Most Famous Canadian Athletes

Canada has produced 973 notable athletes throughout history, led by Wayne Gretzky. Rankings are drawn from a cross-verified academic dataset of 152,953 people.

Category All
Citizenship All
WG
Wayne Gretzky Canadian Hockey Born 1961
# 1,501
RP
Roddy Piper Canadian Wrestler 1954 – 2015
# 3,726
GH
Gordie Howe Canadian Hockey 1928 – 2016
# 3,974
JV
Jacques Villeneuve Canadian Driver Born 1971
# 5,709
BJ
Ben Johnson (sprinter) Canadian Athletic Born 1961
# 8,868
BO
Bobby Orr Canadian Hockey Born 1948
# 9,443
SC
Sidney Crosby Canadian Hockey Born 1987
# 9,604
DB
Donovan Bailey Canadian Sprint Born 1967
# 14,315
SY
Steve Yzerman Canadian Hockey Born 1965
# 15,966
JB
Jean Béliveau Canadian Hockey 1931 – 2014
# 18,496
PE
Phil Esposito Canadian Hockey Born 1942
# 19,199
MR
Milos Raonic Canadian Player Born 1990
# 20,456
SM
Stan Mikita Canadian Hockey 1940 – 2018
# 22,348
JP
Jacques Plante Canadian Hockey 1929 – 1986
# 24,299
RM
Robert Maillet Canadian Wrestler Born 1969
# 25,887
TH
Tim Horton Canadian Hockey 1930 – 1974
# 27,050
KB
Kurt Browning Canadian Sport Born 1966
# 29,437
HW
Hayley Wickenheiser Canadian Hockey Born 1978
# 30,015
RB
Ray Bourque Canadian Hockey Born 1960
# 30,327
CP
Chris Pronger Canadian Hockey Born 1974
# 30,654