List of Canadian monarchs#Consorts

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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.{{refn|{{Cite book| last=MacLeod| first=Kevin S.| author-link=Kevin S. MacLeod| title=A Crown of Maples| page=2| place=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| year=2012| edition=2|url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-jblDmt-dmdJbl/STAGING/texte-text/crnMpls_1336157759317_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| isbn=978-0-662-46012-1| accessdate=28 November 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110140303/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-jblDmt-dmdJbl/STAGING/texte-text/crnMpls_1336157759317_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| archive-date=2012-11-10| url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1331826436671/1335290506351| title=Crown in Canada – The Monarch| date=1 June 2012| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=20 October 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209092009/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1331826436671/1335290506351| archive-date=9 February 2015| url-status=dead}}{{Cite web| url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/fr-rf/index-eng.cfm| last=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The Canadian Monarchy| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=14 May 2009| archive-date=25 August 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200825002610/https://www.canada.ca/home.html| url-status=dead}}{{Cite book| last=Kenney| first=Jason| author-link=Jason Kenney| date=23 April 2007| contribution=Speech to the Lieutenant Governors Meeting| contribution-url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm| editor-last=Department of Canadian Heritage| editor-link=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Speeches > The Honourable Jason Kenney| place=Regina| publication-place=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=27 January 2010| archive-date=11 June 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611163321/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm| url-status=dead}}{{Cite news| last=Valpy| first=Michael| author-link=Michael Valpy| title=The monarchy: Offshore, but built-in| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| date=13 November 2009|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/the-monarchy-offshore-but-built-in/article4292569/?page=all| accessdate=14 November 2009| location=Toronto}}{{Harvnb| MacLeod| 2012| p=6}}{{Cite web| last=Monet| first=Jacques| website=The Canadian Encyclopedia| title=Governor General| editor-last=Marsh| editor-first=James Harley| place=Toronto| publisher=Historica Canada|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003350| accessdate=5 March 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211042131/http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003350| archive-date=11 February 2010}}{{Cite web| url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx| last=The Royal Household| title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada > History and present government| publisher=Queen's Printer| accessdate=5 March 2010| archive-date=27 July 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727070332/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx| url-status=dead}}{{cite journal| last=Coyne| first=Andrew| author-link=Andrew Coyne| title=Defending the royals| journal=Maclean's| publisher=Roger's Communications| location=Toronto| date=13 November 2009|url=http://www.macleans.ca/2009/11/13/defending-the-royals/| issn=0024-9262| accessdate=18 February 2010}}{{citation|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1193941--celebrating-the-diamond-jubilee-of-elizabeth-ii-queen-of-canada| last=Editorial| title=Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada| date=26 May 2012| newspaper=Toronto Star| accessdate=27 May 2012}}}} 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.{{refn|{{cite web| url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396018229970/| title=The Royal Family| publisher=The Queen's Printer for Canada| date=24 September 2014| accessdate=9 December 2015| author=Government of Canada| archive-date=11 December 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211000813/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1396018229970/| url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/discover/section-06.asp| title=Discover Canada – Canada's History| publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada| date=1 July 2012| accessdate=20 January 2014| author=Government of Canada}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-cabot| title=John Cabot| publisher=Historica Canada| date=1 July 2008| accessdate=20 January 2014| author=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}{{cite web|url=http://www.slmc.uottawa.ca/?q=first_voyages| title=The First Voyages of the Europeans| publisher=University of Ottawa| accessdate=20 January 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203094354/http://www.slmc.uottawa.ca/?q=first_voyages| archive-date=2014-02-03| url-status=dead}}{{cite web| url=http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/explorers/John%20Cabot.html| title=The Cabot Dilemma: John Cabot's 1497 Voyage & the Limits of Historiography| publisher=Canada History| year=1990| accessdate=20 January 2014| author=Croxton, Derek| archive-date=5 December 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205233539/http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/explorers/John%20Cabot.html| url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/cabot1497.html| title=John Cabot's Voyage of 1497| publisher=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage| year=1997| accessdate=20 January 2014| author=Memorial University of Newfoundland}}{{Cite book| last=Harper| first=Stephen| author-link=Stephen Harper| year=2008| publication-date=2012| contribution=Letter| contribution-url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-jblDmt-dmdJbl/STAGING/texte-text/crnMpls_1336157759317_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| editor-last=MacLeod| editor-first=Kevin S.| editor-link=Kevin S. MacLeod| title=A Crown of Maples| page=vii| location=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| isbn=978-0-662-46012-1| accessdate=28 November 2012| archive-date=10 November 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110140303/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-jblDmt-dmdJbl/STAGING/texte-text/crnMpls_1336157759317_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://crht.ca/the-sovereigns-of-canada/| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Garry| title=The Sovereigns of Canada| publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| accessdate=5 March 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213024/http://crht.ca/the-sovereigns-of-canada/| archive-date=4 October 2013| url-status=dead}}}} However, some sources, instead, put this date at 1535, when the word Canada was first used to refer to the French colony of Canada,{{cite web|url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1363629314164/1363629390521| title=Origin of the Name - Canada| publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada| date=18 June 2013| accessdate=6 October 2015| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412211144/http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1363629314164/1363629390521| archive-date=12 April 2015}} which was founded in the name of King Francis I.{{cite web|url=http://www.irpp.org/en/po/the-dollar/the-true-white-north-reflections-on-being-canadian/| archive-url=https://archive.today/20131020155041/http://www.irpp.org/en/po/the-dollar/the-true-white-north-reflections-on-being-canadian/| url-status=dead| archive-date=20 October 2013| title=The true white north: reflections on being Canadian |publisher=Institute for Research on Public Policy |date=February 2008| accessdate=20 October 2013| last=Robertson| first=Colin}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/Monarchy/senmonarchy_00-e.htm| last=Parliament of Canada| author-link=Parliament of Canada| title=Canada: A Constitutional Monarchy| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=25 September 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509072741/http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/Monarchy/SenMonarchy_00-e.htm| archive-date=9 May 2011| url-status=dead}} Monarchical governance subsequently evolved under a continuous succession of French, British, and eventually uniquely Canadian sovereigns.{{refn|{{Harvnb| MacLeod| 2012| pp=2–3, 39}}{{cite journal| last=Monet| first=Jacques| title=Crown and Country| journal=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Summer 2007| issue=26| page=8| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| location=Toronto| year=2007|url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf| accessdate=15 June 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225416/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf| archive-date=25 June 2008}}{{Harvnb| MacLeod| 2012| p=9}}{{cite web| url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx| title=Queen and Canada| publisher=The British Monarchy| accessdate=12 November 2015| archive-date=27 July 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727070332/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx| url-status=dead}}}} Since the first claim by Henry VII,{{cite web|url=http://crht.ca/the-monarchy-and-canadian-independence/| title=The Monarchy and Canadian Independence| publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| year=2004| accessdate=21 October 2013| author1=Bousfield, Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Garry| name-list-style=amp| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022021359/http://crht.ca/the-monarchy-and-canadian-independence/| archive-date=22 October 2013| url-status=dead}} there have been 33 sovereigns of Canada, including two sets of co-sovereigns.{{refn|{{cite web|url=http://crht.ca/the-sovereigns-of-canada/| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Garry| title=The Sovereigns of Canada| publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| accessdate=30 September 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213024/http://crht.ca/the-sovereigns-of-canada/| archive-date=4 October 2013| url-status=dead}}{{Harvnb| MacLeod| 2012| p=78}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sovereign/| title=Sovereigns Who have Reigned Over Canada| publisher=Historica Canada| work=The Canadian Encyclodpdia| accessdate=28 November 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lgontario.ca/en/biographies/pages/kings-and-queens.aspx| title=Kings and Queens of Canada| publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario| date=22 August 2013| accessdate=20 January 2014| author=Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915013649/http://www.lgontario.ca/en/biographies/pages/kings-and-queens.aspx| archive-date=15 September 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-monarchie-monarchy/STAGING/texte-text/kingsandQueens_1363036597604_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| title=The Kings and Queens of Canada| publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada| year=2013| accessdate=20 January 2014| author=Heritage Canada| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727185830/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-monarchie-monarchy/STAGING/texte-text/kingsandQueens_1363036597604_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| archive-date=2013-07-27| url-status=dead}}{{cite book| title=Canada's Constitutional Monarchy| publisher=Dundurn| author=Tidridge, Nathan| year=2011| location=Toronto| pages=233–236}}{{cite web|url=http://www.monarchist.ca/en/history| title=Canada's Monarchy throughout History| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| accessdate=12 November 2015| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103031222/http://www.monarchist.ca/en/history| archive-date=3 January 2011}}}}

While Canada became a Dominion within the British Empire upon Confederation in 1867,{{cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/confederation| title=Confederation| publisher=Historica Canada| date=22 September 2013| accessdate=20 January 2014| author=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}{{cite web| url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/101/102-eng.cfm| last=Department of Canadian Heritage| author-link=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The crown in Canada| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=8 September 2009| archive-date=27 August 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827092532/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/101/102-eng.cfm| url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/themes/constitution/constitution13_e.html| title=Constitutional History, 1867 – 1931: Becoming a Nation| publisher=Canadiana| accessdate=27 September 2013| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217201837/http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/themes/constitution/constitution13_e.html| archive-date=17 December 2011}}{{cite web| url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx| last=Royal Household| title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada > History and present government| publisher=Queen's Printer| accessdate=8 September 2009| archive-date=27 July 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727070332/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx| url-status=dead}} 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,{{cite web|url=https://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/324/Independence.html| last=Heard| first=Andrew| title=Canadian Independence| publisher=Simon Fraser University| year=1990| accessdate=21 October 2013}} and was officially confirmed with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931.{{cite web|url=http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/themes/constitution/constitution15_e.html| title=Constitutional History, 1931 – 1982: Toward Renewal and Patriation| publisher=Canadiana| accessdate=27 September 2013| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114080534/http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/themes/constitution/constitution15_e.html| archive-date=14 January 2014}} Since then, the Canadian Crown has been legally distinct from those of the other Commonwealth realms, with its own separate and distinct monarch.{{#tag:ref|The English Court of Appeal ruled in 1982, while "there is only one person who is the Sovereign within the British Commonwealth... in matters of law and government the Queen of the United Kingdom, for example, is entirely independent and distinct from the Queen of Canada."{{cite court| litigants=R v Foreign Secretary, Ex parte Indian Association (as referenced in High Court of Australia: Sue v Hill [1999] HCA 30; 23 June 1999; S179/1998 and B49/1998)| vol=QB 892 at 928| court=English Court of Appeal| date=June 1999|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1999/30.html}}|group=N|name=ECApp}} Although the term king of Canada was used as early as the beginning of the reign of George VI,{{cite journal| last=Galbraith| first=William| title=Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit| journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review| volume=12| issue=3| publisher=Library of Parliament| location=Ottawa| year=1989|url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/english/issue.asp?param=130&art=820| archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205052132/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/english/issue.asp?param=130&art=820| url-status=dead| archive-date=5 December 2012| accessdate=3 January 2009}} 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.