List of lieutenant governors of Ontario

The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confederation. The predecessor office, lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, was a British colonial officer, appointed by the British government to administer the government of the colony, from 1791 to 1841. (Prior to 1791, the territory which is now Ontario was part of the old Province of Quebec, which was administered by the colonial governors of the Province of Quebec.)

In 1841, the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada were abolished and merged into the new Province of Canada, with a single Parliament and Governor General. Upper Canada was known as Canada West, but did not have a separate government or lieutenant governor. It was simply an administrative division of the Province of Canada.

Prior to Confederation, the lieutenant governors of Upper Canada were either British colonial administrators or British Army officers. The first lieutenant governor of Ontario, General Sir Henry William Stisted, was the last British lieutenant governor. From 1868 onwards, only Canadians were appointed to the position.

Lieutenant governors of Upper Canada, 1791–1841

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Monarch Reign
			Took office	Left office
1		John Graves Simcoe (1752–1806)	1791	1798	George III (1760–1820)
–		Peter Russell (1733–1808) Administrator of the Government	1796	1799
2		Peter Hunter (1746–1805)	1799	1805
–		Alexander Grant (1734–1813) Administrator of the Government	1805	1806
3		Francis Gore (1769–1852)	1806	1817
–		Sir Isaac Brock (1769–1812) Acting	1811	1812
–		Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe 1st Baronet (1763–1851) Acting	1812	1813
–		Sir Francis de Rottenburg Baron of Rottenburg (1757–1832) Acting	1813	1813
–		Sir Gordon Drummond (1772–1854) Acting	1813	1814
–		Sir George Murray (1772–1846) Acting	1815	1815
–		Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson (1763–1852) Acting	1815	1815
–		Samuel Smith (1756–1826) Administrator of the Government	1817	1818
4		Sir Peregrine Maitland (1777–1854)	1818	1828
					George IV (1820–1830)
5		Sir John Colborne (1778–1863)	1828	1836
					William IV (1830–1837)
6		Sir Francis Bond Head (1778–1863)	1836	1838
					Victoria (1837–1901)
7		Sir George Arthur (1778–1863)	1838	1839
8		Charles Poulett Thomson 1st Baron Sydenham (1799–1841)	1839	1841

Lieutenant governors of Ontario, 1867–present

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Monarch Reign	Premier Tenure
			Took office	Left office
1		Henry William Stisted (1817–1875)	1 July 1867	14 July 1868	Victoria (1837–1901)	John Sandfield Macdonald (1867–1871)
2		William Pearce Howland (1811–1907)	15 July 1868	11 November 1873
						Edward Blake (1871–1872)
						Sir Oliver Mowat (1872–1896)
3		John Willoughby Crawford (1817–1875)	12 November 1873	13 May 1875
–		Sir William Buell Richards (1815–1889) Administrator of the Government	13 May 1875	18 May 1875
4		Donald Alexander Macdonald (1817–1896)	18 May 1875	30 June 1880
5		John Beverley Robinson (1821–1896)	1 July 1880	31 May 1887
6		Sir Alexander Campbell (1822–1892)	1 June 1887	24 May 1892
–		John Hawkins Hagarty (1816–1900) Administrator of the Government	24 May 1892	30 May 1892
7		George Airey Kirkpatrick (1841–1899)	30 May 1892	7 November 1896
						Arthur Sturgis Hardy (1896–1899)
–		Sir Casimir Gzowski (1813–1898) Administrator of the Government	{7 November 1896	18 November 1897
8		Sir Oliver Mowat (1820–1903)	18 November 1897	19 April 1903
						Sir George William Ross (1899–1905)
					Edward VII (1901–1910)
–		Sir Charles Moss (1840–1912) Administrator of the Government	19 April 1903	21 April 1903
9		Sir William Mortimer Clark (1836–1915)	21 April 1903	21 September 1908
						Sir James Whitney (1905–1914)
10		Sir John Morison Gibson (1842–1929)	21 September 1908	26 September 1914
					George V (1910–1936)
11		Sir John Strathearn Hendrie (1857–1923)	26 September 1914	20 November 1919		Sir William Howard Hearst (1914–1919)
						Ernest Charles Drury (1919–1923)
12		Lionel Herbert Clarke (1859–1921)	20 November 1919	29 August 1921
–		Sir William Ralph Meredith (1840–1923) Administrator of the Government	29 August 1921	10 September 1921
13		Henry Cockshutt (1868–1944)	10 September 1921	12 January 1927
						Howard Ferguson (1923–1930)
14		William Donald Ross (1869–1947)	12 January 1927	25 October 1931
						George Stewart Henry (1930–1934)
–		Sir William Mulock (1843–1944) Administrator of the Government	25 October 1931	1 November 1932
15		Herbert Alexander Bruce (1868–1963)	1 November 1932	23 November 1937
						Mitchell Hepburn (1934–1942)
					Edward VIII (1936)
					George VI (1936–1952)
16		Albert Edward Matthews (1873–1949)	23 November 1937	26 December 1946
						Gordon Daniel Conant (1942–1943)
						Harry Nixon (1943)
						George A. Drew (1943–1948)
17		Ray Lawson (1886–1980)	26 December 1946	18 February 1952
						Thomas Laird Kennedy (1948–1949)
						Leslie Frost (1949–1961)
					Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
18		Louis Orville Breithaupt (1890–1960)	18 February 1952	30 December 1957
19		John Keiller MacKay (1880–1970)	30 December 1957	1 May 1963
						John Robarts (1961–1971)
20		William Earl Rowe (1894–1984)	1 May 1963	4 July 1968
21		William Ross Macdonald (1891–1976)	4 July 1968	10 April 1974
						Bill Davis (1971–1985)
22		Pauline Mills McGibbon (1910–2001)	10 April 1974	15 September 1980
23		John Black Aird (1923–1995)	15 September 1980	20 September 1985
						Frank Miller (1985)
						David Peterson (1985–1990)
24		Lincoln Alexander (1922–2012)	20 September 1985	10 December 1991
						Bob Rae (1990–1995)
25		Hal Jackman (born 1932)	11 December 1991	24 January 1997
						Mike Harris (1995–2002)
26		Hilary Weston (born 1942)	24 January 1997	7 March 2002
27		James Bartleman (1939–2023)	7 March 2002	5 September 2007
						Ernie Eves (2002–2003)
						Dalton McGuinty (2003–2013)
28		David Onley (1950–2023)	5 September 2007	23 September 2014
						Kathleen Wynne (2013–2018)
29		Elizabeth Dowdeswell (born 1944)	23 September 2014	14 November 2023
						Doug Ford (since 2018)
					Charles III (since 2022)
30		Edith Dumont (born 1964)	14 November 2023
Source:

See also

• Office-holders of Canada
• Canadian incumbents by year