Five honorary appointments to the Order of Canada are permitted per year by the order's constitution. The following is a list of all honorary appointments to date. Names rendered in italics were later made Canadian citizens; these memberships thereby became regarded no longer as honorary but instead as substantive.
# | Name | Citizenship | Appointment | Investiture | Death/removal | Occupation/field of endeavour |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Companions | ||||||
5. | Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela | [n 1] | 3 September 1998 | 24 September 1998 | 5 December 2013 | Former President of South Africa. [1] |
6. | Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother | [n 2] | 1 August 2000 | 31 October 2000 | 30 March 2002 | Former Royal Consort of Canada. [2] |
9. | Frank Gehry | [n 3] | 12 November 2002 | 16 June 2003 | Architect. [4] | |
10. | Boutros Boutros-Ghali | 8 May 2003 | 7 May 2004 | 16 February 2016 | Former Secretary-General of the United Nations. [5] | |
11. | Václav Havel | 8 May 2003 | 3 March 2004 | 18 December 2011 | Former President of the Czech Republic. [6] | |
12. | Aga Khan IV | [n 4] | 29 October 2004 | 6 June 2005 | Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. [7] | |
Officers | ||||||
2. | John Kenneth Galbraith | [n 5] | 17 April 1997 | 5 November 1997 | 29 April 2006 | Economist. [8] |
3. | James Hillier | [n 6] | 17 April 1997 | 5 November 1997 | 15 January 2007 | Inventor of the electron microscope. [9] |
4. | Charles Dutoit | 23 October 1997 | 30 January 2002 | Conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. [10] | ||
8. | Tanya Moiseiwitsch | 10 October 2002 | 16 May 2003 | 19 February 2003 | Theatre designer for the Stratford Festival. [11] | |
15. | Charles Aznavour | [n 7] | 10 April 2008 | 5 July 2008 | 1 October 2018 | Musician and actor. [13] |
16. | Bernard Pivot | 10 April 2008 | 7 May 2008 | Television host and culture promoter. [14] | ||
18. | Sima Samar | 25 May 2009 | 17 November 2010 | Human rights leader. [15] | ||
19. | Ronnie Hawkins | 29 June 2013 | 7 May 2014 | 29 May 2022 | Rock Musician [16] | |
20. | Bramwell Tovey | 29 June 2013 | 21 November 2014 | 12 July 2022 | Conductor and composer [16] | |
22. | Michael Schade | 30 Dec 2016 | 25 August 2017 | Opera singer [17] | ||
25. | Marie Ann Battiste | 27 June 2019 | 6 May 2022 | Indigenous rights activist and language educator [18] | ||
28. | Richard Wayne Hill Sr. | 28 December 2023 | Indigenous arts activist [19] | |||
29. | Kent Nagano | 27 June 2024 | Opera conductor and administrator [20] | |||
30. | Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga | [n 8] | 27 June 2024 | Former President of Latvia [21] | ||
Members | ||||||
1. | Zena Sheardown | [n 9] | 11 October 1981 | 29 December 1986 | Instrumental participant during the Canadian Caper. [22] | |
7. | Lois Lilienstein | 1 May 2002 | 24 October 2003 | 22 April 2015 | Member of Sharon, Lois & Bram. [23] | |
13. | Francis Cabot | 29 June 2005 | 9 September 2005 | 19 November 2011 | Horticulturist. [24] | |
14. | Salome Bey | 17 November 2005 | 26 October 2006 | 9 August 2020 [25] | Musician. [26] | |
17. | Zachary Richard | 25 May 2009 | 7 April 2010 | Singer, songwriter, and poet. [27] | ||
21. | Johann Olav Koss | 1 July 2015 | 13 May 2016 | Olympic speedskater and founder of Right to Play. [28] | ||
23. | Kathy Reichs | 27 Dec 2018 | 18 Nov 2019 | Forensic Anthropologist and crime fiction writer . [29] | ||
24. | Richard J. Schmeelk | 27 Dec 2018 | 4 Sep 2019 | Banker and Philanthropist, Founder of the Richard J. Schmeelk Canada Fellowship . [29] | ||
26. | Alfred E. Slinkard | [n 10] | 27 Nov 2020 | 13 April 2022 | Plant scientist and agronomic breeder. [30] | |
27. | Jackie Richardson | [n 11] | 29 Dec 2021 | Jazz singer and actress. [31] |
The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then prime minister Gough Whitlam. Before the establishment of the order, Australians could receive British honours, which continued to be issued in parallel until 1992.
The Order of Canada is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former British Columbia residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described as the highest honour amongst all others conferred by the British Columbia Crown.
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the Loi sur l'Ordre national du Québec, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former Quebec residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described as the highest honour in Quebec. In 1986, the order was expanded to include honorary membership for people outside Quebec.
The Saskatchewan Order of Merit is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor Frederick Johnson, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Grant Devine, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former Saskatchewan residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described in law as the highest honour amongst all others conferred by the Saskatchewan Crown.
The Order of New Brunswick is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Instituted in 2000 by Lieutenant Governor Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bernard Lord, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former New Brunswick residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described as the highest honour amongst all others conferred by the New Brunswick Crown.
The Order of Newfoundland and Labrador is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Instituted in 2001, when Lieutenant Governor Arthur Maxwell House granted Royal Assent to the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador Act, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former Newfoundland and Labrador residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described as the highest honour amongst all others conferred by the Newfoundland and Labrador Crown.
The Order of Nova Scotia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Instituted on August 2, 2001, when Lieutenant Governor Myra Freeman granted Royal Assent to the Order of Nova Scotia Act, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former Nova Scotia residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described as the highest honour amongst all others conferred by the Nova Scotia Crown.
Appointees to the Order of Canada can have their membership revoked if the order's advisory council determines a member's actions have brought dishonour to the order. Eight people have been removed from the Order of Canada: Alan Eagleson, David Ahenakew, T. Sher Singh, Steve Fonyo, Garth Drabinsky, Conrad Black, Ranjit Chandra, and Johnny Issaluk. Eagleson was removed from the order after being jailed for fraud in 1998; Ahenakew was removed in 2005, after being convicted of promoting anti-Semitic hatred in 2002; Singh was removed after the revocation of his law licence for professional misconduct; Fonyo was removed due to numerous criminal convictions; Drabinsky was removed in 2012 after being found guilty of fraud and forgery in Ontario; Black was removed in 2014 after being convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in the United States; Chandra was removed in 2015 for committing research fraud; Issaluk was removed in 2022 following sexual misconduct allegations. The formal removal process is performed by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, though it can be initiated by any citizen of Canada.
Appointment to the Order of Canada is the process by which citizens of Canada or certain foreign persons are inducted into the Order of Canada, the second-highest civilian honour within the Canadian system of honours. Any living Canadian or foreign national may be nominated for appointment; however, the advisory council of the Order of Canada and the Governor General of Canada make the final decision on appointments. Recipients of the order may also be promoted to a higher grade within it if they have continued to provide outstanding service to Canada, or to humanity in general, after their appointment.
Warren Keith Winkler, is a Canadian jurist and a former Chief Justice of Ontario. Appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on June 1, 2007, Winkler was previously Regional Senior Judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for the Toronto Region. Winkler reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 on December 10, 2013, and has since retired as the Chief Justice of Ontario. He served as Chair of the Order of Ontario Advisory Council. Mr. Winkler is now a Member Arbitrator at Arbitration Place in Toronto.
Steven Lewis Point, (Xwelíqwetel) is a Canadian academic administrator, criminal lawyer, and jurist. He is the current chancellor of the University of British Columbia. He served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 2007 to 2012. He also served as the chair of the advisory committee on the safety and security of vulnerable women, a committee that provides community-based guidance to the implementation of the recommendations from the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.
John Vernon Sheardown was a Canadian diplomat who played a leading role in the "Canadian Caper". He and his wife Zena personally sheltered Americans hiding in Iran during the Iran hostage crisis.
Frank Joseph Hayden, is a retired physical education/kinesiology professor and pioneer of the Special Olympics from Oakville, Ontario.
Zena Kahn Sheardown is a Guyanese-Canadian woman, who together with her husband John Sheardown, sheltered six Americans in their home for months during the Iran Hostage Crisis, in what has come to be known as "the Canadian Caper".
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