantha Badaoa (Youth Poet Laureate)
2019 – 2020
—
Marty Gervais
2011 – 2019, Poet Laureate Emeritus
WOODSTOCK POET LAUREATE:
Barry C. Butson
in perpetuity
Prince Edward Island
PROVINCIAL POET LAUREATE (PEI):
Julie Pellissier-Lush
2019 – present
—
Deidre Kessler
2016 – 2019
—
Diane Hicks Morrow
2013 – 2016
—
Hugh MacDonald
2009 – 2013
—
David Helwig
2008 – 2009
—
Frank Ledwell (1930 – 2008)
2004 – 2007
—
John Smith
2002 – 2004
Quebec
Saskatchewan
PROVINCIAL POET LAUREATE (SK):
Bruce Rice
2019 – present
& Alasdair Rees
Youth Poet Laureate
Brenda Schmidt
2017-2018
—
Gerald Hill
2016 – 2017
—
Judith Krause
2014 – 2015
—
Donald Kerr
2011 – 2013
—
Robert Currie
2007 – 2010
—
Lousie B. Halfe
2005 – 2006
—
Glen Sorestad
2000 – 2004
MOOSE JAW
LIFETIME POETS LAUREATE:
Robert Currie & Gary Hyland
Yukon
PROVINCIAL POET LAUREATE (YT):
pj johnson
1994 – present