List of people from Cape Breton

This is a list of notable people who have lived on Cape Breton Island.

Arts

 * Steve Arbuckle, actor from Donkin
 * The Barra MacNeils, singing group
 * John Beardman, abstract painter
 * Kate Beaton, webcomic artist from Mabou, winner of the 2009 Doug Wright Award for "Best Emerging Talent"
 * Nathan Bishop, singer-songwriter from Celtae
 * Kay Boutilier, singer, perhaps better known as "My Name is Kay"
 * John Allan Cameron, singer-songwriter, from Glencoe Station, credited as the "godfather" of Cape Breton's modern Celtic music revival
 * Ronald Caplan, historian, publisher, member of the Order of Canada
 * Lynn Coady, author, winner of the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize
 * Nathan Cohen, theatre critic, broadcaster, publisher
 * J. P. Cormier, singer-songwriter; fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar player; Chéticamp
 * Lee Cremo, fiddle player
 * Mark Day, film and television actor, writer, and producer
 * Aselin Debison, singer-songwriter
 * Don Domanski, poet
 * Carolyn Dunn, film and television actor from Whitney Pier
 * Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald, fiddle player from White Point
 * Robert Frank, photographer
 * Danny Gallivan, Hockey Night in Canada sportscaster
 * John Gracie, singer-songwriter
 * Bruce Guthro, singer-songwriter
 * Drake Jensen, singer-songwriter
 * Rita Joe, Mi'kmaw poet and songwriter
 * Angus MacAskill, giant and circus performer
 * Allie MacDonald, actress
 * Frankie MacDonald, YouTube phenomenon and winner of the Vital Cape Breton Excellence Award
 * Martin MacDonald, orchestral conductor
 * Mitch MacDonald, singer-songwriter
 * Linden MacIntyre, journalist, broadcaster, novelist, winner of 2009 Giller Prize
 * Ashley MacIsaac, fiddle player
 * Daniel MacIvor, actor, playwright, theatre director and film director
 * Billy MacLellan, actor (Nobody, Defiance, Murdoch Mysteries)
 * Hugh MacLennan, Governor General's Awards-winning author, professor of English at McGill University. He won five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award
 * Alistair MacLeod, author
 * Buddy MacMaster, fiddle player
 * Natalie MacMaster, fiddle player
 * Rita MacNeil, singer-songwriter
 * Matt Minglewood, musician
 * Farley Mowat, writer, had his summer residence in Cape Breton
 * Scott Oake, sportscaster
 * Daniel Petrie, Hollywood filmmaker
 * The Rankin Family, singers-songwriters
 * Molly Rankin, musician from Inverness
 * Rick Ravanello, actor, Hart's War; various TV series, including 24, CSI and Desperate Housewives
 * A. J. Reynolds, internationally syndicated radio host
 * Harold Russell, Academy Award-winning actor for his portrayal of Homer Parrish in the 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives
 * Gordie Sampson, singer-songwriter
 * Douglas September, singer-songwriter
 * Richard Serra, sculptor
 * Slowcoaster, rock band
 * Amy Spurway, author
 * Tom Fun Orchestra, rock band
 * Morgan Toney, Mi'kmaw fiddle player
 * Scott Turner, songwriter

Athletics

 * Paul Boutilier
 * Norm Ferguson
 * Trevor Fahey
 * Aaron Johnson
 * Andrew MacDonald
 * Al MacInnis
 * Mike McPhee
 * Johnny Miles
 * Ryan Rozicki
 * Bobby Smith
 * Doug Sulliman
 * Kevin Morrison
 * Logan Shaw

Politics, the law, and business

 * John George Bourinot (younger), 3rd Clerk of the House of Commons (Canada)
 * John Buchanan, Premier of Nova Scotia
 * Gerald Butts, former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
 * William Davis, coal miner murdered by British Empire Steel Corporation police and namesake of Davis Day in New Waterford, Nova Scotia
 * Mayann Francis, first Black Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
 * Clarence Gillis, Member of Parliament
 * Ruth Goldbloom, philanthropist, member of the Order of Canada
 * Alasdair Graham, Senator
 * Gordon Sidney Harrington, Premier of Nova Scotia
 * Alexander Graham Bell
 * Angus L. MacDonald, Premier of Nova Scotia
 * Donald MacDonald, President of the Canadian Labour Congress and MLA
 * Finlay MacDonald, Senator
 * Rodney MacDonald, Premier of Nova Scotia
 * Allan MacEachen, Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister
 * Russell MacLellan, Premier of Nova Scotia
 * Kevin S. MacLeod, Canadian Secretary to the Queen
 * Donald Marshall, Jr., wrongly convicted Mi’kmaq activist
 * David Mathews, former Mayor of New York City under the British during the American Revolution
 * Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada
 * J.B. McLachlan, trade-unionist, journalist, political activist, and revolutionary
 * John W. Morgan, Mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality
 * Robert Muir, Member of Parliament; Senator
 * George Henry Murray, Premier of Nova Scotia
 * Lisa Raitt, Conservative MP and former federal Minister of Transport, Labour and Natural Resources
 * Irving Schwartz, businessman, philanthropist, member of the Order of Canada
 * Alexander S. Williams, NYPD officer, candidate for US Senate

Religion

 * Moses Coady, Roman Catholic priest, helped found the Co-operative Antigonish Movement at St. Francis Xavier University
 * Moses E. Kiley, Roman Catholic archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
 * Reverend Norman McLeod, Presbyterian minister, St Ann's; migrated in the 1850s with 800 settlers from surrounding communities to Waipu, New Zealand
 * James "Father Jimmy" Tompkins, Roman Catholic priest, helped found the Co-operative Antigonish Movement at St. Francis Xavier University

Sciences

 * Walter Mackenzie, Dr. - Dean of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton
 * Arthur B. McDonald, astrophysicist and joint winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics

Other

 * John Bernard Croak V.C.
 * Neil McLean, a New Zealand public works contractor and sportsman
 * Isaac Phills, Order of Canada recipient