Freemasonry in Canada
is a fraternal organisation that arose from the loose organization of medieval masons working in the medieval building industry.
History
Freemasonry in Canada traces its origins to the United Grand Lodge of England, the Grand Lodge of Scotland and the Grand Lodge of Ireland, as a result of Canada's history as a dominion within the British Empire. Freemasonry in the United States, including Prince Hall Freemasonry, also influenced the formation of Freemasonry in Canada. Erasmus James Philipps became a Freemason while working on a commission to resolve boundaries in New England and, in 1739, became provincial grand master for Nova Scotia; Philipps founded the first Masonic lodge in Canada at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The Castle Island Virtual Lodge No. 190 is an example of an internet lodge whereby meetings are conducted online rather than in person.Masonic Fathers of Confederation
At the time of confederation in 1867, eleven men of the 37 Fathers of Confederation were Freemasons.- Hewitt Bernard – Lawyer, Recording Secretary at the Charlottetown Conference
- Sir Alexander Campbell – Senator, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
- Frederick Carter – First Premier of Newfoundland
- Edward Barron Chandler – Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
- Alexander Tilloch Galt – Minister of Finance, Founder of the North Western Coal and Navigation Company and Lethbridge, AB
- John Hamilton Gray – Premier of New Brunswick
- Thomas Heath Haviland – Senator, Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island
- William Alexander Henry – Mayor of Halifax, Supreme Court Justice
- Sir John A. Macdonald – First Prime Minister
- William Henry Pope – Lawyer, Newspaper Editor, Colonial Secretary
- Samuel Leonard Tilley – Pharmacist, Premier of New Brunswick, Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, Originator of "Dominion" in Canada's name
Other Notable Canadian Masons
- Sir John Abbott – Prime Minister
- Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis – Governor General of Canada
- Sir Allan Bristol Aylesworth
- Harold Ballard – Businessman and Sportsman
- Richard Bedford Bennett – Prime Minister
- Sir Robert Laird Borden – Prime Minister
- Sir MacKenzie Bowell – Prime Minister
- Samuel Bronfman – Businessman and Philanthropist
- Captain Arthur Roy Brown
- Robert Butchart
- Henry Cockshutt – Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
- Francis Michael “King” Clancy
- Charles William "The Big Bomber" Conacher, Sr.
- Sir Arthur William Currie – Inspector-General of the Canadian Army and vice-chancellor of McGill University
- William Grenville "Bill" Davis
- John George Diefenbaker – Prime Minister
- John Diefenbaker
- Thomas C. Douglas – Premier of Saskatchewan, Leader of New Democratic Party, father of Universal Healthcare, voted as The Greatest Canadian
- George Alexander Drew – Premier of Ontario
- Alexander Roberts Dunn – Soldier, awarded the Victoria Cross
- Kenneth Jewell Colpoys Dunstan
- John David Eaton – Businessman, Member of the Eaton family
- Ezra Butler Eddy – Businessman, Mayor of Hull, Quebec, Member of Legislative Assembly of Quebec
- George Howard Ferguson – Premier of Ontario
- Donald Methuen Fleming – Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and Attorney General
- Sir Sandford Fleming – Engineer, Inventor, Founding member of the Royal Society of Canada, Founder of the Canadian Institute, Inventor of Worldwide Time Zones
- Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford
- Leslie Miscampbell Frost – Premier of Ontario
- Jake Gaudaur, Jr.
- Mitchell Frederick Hepburn – Youngest Premier of Ontario at age 37
- Tim Horton – Hockey Player, Co-founder of Tim Hortons
- Alexander Keith – Mayor of Halifax, President of Legislative Council of Nova Scotia, Founder of Alexander Keith's Brewery
- James Kirkpatrick Kerr – Lawyer, Senator, Speaker of the Senate
- Frederick Kingston – Bishop of Diocese of Algoma, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada
- Henry Asbjorn Larsen
- Atholl Layton
- Herbert Allan Borden Leal
- John Ross Matheson – Lawyer, Judge, MP for Leeds, Helped develop the maple leaf flag and the Order of Canada.
- Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May
- John Bayne Maclean – Publisher, Founder of Maclean's magazine, the Financial Post and the Maclean Publishing Company
- Lt. Col. John Keiller McKay
- Colonel Samuel McLaughlin – Businessman, Philanthropist, Founder of the McLaughlin Motor Car Company
- John Molson – Businessman, Founder of Molson Brewery
- Sir William Mulock – Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Postmaster General
- Dr. James Naismith – Inventor of Basketball
- Sir William Dillon Otter
- Most Rev. Derwyn Trevor Owen – Bishop of Niagara, Bishop of Toronto, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada
- Erasmus James Philipps
- Nathan Phillips – Mayor of Toronto
- The Hon. Dana H. Porter
- William "Billy" John Potts
- Dr. General George Ansel Sterling Ryerson
- Joseph Seagram – Founder of Seagram Distilleries
- Robert William Service – Writer, Author of Poems The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee
- Dr. Edward Earle Shouldice
- John Graves Simcoe – British Army general, Founder of York, Introduced English common law, First Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada
- Gordon Sinclair – Journalist, Writer, Commentator, Known for The Americans
- Joseph Roberts "Joey" Smallwood
- Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby – Governor General of Canada, Namesake for the Stanley Cup
- Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele
- Frederick Wellington "Cyclone" Taylor – Hockey Player
- Chief Tecumseh Brown-Eagle
- Roy Thomson of Fleet
- Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet – Newspaper Proprietor, Fleet Street Mogul, Namesake for Roy Thomson Hall, Appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
- Kivas Tully – Chief Provincial Architect for Ontario, Imperial Service Order Recipient
- Angus James Walters
- General James Wolfe
- Clarendon Worrell – Bishop of Nova Scotia, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada
- John MacGregor 1889 – 1952 Born in Scotland, lived in Powell River B.C. Fought in 2 world wars. Awarded Victoria Cross
Masonic buildings in Canada
- Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario, King Street West, Hamilton, Ontario
- Toronto, Ontario
- *Toronto Masonic Temple, 888 Yonge Street. No longer affiliated with Freemasonry
- *Masonic Hall, 2 Gloucester St, Toronto. Residential
- Masonic Lodge, Red River Road, Thunder Bay, ON
- Belrock Masonic Centre, 845 – Regent St, Sudbury, ON
- Masonic Temple
- Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple, Montreal, QC
- St. Mark's Masonic Lodge, Baddeck, NS
- Masonic Memorial Temple, 420 Corydon Avenue, Winnipeg, MB
- Freemason's Hall, Halifax, NS
- St. Mark's Lodge #118, 2612 – 14A St. SW, Calgary, AB
- Edmonton, Alberta:
- *
- *
- *
- *
Governing bodies
| Supreme Body | Jurisdiction | Established | HQ | Number of Lodges | Membership | Regularity |
| Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario | 1855 | Hamilton | 560 | 36,733 | UGLE | |
| Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons Province of Ontario and Jurisdiction | 1856 | 10 | UGLE | |||
| Grand Lodge of Manitoba | 1875 | Winnipeg | 54 | 1,971 | UGLE | |
| Grand Lodge of Newfoundland and Labrador | 1997 | St. John's | 30 | 1,533 | UGLE | |
| Grande Loge du Québec | 1869 | Montréal | 79 | 3,771 | UGLE | |
| Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia | 1866 | Halifax | 114 | 3,473 | UGLE | |
| Grand Lodge of New Brunswick | 1867 | Saint John | 51 | 2,568 | UGLE | |
| Grand Lodge of Prince Edward Island | 1875 | 15 | 626 | UGLE | ||
| Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan | 1906 | Regina | 58 | 2,365 | UGLE | |
| Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon | 1871 | Vancouver | 143 | 6,004 | UGLE | |
| Grand Lodge of Alberta | 1905 | Calgary | 119 | 6,242 | UGLE | |
| Grande Loge ANI du Canada | 2009 | Montreal | 3 | CLIPSAS | ||
| Fédération canadienne du Droit Humain | 8 | DH | ||||
| Grand Orient du Québec | 2012 | 1 | ||||
| Grande Loge Nationale du Canada | 1985 | 16 | CLIPSAS | |||
| Gran Logia de Lengua Española de Canada | 5 |
Membership numbers could be overstated, as membership in multiple lodges is actively encouraged.
There appears to be a number of other supreme bodies in the country, including Grand Orient de France Amerique du Nord, Obédience Mixte Nord-Américaine: George Washington Union, Grand Orient du Canada, Grande Loge Autonome du Québec, Grande Loge Mixte du Québec, but the information on them is not readily available.
The Grand Lodge of Scotland has a District Grand Lodge of Newfoundland and Labrador responsible for 11 lodges.
The Grand Lodge of Alberta also includes the Northwest Territories, particularly a lodge in Yellowknife, although there used to be a lodge in Inuvik in the 2000s.