#1Sports
Marielle Thompson
born 1992Canadian ski cross racer
21 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Famous people · North Vancouver, British Columbia
Of the 98 famous people born in North Vancouver, an unusual share are athletes
Marielle Thompson, the Canadian ski cross racer, is the most widely known, written about in 21 languages. 67 of them were born since 1970, more than in any other period. The first birth on record is Andy Paull’s, in 1892, and the last Chris Lee’s, in 2001. Only 4 of the 144 towns in British Columbia with anyone on record list more.
Born here
98
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Marielle Thompson
21 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1892
Andy Paull
Youngest
2001
Chris Lee
Most common field
Sports
59 people
What stands out about North Vancouver’s famous people
★ What stands out · Through the years
When North Vancouver’s famous people were born
The 1990s top the chart, with 25 births in the decade.
SportsFilm, TV & StagePolitics & LawWriting & ArtsNotableMusicScience & MedicineBusiness
Dots are people, stacked in the decade of their birth.
Known for
What North Vancouver is known for
The field furthest above the usual share is athletes, at 1.6 times.
For comparison, the usual town: how the people listed across Canadian towns split by field. Tap a field to list its people.
The best known
Born in North Vancouver
Marielle Thompson, Maëlle Ricker and Leah Cairns are written about in 21, 19 and 17 languages.
#1MR#2
#3Film, TV & Stage
Leah Cairns
born 1974Canadian actress
17 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Everyone
Everyone else born in North Vancouver
95 more names, born between 1892 and 2001.
Norm Proft
born 1966SportsWikipedia ↗
Jim Mullin
born 1968Vancouver broadcaster, Vancouver journalist, Canadian sports broadcaster, CKNW personality
Film, TV & StageWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The longest list nearby is North Vancouver’s, with 24.
Questions about famous people from North Vancouver
Who is the most famous person from North Vancouver?
The top name is Marielle Thompson (Canadian ski cross racer), going by Wikipedia coverage. Next come Maëlle Ricker and Leah Cairns.
How many famous people were born in North Vancouver?
Wikidata places 129 here in all, and those missing from the list lack a confirming article.
What is North Vancouver known for?
60% here, set against 38% for Canadian towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from North Vancouver?
Andy Paull, born in 1892. The youngest on the list was born in 2001.
Who counts as from North Vancouver?
What counts is a birth that Wikidata places inside North Vancouver’s municipal boundary (Statistics Canada’s 2021 census subdivision), its hospitals and districts too, and that the person’s English or French Wikipedia article repeats. Adult performers, people known chiefly for crimes and those who only lived here are not on the list. North Vancouver is also the name of another municipality in British Columbia: for everyone listed here, Wikipedia gives only “North Vancouver”, so the other place can’t be ruled out.
Why is someone missing?
The likeliest reasons: a birthplace recorded only as a province or as Canada, a hamlet or rural area with no page of its own, or an article that gives another place or none. Fixing Wikidata or Wikipedia brings them onto the list at the next refresh, as long as the two then agree.
Birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations and the count of Wikipedia and sister-site articles come from Wikidata (CC0). Each birthplace is checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article, or the French one where English says nothing or has no article; the articles are linked, never quoted. Wikidata’s Statistics Canada code, the place’s name or its point inside the 2021 census outline puts a birth in a town, and a birth given only as a split city stays on that city’s page. Fields are read from the description and occupations, and the list runs by number of articles. “The usual town” is everyone listed across Canadian towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (33)
- Marielle Thompson: Robert Thivierge, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Leah Cairns: vagueonthehow from Tadcaster, York, England, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Britt Janyk: Christian Jansky, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Colton Sissons: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Gregor Robertson: PearGurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Anna Rice: Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alannah Yip: CBC Sports, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Chris Winter: Trackinfo, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Steve Kariya: Karhuvaari14, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Doug Lynch: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Blake Hawksworth: bridgetds on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop), CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Craig Buntin: David W. Carmichael, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jen Soska: anna Hanks, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas Gardner: Ubcwwong, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Angus Crookshank: Jenn G from Seattle, WA, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Laurell: Agatefilm, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Nina Jobst-Smith: Jenn G from Seattle, WA, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Peter Kent: Jeff Hitchcock, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Cam Paddock: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Greg Westlake: Connormah, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Joan Phillip: BC NDP, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew Saxton: Raj Taneja from Bangkok, TH, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jane Munro: Dan Harasymchuk, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Janet McLachlan: Hawkeye7, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mike Bernier: Province of British Columbia, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tommy Grant: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Bob Prittie: House of Commons of Canada, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Dean Valli: Raj Taneja from Vancouver, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- E. J. Hughes: Courtesy of the Fraser MacPherson estate c/o Guy MacPherson, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Patricia Bezzoubenko: Miriam Jeske, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Andy Paull: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Kevin Williams: Alyssamariew, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Russell Thornton: Svetlana Ischenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).