Sharon Butala is a Canadian writer and novelist.
Daurene Elaine Lewis,, was a Canadian politician and educator. She was the first Black female mayor in Canada.
Brent Hawkes, is a Canadian clergyman and gay rights activist.
The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia is the representative in Nova Scotia of the monarch, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as well as the other Commonwealth realms and any subdivisions thereof, and resides predominantly in his oldest realm, the United Kingdom. The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the monarch's constitutional and ceremonial duties. The present, and 33rd lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia is Arthur Joseph LeBlanc, who has served in the role since 28 June 2017.
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.
Edmund Fanning was an American-born colonial administrator and military officer. Born in New York, he became a lawyer and politician in North Carolina in the 1760s. He first came to fame as the focus of hatred of the Regulators, and led anti-Regulator militia in the War of the Regulation. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, he was driven from his home in New York, and joined the British Army, recruiting other Loyalists. He served during campaigns in New England and the South. At the end of the war in 1783 he became a United Empire Loyalist, settling in Nova Scotia.
Mayann Elizabeth Francis, is a human rights advocate and public servant who served as the 31st Lieutenant Governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Flora Isabel MacDonald was a Canadian politician and humanitarian. Canada's first female foreign minister, she was also one of the first women to vie for leadership of a major Canadian political party, the Progressive Conservatives. She became a close ally of Prime Minister Joe Clark, serving in his cabinet from 1979 to 1980, as well as in the cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney from 1984 to 1988. In her later life, she was known for her humanitarian work abroad. Jimmy Carter has said that 90% of the contribution to freeing American hostages in Iran should be attributed to her and Kenneth D. Taylor. The City of Ottawa recognised MacDonald on July 11, 2018, by naming a new bicycle and footbridge over the Rideau Canal the Passerelle Flora Footbridge.
Hetty (Hendrika) Margaretha van Gurp is a Canadian educator.
Marilyn McHarg, is a humanitarian executive. She was President and CEO of Dignitas International, as well as a founding member and General Director of the Canadian section of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) / Doctors Without Borders, the world's leading independent medical humanitarian organization.
MacCallum Grant was a Canadian businessman and the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.
Elizabeth Parr-Johnston, CM is a Canadian business woman. She is the Managing Partner of Parr-Johnston Consultants, an economic policy consultancy based in Chester Basin, Nova Scotia. Parr-Johnston is a past president of two Canadian Universities, a recipient of the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Order of Canada in 2008.
Sylvia D. Hamilton is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, poet, and artist. Based in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia, her work explores the lives and experiences of people of African descent. Her special focus is on African Nova Scotians, and especially women. In particular, her work takes the form of documentary films, writing, public presentations, teaching, mentoring, extensive volunteer work and community involvement. She has uncovered stories of struggles and contributions of African Canadians and introduced them to mainstream audiences. Through her work, she exposes the roots and the presence of systemic racism in Canada. She aims to provide opportunities for Black and Indigenous youth through education and empowerment.
Ruth Miriam Goldbloom,, , DLit was a Canadian philanthropist who co-founded the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was born and raised in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, to immigrant parents. Their immigrant experience influenced her throughout her life and was a major factor in her helping to found Pier 21. She became the first Jew to Chair Mount Saint Vincent University's board, which was a Catholic women's university at the time. She was the chancellor of the Technical University of Nova Scotia in the 1990s and fundraising chair for the Halifax area United Way. She was inducted into the Order of Canada for her work with charities in the 1980s and 1990s.
Lena Metlege Diab is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2013 provincial election. A member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, she represented the electoral district of Halifax Armdale until 2021.
Violet Elizabeth Dowdeswell is a Canadian public servant who served as the 29th lieutenant governor of Ontario from 2014 to 2023. As lieutenant governor, Dowdeswell was the viceregal representative of the Crown in Right of Ontario and the first in over seven decades to serve under two different Canadian sovereigns. A champion of democracy and civil society, she is also the longest-serving lieutenant governor in Ontario's history.
Nancy J. Hartling is a Canadian Senator from Moncton, New Brunswick. She was Executive Director of Support to Single Parents Inc., as well as a founding member of St. James Court Inc., a non-profit housing complex which provides single parents with affordable housing. On October 27, 2016, Hartling was named to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sit as an independent and assumed office on November 10, 2016.
Clotilda Adessa Douglas-Yakimchuk was a Canadian nurse. She was the first African-Canadian to graduate from the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing and the first black president of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Nova Scotia.
Elizabeth Ann Cromwell was an African Nova Scotian and Black Loyalist. She dedicated her career to the celebration of African Nova Scotian History and recognising the experiences of the Birchtown black loyalists. She was recognised with an Order of Nova Scotia in 2019.
Sister Dorothy Moore is a Mi’kmaw educator, Indigenous Elder, Residential School survivor, and social justice activist. Moore was born in the Mi'kmaw community Membertou, Nova Scotia. She was the first Mi’kmaw person in a Roman Catholic order, entering the Sisters of St. Martha in 1954 and taking vows in 1956. Moore was an educator in the public elementary school system in Nova Scotia. She also taught at the University College of Cape Breton (UCCCB) and is noted as instrumental in the formation of their Mi'kmaw Studies program. Moore later became the Director of Mi'kmaq Services at the Nova Scotia Department of Education where she was instrumental in the development of the Mi'kmaw language program. She was awarded the Order of Canada on June 29, 2005 and has received numerous other awards including the Order of Nova Scotia, (2003) and three honorary degrees, including an honorary Doctor of Laws from St. Mary's University in Halifax. A collection of her talks, prayers, presentation, and ceremonies, entitled: A Journey of Love and Hope, was published by Nimbus Press in 2022. In 2022 a documentary film entitled Sister Dorothy Moore: A Life of Courage, Determination and Love was premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival in September, 2022.
Nova Scotia
2003 –: Honorary Captain of Royal Canadian Navy Commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic.
