List of people from Hamilton, Ontario

The following people were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely connected to the city of Hamilton, Ontario.

Architecture and design

 * James Balfour (1854–1917), architect; works include Canada Life Assurance Company building at corner of King & James (1883), City Hall on corner of James & York (1888)
 * Bruce Kuwabara (1949– ), architect; works include Kitchener City Hall and Art Gallery of Ontario Phase III
 * John M. Lyle (1872–1945), architect in the late 19th century; works include New York Public Library Main Branch (1897–1911), Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto (1907), Union Station (Toronto) (1914–1921)

Craft

 * Lois Betteridge (1928–2020), silversmith, goldsmith, designer and educator

Dance

 * Frank Augustyn (1953– ), principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada from 1972 to 1989
 * Karen Kain (1951– ), principal dancer and later artistic director (2005–2021) of the National Ballet of Canada

Film and television

 * Jean Adair (1873–1953), actress; worked primarily on stage (sometimes billed as Jennet Adair); made several film appearances late in her career, most notably as one of the misguided murdering aunts of Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace
 * Nicole Arbour, comedian
 * Julia Arthur (1868–1950), stage and film actress
 * Robert Beatty (1909–1992), actor who worked in radio, film and television for most of his career and was especially known in the United Kingdom
 * Alan Best (1959– ), animation director and producer; began his career as an assistant animator working for Hanna-Barbera studios; also worked on the animated features Heavy Metal (1981) and Pink Floyd The Wall (1982)
 * Kylie Bunbury (born 1989), actress
 * Rick Campanelli (1970– ), MuchMusic video jockey, currently works for ET Canada
 * Wendy Crewson (1956– ), actress
 * Douglass Dumbrille (1889–1974), actor and Canadian pioneer in early Hollywood
 * Jesse Ewles (1981– ), indie film director, writer, creator of music videos for of Montreal, Kathryn Calder, and Grizzly Bear
 * Rob Faulds (1955– ), Canadian sports analyst on Rogers Sportsnet and host of sportsnetnews
 * Angela Featherstone (born 1965), actress, writer and teacher
 * Jonathan Frid (1924–2012), theater, television and movie actor, known for the role of the vampire Barnabas Collins on the first incarnation of the Gothic TV serial Dark Shadows
 * Daniel Goldberg (1948/49–2023), film producer (Space Jam); worked with Ivan Reitman on Stripes and Meatballs
 * Harris Goldberg, film director, writer, and producer
 * Currie Graham (1967– ), stage, film and television actor, known for playing Lt. Thomas Bale in the TV program NYPD Blue
 * Graham Greene (1952– ), TV and movie actor; born on Six Nations reserve and lived in Hamilton as a young adult; appeared in The Green Mile, on the Red Green Show, L.A. Law and The New Beachcombers
 * Jonathan Hale (1892–1966), actor, known as Mr. Dithers in the Blondie movies; committed suicide in Hollywood at age 74
 * Adam J. Harrington (1972– ), actor and producer; known for his roles in The Secret Circle, Queer As Folk and Dexter, and as Roy Earle in the video game L.A. Noire
 * Trevor Jimenez, animator (Weekends)
 * Jason Jones, senior correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
 * Stana Katic (1978– ), actress, known for her portrayal of Detective Kate Beckett in ABC's Castle
 * Luke Kirby (1978– ), actor (Mambo Italiano)
 * Florence Lawrence (1890–1938), inventor and silent film actress, often referred to as "the first movie star"; also known as "the Biograph Girl" and "the Girl of a Thousand Faces"; appeared in more than 270 films for various motion picture companies
 * Chris Lazar (1986– ), actor, known for his role as Young Zach on the series Dark Angel
 * Ashley Leggat (1986– ), actress, known for her role as "Casey" in the Disney Channel series Life with Derek
 * Eugene Levy (1946– ), actor and writer, known for SCTV, Schitt's Creek and the American Pie film series
 * Brian Linehan (1944–2004), television host; known for his celebrity interviews on City Lights, a program produced by Citytv in Toronto
 * Del Lord (1894–1970), film director and actor; known as a director of Three Stooges films (Grimsby)
 * Patrick McKenna (1960– ), comedic and dramatic actor; known for the television series The Red Green Show and Traders, and the Trudeau miniseries
 * Blake Moynes, winner of the seventeenth season of reality television series The Bachelorette
 * Kathleen Munroe (born 1982), actress
 * Erin Pitt (born 1999), actress
 * Paul Popowich (1973– ), actor; beside his theatre appearances, has performed in many television series (Beverly Hills, 90210) and features
 * Frank Powell, stage and silent film actor, screenwriter, and director in the United States
 * Leon Pownall (1943–2006), actor and director
 * Ivan Reitman (1946–2022), Slovakian-born, Canadian-raised film actor, producer, and director; most remembered for directing and producing a string of comedies, mostly in the 1980s and 1990s (Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters); a founder of the McMaster Film Board at McMaster University
 * Rick Roberts, actor
 * Kathleen Robertson (1973– ), actress, Beverly Hills, 90210
 * Martin Short (1950– ), actor, writer, and producer best known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live
 * Floria Sigismondi (1965– ), director (born in Pescara, Italy, raised in Hamilton)
 * Steve Smith (1945– ), main actor and writer on television series The Red Green Show
 * David Soren, animator
 * Sarah Taylor, MuchMusic VJ who now co-hosts many popular shows, including Combat Zone, MuchOnDemand and Take Over
 * Dave Thomas (1949– ), comedian and actor, SCTV, Grace Under Fire
 * Nerene Virgin, Canadian actress, journalist, and teacher
 * Brian Williams, sportscaster, known for his coverage of the Olympic Games (born in Winnipeg, raised in Hamilton)
 * Dick Wilson (1916–2007), actor whose claim to fame was working for over 21 years on 504 Charmin toilet paper TV commercials; also made acting appearances on Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes and The Bob Newhart Show
 * Gordon Michael Woolvett (1970– ), actor, played Seamus Harper on TV's Andromeda
 * Dominic Zamprogna (1979– ), actor, played James "Jammer" Lyman on TV's Battlestar Galactica
 * Gema Zamprogna (1976– ), actress, played Felicity King on Road to Avonlea (1989–1996)

Fine arts

 * Lida Baday (1957– ), fashion designer
 * Blaine (1937–2012), political cartoonist
 * William Blair Bruce (1859–1906), painter
 * Gino Cavicchioli (1957– ), official sculptor for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame
 * Christian Cardell Corbet (1966– ), portrait sculptor
 * Hortense Gordon (1886–1961), member of Toronto-based group Painters Eleven; works were exhibited in galleries in Europe and North America
 * Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook (1913–2009), portrait sculptor; founder of the Canadian Portrait Academy and Canadian Group of Artists; her career spanned over seventy-five years; principal works include eight stone sculpture panels on the former Federal Building
 * Mark Lewis (1958– ), photographer and installation artist who represented Canada at the 2009 Venice Biennale
 * Graeme MacKay (1968– ), editorial cartoonist
 * Win Mortimer (1919–1998), comic book and comic strip artist, one of the major illustrators of the DC Comics superheroes Superman, Superboy, and Batman
 * Frank Panabaker (1904–1992), painter
 * Dave Sim (1956– ), comic book writer and artist; creator of Cerebus
 * Paul Szep (1941– ), editorial cartoonist; two-time Pulitzer Prize winner

Illusionists

 * Greg Frewin (1967– ), illusionist and "World Champion of Magic"

Journalism and writing

 * Roy Adams, author, newspaper columnist, human rights activist and academic
 * Barbara Amiel, British-Canadian journalist, writer, socialite; wife of Conrad Black
 * Gordon Stewart Anderson, author
 * Dick Beddoes (1925–1991), former sports journalist for CHCH-TV in Hamilton, the Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), and CFRB radio (Toronto); author
 * Stephen Brunt, lead sports columnist for The Globe and Mail since 1989
 * John H. Bryden (1943– ), politician, journalist, historian
 * Richard Butler (1834–1925), editor, publisher, journalist; the Butler neighbourhood in Hamilton is named after him
 * Jojo Chintoh (1944– ), retired television reporter (Citytv)
 * Jane Christmas (b 1954), writer
 * Trevor Cole, newspaper and magazine columnist, novelist
 * Hugh Cook (1942– ), novelist
 * Damien Cox, sports columnist for the Toronto Star
 * Sylvia Fraser (1935– ), novelist and travel writer
 * Lawrence Hill, author (The Book of Negroes)
 * Wentworth M. Johnson (1939–2014), author
 * Robert Kirkland Kernighan (1854–1926), poet, journalist; the Kernighan neighbourhood on Hamilton Mountain is named after him
 * Gary Lautens (1928–1992), humorist and newspaper columnist; wrote for the Toronto Star from 1962 until his death
 * Mark Leslie (1969– ), writer, author of Haunted Hamilton: The Ghosts of Dundurn Castle & Other Steeltown Shivers
 * Billie Livingston (1965– ), novelist and poet
 * David Macfarlane (1952– ), journalist, playwright and novelist
 * Steve Paikin (1960– ), journalist, film producer and author, known for hosting TV Ontario's newsmagazines Studio 2 and Diplomatic Immunity
 * John Lawrence Reynolds (1939– ), novelist and non-fiction writer, twice winner of the Arthur Ellis Award
 * Melville Marks Robinson (1888– ), founder of the Commonwealth Games
 * Doug Saunders (1967– ), journalist, European Bureau Chief for The Globe and Mail
 * James Travers, journalist
 * Clementina (Fessenden) Trenholme (1844–1918), author, social organizer, and mother of radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden; the Trenholme and Fessenden neighbourhoods on Hamilton Mountain were named after her
 * Anuja Varghese, writer
 * David Vienneau (1951–2004), journalist who moved to television in 1998 as Ottawa bureau chief at for Global Television, where he remained until his death from pancreatic cancer
 * Harriett Annie Wilkins (1829–1888), poet

Music

 * Nicole Appleton (1974– ), singer; born in Hamilton but raised in Toronto; one of two Canadian members of the British pop group All Saints, which disbanded in 2001; she and her sister Natalie later formed a second British-based pop group named Appleton
 * Ian Astbury, singer (The Cult), spent teen years in Hamilton
 * David Braid (1975– ), composer and pianist
 * Boris Brott (1944–2022), once an assistant to Leonard Bernstein, he led the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra for 21 years, later creating the Brott Music Festival and National Academy Orchestra
 * David Byrne (1952– ), singer-songwriter, guitarist (Talking Heads); lived in Hamilton as a child
 * Rita Chiarelli, blues singer
 * Colin Cripps (1961– ), musician and record producer
 * Eria Fachin (1960–1996), pop singer
 * Jeremy Greenspan (1979– ), electronic pop musician best known for Junior Boys
 * Jordan Hastings (1982– ), drummer for the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire, as well as The Black Lungs and former band Jersey, born in Hamilton but raised in Burlington
 * Darcy Hepner, saxophonist, composer arranger
 * Udo Kasemets (1919–2014), Estonian-born composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal, piano, and electroacoustic works
 * Harrison Kennedy (1942– ), electric blues singer and guitarist, formerly part of Chairmen of the Board
 * King Biscuit Boy (1944–2003), blues musician, member of Crowbar; the first Canadian blues artist to chart on Billboard in the U.S.; Rolling Stone magazine called him "legendary"; played with Muddy Waters, Joe Cocker, and Janis Joplin; his fans include Keith Richards and Paul McCartney
 * Daniel Lanois (1951– ), solo artist, producer for U2, lived in Hamilton and recorded at Grant Avenue Studios
 * Jessy Lanza, pop/electronic musician
 * Gord Lewis (1956/1957–2002), guitarist for Teenage Head
 * Wade MacNeil (1984– ), guitarist and vocalist for the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire and frontman of The Black Lungs
 * Brian Melo, winner of Canadian Idol (season five); previously a construction worker
 * Haydain Neale (1970–2009), musician (jacksoul)
 * Steve Negus, Saga drummer and record producer
 * Neil Peart (1952–2020), drummer and lyricist for the progressive rock band Rush
 * Skip Prokop (1946–2017), drummer and bandleader for Lighthouse and The Paupers; worked with Cass Elliot, Janis Joplin, Al Kooper and Carlos Santana
 * Stan Rogers (1949–1983), folk singer
 * Brenda Russell (1949– ), American-born singer-songwriter and keyboardist who lived in Hamilton; known for her eclectic musical style; her genres include pop, soul, jazz and adult contemporary; has worked with Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Sting
 * Lorraine Segato, lead vocalist for 1980s new wave music group Parachute Club, noted for the song "Rise Up"
 * Ernest Seitz (1892–1978), composer, songwriter, pianist and music educator
 * Dan Snaith (1979– ), musician for the bands Caribou, Manitoba and Daphni, born in Dundas
 * Tomi Swick, singer-songwriter
 * Christian Tanna, drummer and songwriter for I Mother Earth
 * Jagori Tanna, guitar player for I Mother Earth
 * Ian Thomas (1950– ), singer-songwriter known for the 1973 hit "Painted Ladies"; brother of Dave Thomas
 * Alan Walker (1930– ), English-Canadian radio producer, musicologist and academic best known as a biographer and scholar of composer Franz Liszt
 * Jackie Washington (1919–2009), blues singer
 * Robert Stanley Weir (1856–1926), lawyer, poet, author, best remembered as the author of the English lyrics to "O Canada"
 * Simon Wilcox (1976– ), songwriter based in Los Angeles
 * Tom Wilson, rock musician

Pageantry

 * Leanne Baird, Miss Canada International in 1998
 * Venessa Fisher (1986– ), Miss Universe Canada 2004; from Waterdown

Radio

 * Richard Alway, former radio broadcast commentator, current and first lay President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St. Michael's College
 * Bob Bratina, radio personality, elected MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, former City Councillor for Downtown Ward 2 and Mayor of Hamilton
 * Roy Green, staple of the Hamilton radio scene
 * Sue Prestedge, sports broadcaster, one of Canada's first and most influential female sports journalists; coordinator of the Advanced Journalism program at Mohawk College

Theatre

 * Nick Cordero (1978–2020), Broadway actor
 * Diane Dupuy, founder of the Famous People Players in 1974, a professional black light theatre company that combines music with characters that pay tribute to the music and artistry of famous people; the group was discovered by Liberace, who took them to Las Vegas to perform; they have been performing around the world ever since
 * Sky Gilbert (1952– ), artistic director, actor, academic and drag performer; opened the Hammertheatre Company in January 2007 in Hamilton; the theatre is devoted to Gilbert's plays, which deal with issues of gender and sexuality

Business

 * Aris Alexanian (1901–1961), founder of Alexanian Carpet and Flooring (born in what is now Turkey, moved to Hamilton in 1927)
 * John Askin (1739–1815), fur trader, merchant and official in Upper Canada
 * Hugh Cossart Baker, Sr. (1818–1859), banker, businessman, mathematician; established the first life insurance company in Canada (1847), the Canada Life Assurance Company
 * Hugh Cossart Baker, Jr. (1846–1931), businessman, telephone pioneer
 * Amanda Blain (born 1980), internet personality, business owner, web developer
 * David Braley (1941–2020), CFL B.C. Lions owner since 1996–97, Hamilton businessman who owns Orlick Industries Limited
 * Jack Kent Cooke (1912–1997), one of the most widely known executives in professional sports; at one time owned the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the NFL's Washington Redskins
 * James Crooks (1778–1860), Scottish-born businessman of Wentworth County and father of Adam Crooks; Crooks Street in Central Hamilton is named after him
 * Michael DeGroote (1932–2022), billionaire, best known as a major private donor to McMaster University
 * John Dickenson (1847–1932), contractor and political figure; one of the "Five Johns" of the Dominion Power and Transmission Company
 * James Durand (1775–1833), businessman and political figure in Upper Canada
 * Stephen Elop (1963– ), President & CEO of Nokia, the first non-Finnish director of the company
 * John Fortino (1934–2011), founder of Fortinos Supermarkets
 * Ron Foxcroft (1947– ), owner of Fluke Transport; NCAA basketball referee; inventor of the pea-less Fox 40 whistle; motivational speaker; "Foxy" was named Hamilton Citizen of the Year in 1997
 * Peter George (1941–2017), economist and university administrator, formerly president of McMaster University in Hamilton
 * Peter Hess (1779–1855), farmer, landowner; Peter and Hess Streets in the city are named after him, and Caroline Street is named after one of his daughters
 * Joseph Hobson (1834–1917), land surveyor, civil engineer, and railway design engineer
 * Nathaniel Hughson (1755–1837), farmer and hotel owner; Loyalist who moved to Canada following the American Revolution; one of the city founders of Hamilton; Hughson Street is named after him
 * Peter Hunter Hamilton (1800–1857), landowner and businessman; half brother of city founder George Hamilton; Hunter Street is named after him
 * Edward Jackson (1799–1872), tinware manufacturer; Jackson Street is named after him
 * James Jolley (1813–1892), saddler, harnessmaker, politician; funded construction of the Jolley Cut, a Mountain access road in Hamilton
 * Ron Joyce (1930–2019), founding partner of Tim Hortons
 * Charles Juravinski (1929–2022), former owner of Flamboro Downs racetrack; donated $43 million to Hamilton city hospitals with his wife Margaret; Henderson Hospital on Concession Street was renamed to the Juravinski Hospital and Juravinski Cancer Centre
 * Syd Kessler (1949–2021), businessperson and jingle writer
 * Michael Lee-Chin (1951– ), CEO of AIC Diversified Canada Split Corp. and the National Commercial Bank of Jamaica
 * John Moodie Jr. (1859–1944), textile manufacturer; drove the first automobile in Canada in 1898, a one-cylinder Winton he imported from Cleveland, Ohio
 * Gordon Osbaldeston (1930–2019), former civil servant; in 1981 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1997
 * Joseph Pigott, head of a family construction business that built Hamilton landmarks including City Hall, the Pigott Building, Copps Coliseum and Christ the King Cathedral
 * Andrew Ross (1857–1941), businessman; lent his support to the building of the Tivoli theatre and to the Barton Street Arena; was involved in professional hockey (Hamilton Tigers) and softball
 * William Rymal (1759–1852), farmer and one of the earliest settlers on the Hamilton Mountain; Rymal Road is named after him
 * E. D. Smith (1853–1948), businessman and politician who founded a food company that bears his name
 * Ken Soble, founder of CHCH-TV, leader of Hamilton's urban renewal movement, and owner of CHML radio
 * William Southam (1843–1932), once an apprentice printer at the London Free Press; at age 34 he purchased the troubled Hamilton Spectator, turned it around and made it the flagship of a national newspaper chain
 * Harry Stinson (1953– ), real estate developer and president of Stinson Properties; called Toronto's "condo king"; now resides in Hamilton
 * Thomas Stinson (1798–1864), merchant, banker, landowner; an extensive landowner in not only in Hamilton but also Chicago, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Superior City, Wisconsin, which he named
 * George Elias Tuckett (1835–1900), Tuckett Tobacco Company owner and Hamilton's 27th mayor in 1896
 * Bob Young, founder of Red Hat 1996, started a self-publishing website that claims to be the world's fastest-growing provider of print-on-demand books (www.lulu.com); currently owns the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the CFL (Ancaster)
 * Joyce Young, philanthropist

Education

 * Adelaide Hoodless (1858–1910), educational reformer who inspired the founders of the international women's organization known as the Women's Institutes in 1897
 * Janet Lee (1862–1940), education reformer who co-founded the international women's organization known as the Women's Institutes (WI) in 1897, and wrote the constitution and By-laws used by the organization.

Crime

 * Johnson Aziga (1956– ), first person charged with first-degree murder in Canada for spreading the HIV virus, after two women whom he had infected without their knowledge died
 * Evelyn Dick (1920)–, committed infanticide and was convicted, then acquitted, of having murdered her husband
 * Giacomo Luppino (1900–1987), mobster of the Hamilton-based Luppino crime family
 * Angelo Musitano (1978–2017), mobster of the Hamilton-based Musitano crime family
 * Pat Musitano (1968–2020), mobster of the Hamilton-based Musitano crime family
 * Johnny Papalia (1924–1997), mobster of the Hamilton-based Papalia crime family
 * Rocco Perri (1887–disappeared 1944), gangster
 * Cathy Smith (1947– ), singer; convicted of manslaughter in death of John Belushi, co-authored the book Chasing the Dragon about her life experience with drugs (1984)

Judges and lawyers

 * Charles William Bell (1876–1938), playwright, politician and Rocco Perri's lawyer
 * Alan Borovoy (1932–2015), lawyer and human rights activist
 * Harvey Brownstone (1956– ), judge of the Ontario Court of Justice
 * Richard Hatt (1769–1819), businessman, judge and political figure in Upper Canada
 * Helen Kinnear (1894–1970), lawyer, first federally appointed woman judge in Canada
 * Helen Gregory MacGill (1864–1947), first woman in British Columbia to be appointed a judge of the juvenile court, a post she held for 23 years
 * Jack Pelech (1934– ), litigation and business lawyer, Hamilton Citizen of the Year, 1987; Order of Canada, 2006
 * John Sopinka (1933–1997), Supreme Court Justice described as the heart of the court; raised in north Hamilton and died unexpectedly; namesake of Hamilton's courthouse and the Sopinka Cup, a law student advocacy competition
 * John Willson (1776–1860), judge and political figure in Upper Canada

Military

 * Nathan Cirillo (1990–2014), Corporal of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada; slain while on ceremonial guard duty at the National War Memorial during the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa
 * William W. Cooke (1846–1876), military officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the Black Hills War; adjutant for George Armstrong Custer and was killed during the Battle of the Little Bighorn; buried in Hamilton Cemetery
 * Harry Crerar (1888–1965), commander of the First Canadian Army in the Second World War
 * John Weir Foote (1904–1988), military chaplain and Ontario cabinet minister, Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross; The James Street Armoury where the RHLI is now based, along with 11th Field Hamilton-Wentworth Battery, was renamed the John W. Foote VC Armoury in his memory
 * Billy Green (1794–1877), otherwise known as "The Scout", key to the Anglo-Canadian victory at the Battle of Stoney Creek
 * Robert Land (1736–1818), veteran of the American Revolution and one of Hamilton's founding citizens; Robert Land Academy, Canada's only military pre-university private school, was named in his honour
 * Ben Lear (1879–1966), Olympic bronze medal winner, United States Army World War II-era general
 * Sydney Chilton Mewburn (1863–1956), lawyer and politician; Minister of Militia and Defence from 1917 to 1920 under Sir Robert Borden's Union Government in 1917
 * Harold A. Rogers (1899–1994), founder of Kin Canada (formerly the Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs of Canada), a non-profit service organization that promotes service, fellowship, positive values, and national pride
 * John Vincent (1764–1848), British army officer in the Battle of Stoney Creek, War of 1812

Politics



 * Dominic Agostino (1959–2004), member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario for Hamilton East from 1995 until his death in 2004; the first Liberal MPP in that riding since 1967
 * Lincoln Alexander (1922–2012), the 24th Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991 and former Governor of the Canadian Unity Council; became Canada's first black Member of Parliament when he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1968 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada; an expressway on Hamilton Mountain was named the Lincoln Alexander Parkway in his honour
 * Thomas Bain (1834–1915), speaker of the House of Commons
 * Richard Beasley (1761–1842), soldier, political figure, farmer and businessman in Upper Canada
 * Marie Bountrogianni (1956– ), Ed.D., former member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and cabinet minister in the government of Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty
 * Isaac Buchanan (1810–1883), businessman and political figure in Canada West
 * Sarmite Bulte (1953– ), Latvian-Canadian lawyer, advocate and politician; member of the Liberal Party; represented the Toronto riding of Parkdale-High Park in the House of Commons through three successive parliaments from 1997 to 2006
 * Richard Butson (1922–2015), medical officer and politician (Ancaster)
 * Ivan John "Jack" Cable (1934– ), politician and the former Commissioner of the Yukon (2000–2005)
 * Chris Charlton (1963– ), MA, Member of Parliament in the 2006 federal election for Hamilton Mountain
 * David Christopherson (1954– ), represents the riding of Hamilton Centre in the House of Commons (2004– )
 * Mark Coakley, Hamilton-based activist, lawyer, author and chair of Environment Hamilton
 * Sheila Copps (1952– ), PC, HBA, LL.D (hc), journalist and former politician; a second-generation member of a political family that has dominated Hamilton-area politics on the municipal, provincial and federal levels
 * Victor K. Copps (1919–1988), politician and Mayor of Hamilton; the city's landmark sports arena, Copps Coliseum (now FirstOntario Centre) was named in his honour
 * Adam Crooks (1827–1885), LLB, an Ontario Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Toronto West, 1871–1874; moved to the riding of Oxford South, 1875–1886; MLA for the Ontario Liberal Party
 * Thomas Mayne Daly Sr. (1827–1885), businessman and political figure in Canada West (later Ontario); represented the riding of Perth North in the House of Commons and in the Ontario Provincial Parliament
 * Ellen Fairclough (1905–2004), first female member of the Canadian Cabinet; the Ellen Fairclough Building in Hamilton is named after her
 * Colin Campbell Ferrie (1808–1856), Hamilton's first mayor
 * Rolf Gerstenberger, president of the United Steelworkers Local 1005 at Stelco's Hilton Works in Hamilton; prominent member of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist)
 * Sir John Morison Gibson (1842–1929), lawyer, politician, businessman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario 1908–1914
 * George Hamilton (1788–1836), settler and city founder
 * Sir John Strathearn Hendrie (1857–1923), Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1914 to 1919
 * Adam Inch (1857–1933), dairy farmer, politician; Inch Park neighbourhood on Hamilton Mountain is named after him
 * Sarah Jama, Somali Canadian Muslim politician
 * Stan Keyes (Stanley Kazmierczak Keyes) (1953– ), diplomat and former politician
 * Sam Lawrence (1879–1959), mayor and pioneer of Labour rights in Hamilton
 * William Findlay Maclean (1854–1929), politician, Conservative MP for York East and York South, served for 34 years
 * Allan MacNab (Sir Allan Napier MacNab) (1798–1862), soldier, lawyer, businessman, knight and former Prime Minister of Upper Canada; MacNab Street in Hamilton is named after him
 * Quinto Martini (1908–1975), first Italian Canadian elected to Parliament, where he represented Hamilton East from 1957 until he was defeated by Liberal John Munro in 1962
 * Catherine McKenna (1971– ), MP for Ottawa Centre, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities
 * James McMillan (1838–1902), U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan
 * Thomas McQuesten (1882–1948), athlete, militiaman, lawyer, politician and government appointee who lived in Hamilton; helped encourage McMaster University to relocate from downtown Toronto to west Hamilton in 1930
 * Bob Morrow (1946–2018), longest-serving mayor in Hamilton's history (1983–2000); selected to serve as an interim councillor for Ward Three in 2014
 * John Munro (1931–2003), PC, BA, LL.B, politician, elected to the House of Commons in the 1962 election; Hamilton's "John Munro International Airport" is named after him
 * Devan Nair, 3rd President of Singapore; moved to the United States after his presidency, but later moved to Hamilton, where he died in 2005
 * Father Sean O'Sullivan, politician and religious leader
 * Saul Rae (1914–1999), diplomat
 * Allan Rowe (1955–2015), member of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly
 * William Eli Sanford (1838–1899), businessman, philanthropist, and politician
 * Charles Stewart (1868–1946), politician, Premier of Alberta from 1917 to 1921 (Wentworth County)
 * Allan Studholme (1846–1919), stove maker and first Ontario Labour MLA
 * James Lyle Telford (1889–1960), mayor of Vancouver, B.C. 1939–40 (Valens)
 * James Walker (1874– ), politician in Alberta; municipal councillor in Edmonton

Religion

 * Michael Baldasaro (1949–2016), Church of the Universe leader
 * Charles Coughlin (1891–1979), priest and radio personality
 * John Dunjee (1833–1903), freed slave, pastor
 * John Christie Holland (1882–1954), became an ordained minister in 1924 and served as pastor of Hamilton's Stewart Memorial Church; in 1953 he was honoured as Hamilton's Citizen of the Year, the first African Canadian given that recognition
 * Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) (1802–1856), Methodist missionary of Welsh-Ojibwe heritage

Science

 * James Arthur (born 1944), mathematician
 * Douglas Barber (1938– ), businessman, founder and former president and CEO of ennum Corp
 * Manjul Bhargava (1974– ), mathematician, born in Hamilton; a recipient of the 2014 Fields Medal
 * Bertram Brockhouse (1918–2003), Nobel Prize-winning physicist
 * Robert N. Clayton (1930–2017), geochemist
 * John Charles Fields (1863–1932), mathematician and the founder of the Fields Medal for outstanding achievement in mathematics, considered by some to be the Nobel Prize in Mathematics
 * Campbell Leckie (1848–1925), engineer; Leckie Park neighbourhood on Hamilton Mountain is named after him
 * Louis Nirenberg (1925–2020), mathematician, born in Hamilton; known for work on partial differential equations, especially as applied to the Navier–Stokes problem
 * William Parks (1868–1939), geologist and paleontologist, following in the tradition of Lawrence Lambe
 * John Rae (1813–1893), physician and polar explorer
 * Myron Scholes (1941– ), Nobel Prize-winning economist

Invention

 * Troy Hurtubise (1963–2018), inventor of a prototype for a lightweight armour shell for military purposes that conjures up an image of a Star Wars Imperial stormtrooper
 * George Klein (1904–1992), often called the most productive inventor in Canada in the 20th century; inventor of electric wheelchair, microsurgical staple gun, the ZEEP nuclear reactor and the Canadarm
 * Steve Mann, inventor of wearable computers who teaches electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto
 * Simon Sunatori (1959– ), engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, best known for the invention of the MagneScribe and the Magic Spicer
 * Thomas Willson (1860–1915), inventor; designed and patented the first electric arc lamps

Medicine

 * Elizabeth Bagshaw (1881–1982), physician and birth control activist
 * John C Bell (1953– ), cancer researcher at the OHRI, developer of oncolytic viral therapies
 * David G. Benner, clinical psychologist and author
 * John Callaghan (1923–2004), cardiologist who pioneered open-heart surgery
 * Harold E. Johns (1915–1998), medical physicist, noted for his extensive contributions to the use of ionizing radiation to treat cancer
 * James Fraser Mustard (1927–2011), physician, scientist, and founding member of the McMaster University Faculty of Medicine
 * Sir William Osler (1849–1919), 1st Baronet, the "father of modern medicine" (Dundas)
 * David Sackett (1934–2015), founded the Department of Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster University
 * The Honourable William Winegard (1924–2019), educator, engineer, scientist and former Member of Parliament

Basketball

 * Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1998– ), NBA player for the Oklahoma City Thunder, selected by the Charlotte Hornets (1st round, 11th overall) in the 2018 NBA draft, before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers the same day; traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2019
 * Kia Nurse (1996– ), Phoenix Mercury and the Canadian national team
 * Shona Thorburn (1982– ), WNBA pro basketball player, currently playing for the Seattle Storm; attended Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton

Boxing

 * Jackie Callura (1914–1993), featherweight boxer, World Featherweight Champion of 1943
 * Jessica Rakoczy (1977– ), boxer, 2005 WBC Lightweight Champion

Darts

 * Al Bouchie (1972– ), darts player
 * Marco Gonthier (1974– ), darts player

Figure skating

 * Toller Cranston (1949–2015), figure skater who won the Olympic bronze medal in 1976
 * Bryce Davison (1986– ), figure skater, competed in the pairs event with Jessica Dubé; member of the Hamilton Skating Club; Davison and Dube were Canadian champions three times;they were world bronze medallists in 2008; they finished 6th at the Olympics and World Championships in 2010, their last competitive season
 * Wendy Griner (born 1944), figure skater

Football

 * John Bonk (1950– ), four-time All-Star offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League, played from 1973 to 1985 for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
 * Less Browne (1959– ), CFL defensive back for Hamilton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and B.C.; holds the CFL and all-pro records for most interceptions in a career with 87; resides in Hamilton
 * Bob Cameron (1954– ), played 23 seasons (1980–2002) with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League
 * Steve Christie (1967– ), ex-placekicker in the NFL; holds a Super Bowl record for longest field goal kicked, at 54 yards
 * Tommy Joe Coffey, Canadian Football League receiver who played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats; currently resides in Burlington
 * Ben D'Aguilar (1989– ), former professional Canadian Football League defensive lineman for the Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats
 * Peter Dalla Riva (1946– ), former professional Canadian football player with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League at the tight end and wide receiver positions; three-time CFL Allstar
 * Bernie Faloney (1932–1999), star quarterback football player in the United States and Canada
 * Rudy Florio (1950– ), Canadian football player
 * Corey Grant (1976– ), former wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (Stoney Creek)
 * Russ Jackson (1936– ), Canadian football quarterback, all-time pass leading Canadian quarterback, three Grey Cups with the Ottawa Rough Riders
 * Larry Jusdanis (1970– ), Canadian football quarterback
 * Joe Krol (1919–2008 ), Canadian football quarterback (1932–53), Lou Marsh Trophy winner as Canada's top athlete in 1946
 * Ron Lancaster (1938–2008), former football player, coach and general manager in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and sports announcer for CBC Television
 * Jesse Lumsden (1982– ), former running back with Hamilton, Edmonton, and Calgary of the Canadian Football League and McMaster University alumnus
 * Paul Masotti (1965– ), former wide receiver for Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League
 * Spencer Moore (1990– ), fullback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League; won the 47th Vanier Cup with the McMaster Marauders and the 101st Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders
 * Mike Morreale (1971– ), award-winning receiver in the Canadian Football League
 * Rocco Romano, CFL's DeMarco-Becket Memorial Trophy winner in 1994 and 1996 for the Calgary Stampeders, awarded originally to the player selected as the outstanding lineman in the West Division; inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2007
 * Ralph Sazio, player, coach, GM and president of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats; won four Eastern finals and three Grey Cups as coach from 1963 to 1967
 * Vince Scott (1925–1992), played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats; later a Hamilton city councillor
 * Jim Young (1943– ), former pro American football and Canadian football player

Golf

 * Bobbi Lancaster, trans woman who reached notoriety playing in the LPGA Qualifying Tournament in 2013

Ice hockey

 * Dave Andreychuk (1963– ), 2004 Stanley Cup champion; holds the NHL record for most career power-play goals (274)
 * Syl Apps (1915–1998), Toronto Maple Leafs captain who led the Leafs to three Stanley Cups; 1936-37 Calder trophy winner (top NHL rookie); 1941-42 Lady Byng Trophy winner; McMaster University Alumni (Paris, Ontario)
 * Paul Beraldo (1967– ), retired hockey centre
 * Allan Bester (1964– ), retired NHL hockey goalie, Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Andy Brown (1944– ), credited with being the last pro goaltender to play barefaced; last played NHL hockey for the Pittsburgh Penguins
 * David Brown (1985– ), Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey goalie; named team MVP in 2006; named (CCHA); Central Collegiate Hockey Association's Player-of-the-week three times in 2007; favorite to win the 2007 Hobey Baker Award, which is awarded to the top collegiate player in the United States; a Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick in 2004
 * Frank Caprice (1962– ), retired NHL hockey goalie, six seasons with Vancouver Canucks (1982–88)
 * Ben Chiarot (1991– ), defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL
 * Joe Cirella (1963– ), retired NHL defenseman, 821 games played, No. 5 pick overall in 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Rockies
 * Sebastian Cossa (2002– ), ice hockey goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings
 * Dave Dryden (1941– ), retired NHL hockey goalie, 201 NHL games for Buffalo, Edmonton, Chicago and NY Rangers; created (and was the first goaltender to employ) the modern-day goaltending mask consisting of a fiberglass mask with a cage
 * Ken Dryden (1947– ), retired NHL hockey goalie, elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983
 * Blake Dunlop (1953– ), retired NHL hockey player, winner of the 1980–81 Bill Masterton trophy
 * Cecil "Babe" Dye (1898–1962), NHL hockey player, its top goal scorer of the 1920s; inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1970; nicknamed "Babe" because he was considered to be 'the Babe Ruth of hockey'
 * Don Edwards (1955– ), retired NHL hockey goalie, winner of the Vezina trophy in 1979–80
 * Ryan Ellis (1991– ), defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL
 * Nelson Emerson (1967– ), retired NHL hockey player
 * Ray Emery (1982–2018), NHL hockey goalie
 * Laura Fortino (born 1991), ice hockey player
 * Tyrone Garner (1978– ), played for Calgary Flames as goaltender (born in Stoney Creek)
 * Ben Harpur (born 1995), NHL player for the New York Rangers
 * Todd Harvey (1975– ), NHL hockey player
 * Red Horner (1909–2005), NHL hockey defenseman; helped Toronto Maple Leafs win their first Stanley Cup in 1932
 * Tim Horton (1930–1974), NHL hockey defenseman; opened his first Tim Hortons Donut Shop in Hamilton in 1964
 * Harry Howell (1932–2019), NHL hockey defenseman, winner of the 1966–67 James Norris Trophy
 * Willie Huber (1958– ), retired NHL hockey defenseman; born in (Germany) and grew up in Hamilton
 * Dick Irvin Sr. (1892–1957), NHL hockey player, former head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens
 * Mark Jankowski (born 1994), ice hockey centre
 * Al Jensen (1958– ), retired NHL hockey goalie, winner of the 1983–84 William Jennings trophy
 * Derek King (1967– ), retired NHL hockey player
 * Jamie Macoun (1961– ), retired NHL hockey defenseman who played 1,128 NHL games
 * Adam Mair (1979– ), NHL hockey player
 * Brian McGrattan (1981– ), NHL hockey player for the Phoenix Coyotes; NHL enforcer
 * Marty McSorley (1963– ), retired NHL hockey player infamous for his assault of Donald Brashear in a game on 21 February 2001
 * Ron Murphy (1933– ), retired NHL player who played in 889 games
 * Ric Nattress (1962– ), retired NHL hockey defenseman
 * Darnell Nurse (1995– ), current NHL player with the Edmonton Oilers; first round draft pick for the Edmonton Oilers; gold medal winner at the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship
 * Murray Oliver (1937– ), retired NHL hockey player, played in 1,127 NHL games
 * George Owen (1901–1986), retired NHL hockey defenceman for the Boston Bruins; served as the Bruins captain in the 1931–32 season; first player credited with wearing a helmet in his rookie season in 1928
 * Keith Primeau (1971– ), retired NHL hockey player; born in Toronto and grew up in Hamilton
 * Pat Quinn (1943–2014), retired NHL hockey player, former head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and the Philadelphia Flyers
 * Leo Reise Jr. (1922– ), retired NHL hockey defenseman; 494 games played in the 1940s and 1950s for Detroit, Chicago and NY Rangers
 * Zac Rinaldo (1990– ), ice hockey player for the Nashville Predators
 * Rick Smith (1948– ), retired NHL hockey defenseman; 687 games played; No. 7 pick in 1966 NHL Entry draft by the Boston Bruins
 * Steve Staios (1973– ), Retired NHL hockey defenseman, Current GM of the Hamilton Bulldogs
 * Danny Syvret (1985– ), NHL hockey defenseman who spent his junior career with the London Knights of the OHL, eventually being named team captain; in his final year of junior hockey, he was captain of a powerhouse team that broke numerous junior hockey records and won the 2005 Memorial Cup (Millgrove)
 * John Tonelli (1957– ), retired NHL hockey player; 1984 Canada Cup MVP
 * Arber Xhekaj (2001– ), NHL player for the Montreal Canadiens

Running

 * Robert Kerr (1882–1963), Irish-Canadian sprinter; won the gold medal in the 200 metres and the bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 1908 Summer Olympics
 * Ray Lewis (1910–2003), track & field, first Canadian-born black Olympic medalist
 * William Sherring (1878–1964), athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1906 Summer Olympics

Soccer

 * Valerio Alesi (1966– ), first Canadian-born player in Serie A Soccer
 * Bob Bearpark (1943–1996), soccer head coach
 * Ian Bennett (1985– ), soccer player who currently plays for the Milwaukee Wave of the Major Indoor Soccer League
 * Nick Bontis (1969– ), soccer player and coach elected President of Canada Soccer in November 2020
 * Milan Borjan (1987– ), goalkeeper (Red Star Belgrade, Canadian national soccer team), born in Yugoslavia and raised in Hamilton
 * Alex Bunbury (1967– ), played four seasons with the Hamilton Steelers (CSL) 1987–90; voted Best Foreign Player in the Portuguese first division club Maritimo in the 1994–95 season, where he scored 12-goals; a Canadian Soccer Hall-of-Fame inductee in 2006; his son is fellow Hamiltonian soccer star Teal Bunbury
 * Teal Bunbury (1990– ), played for the Canadian U17 and U20 teams, as well as the US's U23 team, and national squad; has played professionally for the Sporting Kansas City since 2010; his father is fellow Hamiltonian soccer star Alex Bunbury
 * Jamie Dodds (1981– ), soccer player who played for the Toronto Lynx in the USL First Division
 * Rhian Dodds (1979– ), midfielder for Kilmarnock F.C. (Scottish soccer)
 * Milan Kojic (1976– ), soccer player who currently plays for the F.K. Haugesund in Adeccoligaen
 * Robert McDonald (1902–1956), soccer player from the 1920s and 1930s who spent a decade playing for famous Scottish football club Rangers
 * John McGrane, played nine North American Soccer League seasons and 17 times for the Canadian national soccer team in 'A' internationals; played in the Montreal Olympics; in 2008 he was inducted into Canada's Soccer Hall of Fame
 * Jimmy Nicholl (1956– ), Northern Irish football player, 73 International caps
 * Ryan Raposo (1999– ), forward for Vancouver Whitecaps FC
 * Greg Sutton (1981– ), Canadian International Soccer goalkeeper (Toronto FC)
 * Melissa Tancredi (1977– ), Canadian soccer forward who currently plays for Dalsjöfors GoIF and Canada's National Women's team; won an Olympic bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics

Thoroughbred horse racing
Hamilton is the birthplace of three jockeys in Thoroughbred horse racing whose success led to them being inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame:
 * Jeffrey Fell
 * Chris Rogers
 * Don Seymour

Wrestling

 * Johnny K-9 (Ion William Croitoru) (1963–2017), four years in the WWF, including a match against Hulk Hogan
 * Billy Red Lyons, ex-pro wrestler and TV announcer for Maple Leaf Wrestling
 * Angelo Mosca (1938– ), Canadian Football League player between 1958 and 1969 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, better known for his pro wrestling career
 * Ethan Page (1989– ) born Julian Micevski, born and raised in Stoney Creek; currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand.
 * Johnny Powers (1943– ), ex-pro wrestler, two-time NWF World champion (1970, 1973)
 * "Big John" Quinn (1944– ), retired professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions including NWA All-Star Wrestling, Pacific Northwest Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling during the 1960s and early 1970s; cousin of former NHL coach and Hamiltonian Pat Quinn
 * Dewey Robertson (1939–2007), "The Missing Link," ex-pro wrestler
 * George Scott (1929–2014), professional wrestler, brother and tag partner of Sandy Scott
 * Sandy Scott (1934–2010), former professional wrestler, brother and tag partner of George Scott
 * Iron Mike Sharpe Jr. (1951–2016), ex-pro wrestler, self-proclaimed "Canada's Greatest Athlete"
 * Tonya Verbeek (1977– ), first Canadian woman to medal at the Olympics in wrestling, the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in women's wrestling in the 55 kg category; at the 2008 Summer Olympics, she won Canada's third medal overall, and the third Canadian medal ever in women's wrestling, a bronze in the 55kg class (Grimsby ON)

Other sports

 * Doug Didero (1960– ), race car driver
 * Eleanor Harvey (1995– ), foil fencer, won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games, represented Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics
 * Melanie Hawtin (1988– ), wheelchair racer and wheelchair basketball player
 * Ray Lazdins (1964– ), retired discus thrower, represented Canada twice at the Summer Olympics
 * Irene MacDonald (1931–2002), Canada's champion diver from 1951 to 1961; won medals at the 1954 and 1958 Commonwealth Games and in 1956 she won Canada's first Olympic diving medal, a bronze
 * Joanne Malar (1975– ), former freestyle and medley swimmer; competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics
 * Luke McGrath (1993– ), rugby union scrum-half for Leinster Rugby and the Ireland national rugby union team
 * Pat Messner (1954– ), water skier, winner of the 1972 Summer Olympics bronze
 * Frank O'Rourke (1894–1986), ex-pro baseball player and long time New York Yankees scout
 * Chrissy Redden (1966– ), cross-country mountain biker
 * Linda Thom (1943– ), women's shooting (25m pistol) gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Miscellaneous

 * Alexander Aitchison, first full-time fire chief of Hamilton
 * Étienne Brûlé (1592–1633), probably the first European to visit what is now Hamilton in 1616
 * Marion Stinson Crerar (1859–1919), clubwoman and WWI worker
 * Regan Russell (1955–2020), animal rights activist
 * Tuhbenahneequay (Sarah Henry) (1780–1873), mother of missionary Peter Jones
 * Eileen Vollick (1908–1968), aviator; first Canadian woman to earn a private pilot's certificate