List of Canadian monarchs

Listed here are the monarchs who reigned over Canada, starting with the French colony of Canada, which subsequently became a British colony, followed by the British Dominion of Canada, and, finally, the present-day sovereign state of Canada. The date of the first claim by a monarch over Canada varies, with most sources giving the year as 1497, when John Cabot made landfall somewhere on the North American coast (likely either modern-day Newfoundland or Nova Scotia) and claimed the land for England on behalf of King Henry VII. However, some sources, instead, put this date at 1535, when the word Canada was first used to refer to the French colony of Canada, which was founded in the name of King Francis I of France. Monarchical governance subsequently evolved under a continuous succession of French, British, and eventually uniquely Canadian sovereigns. Since the first claim by Henry VII, there have been 33 sovereigns of Canada, including two sets of co-sovereigns.

While Canada became a Dominion within the British Empire upon Confederation in 1867, the concept of a fully independent Canada sharing the person of the sovereign with the United Kingdom and other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, only emerged gradually over time through constitutional convention, and was officially confirmed with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Since then, the Canadian Crown has been legally distinct from those of the other Commonwealth realms, with its own separate and distinct monarch. Although the term king of Canada was used as early as the beginning of the reign of George VI, it was not until 1953 that the monarch's title was made official, with Elizabeth II being the first monarch to be separately proclaimed as Queen of Canada, as per the Royal Style and Titles Act.

Sovereigns of Canada The French Crown (1534–1763)

Portrait Regnal nameReign Full name Consort House of ValoisFrancis I(1494–1547)24 July 153431 March 1547FrancisEleanor of AustriaTerritorial claim: 1534: in Francis' name, Jacques Cartier laid claim to New France, which included the colonies of Canada and later Acadia.Henry II(1519–1559)31 March 154710 July 1559HenryCatherine de' MediciFrancis II(1544–1560)10 July 15595 December 1560FrancisMary, Queen of ScotsCharles IX(1550–1574)5 December 156030 May 1574Charles MaximilianElisabeth of AustriaHenry III(1551–1589)30 May 15742 August 1589Alexandre ÉdouardLouise of Lorraine House of BourbonHenry IV(1553–1610)2 August 158914 May 1610Henri de BourbonMargaret of Valois,Marie de' MediciLouis XIII(1601–1643)14 May 161014 May 1643LouisAnne of AustriaLouis XIV(1638–1715)14 May 16431 September 1715Louis-DieudonnéMaria Theresa of Spain,Françoise d'AubignéTerritorial changes: 1655: acquired concrete claim to Placentia. 1713: ceded Acadia, Placentia, and Hudson Bay to Anne.Louis XV(1710–1774)1 September 171510 February 1763LouisMarie LeszczyńskaTerritorial changes: 1763: ceded New France to George III.

The English and British Crowns (1497–1931)

Portrait Regnal nameReign Full name Consort House of TudorHenry VII(1457–1509)24 June 149721 April 1509HenryElizabeth of YorkTerritorial changes: 1497: in Henry's name, John Cabot laid claim to lands that soon came to be called "Canada". The English Crown did not concretely exercise this claim until the reign of King George III, when the colony of Canada was officially ceded from France to Great Britain.Henry VIII(1491–1547)21 April 150928 January 1547HenryCatherine of Aragon (1509), Anne Boleyn (1533), Jane Seymour (1536), Anne of Cleves (1540), Catherine Howard (1540), Catherine Parr (1543)Edward VI(1537–1553)28 January 15476 July 1553EdwardNoneMary I(1516–1558)& Philip II(1527–1598)as co-sovereigns19 July 1553 (Mary I)

25 July 1554 (Philip II)17 November 1558Mary

Felipeeach otherElizabeth I(1533–1603)17 November 155824 March 1603ElizabethNoneTerritorial changes: 1583: in Elizabeth's name, Sir Humphrey Gilbert laid claim to the island of Newfoundland. House of StuartJames I(1566–1625)24 March 160327 March 1625Charles JamesAnne of DenmarkCharles I(1600–1649)27 March 162530 January 1649CharlesHenrietta Maria of FranceInterregnum30 January 164929 May 1660Charles II(1630–1685)29 May 16606 February 1685CharlesCatherine of BraganzaTerritorial changes: 1670: created Rupert's Land.James II(1633–1701)6 February 16851 December 1688JamesMary of ModenaVacant1 December 168813 February 1689Mary II(1662–1694)& William III(1650–1702)as co-sovereigns13 February 168928 December 1694

8 March 1702Mary

Williameach otherAnne(1665–1714)8 March 17021 August 1714AnnePrince George of DenmarkTerritorial changes: 1713: acquired Acadia, Placentia, and Hudson Bay from Louis XIV of France. House of HanoverGeorge I(1660–1727)1 August 171411 June 1727George LouisSophia Dorothea of CelleGeorge II(1683–1760)11 June 1727old calendar25 October 1760new calendarGeorge AugustusCaroline of AnsbachGeorge III(1738–1820)25 October 176029 January 1820George William FrederickCharlotte of Mecklenburg-StrelitzTerritorial changes: 1763: acquired Canada from Louis XV of France; changed its name to Province of Quebec. 1778: in George's name, James Cook laid claim to lands that later came to be called Vancouver Island. 1791: created the provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada out of the Province of Quebec. 1818: ceded Rupert's Land south of the 49th parallel to the United States; acquired the Louisiana Purchase north of the 49th parallel from the United States.George IV(1762–1830)29 January 182026 June 1830George Augustus FrederickCaroline of BrunswickWilliam IV(1765–1837)26 June 183020 June 1837William HenryAdelaide of Saxe-MeiningenVictoria(1819–1901)20 June 183722 January 1901Alexandrina VictoriaAlbert of Saxe-Coburg and GothaTerritorial changes: 1840: united Lower and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada. 1846: acquired concrete claim to the Columbia District north of the 49th parallel and Vancouver Island. 1867: united the Province of Canada (and created out of it Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into the federal Dominion of Canada. 1870: created the province of Manitoba. Joined Rupert's Land, the North-Western Territory (1870), British Columbia (1871), Prince Edward Island (1873), and the British Arctic Territories (1880) into the union. House of Saxe-Coburg and GothaEdward VII(1841–1910)22 January 19016 May 1910Albert EdwardAlexandra of DenmarkTerritorial changes: 1905: created the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan from part of the Northwest Territories. House of WindsorGeorge V(1865–1936)6 May 191011 December 1931George Frederick Ernest AlbertMary of TeckTerritorial changes: 1931: granted Royal Assent to the Statute of Westminster 1931, thereby creating the Canadian Crown and leaving Newfoundland as the only part of Canada's current territory left under the British Crown.

The Canadian Crown (1931–present) In 1931 the Canadian Crown emerged as an independent entity from that of the British Crown due to the Statute of Westminster 1931.

The Dominion of Newfoundland had the same status as Canada in 1931. However, its parliament never adopted the statute to create a separate position of king of Newfoundland and would remain under the British Crown until it joined Canada in 1949.

Portrait Regnal nameReign Full name Consort House of WindsorGeorge V(1865–1936)11 December 193120 January 1936George Frederick Ernest AlbertMary of TeckEdward VIII(1894–1972)20 January 193611 December 1936Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick DavidnoneGeorge VI(1895–1952)11 December 19366 February 1952Albert Frederick Arthur GeorgeElizabeth Bowes-LyonTerritorial change: 1949: merged Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) into Canada, thereby putting all of Canada's current territory under the Canadian Crown.Elizabeth II(1926–2022)6 February 19528 September 2022Elizabeth Alexandra MaryPhilip MountbattenCharles III(b. 1948)8 September 2022presentCharles Philip Arthur GeorgeCamilla Shand

Consorts The Canadian monarch's consort—his or her spouse—has no constitutional status or power, but is a member of the Canadian royal family. In the United Kingdom, all female consorts have had the right to and have held the title of queen consort; as Canada does not have laws or letters patent under the Great Seal of Canada laying out the styles of any royal family members besides the monarch, royal consorts are, as a courtesy, addressed in Canada using the style and title as they hold in the UK. After informal discussions among the various Commonwealth prime ministers between 1954 and 1957, it was decided that the Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Elizabeth II, would not be granted the title of prince consort.LCO 6/3677 Title of Prince: HRH Philip Duke of Edinburgh

Since Confederation, two sovereigns have reigned over Canada without a consort: Victoria, whose husband, Albert, died before Confederation, and Edward VIII, who married Wallis Simpson after his abdication.

Timeline of monarchs

List of Canadian monarchs

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