OUR FORMER ROYAL PATRON
The Canada Club was honoured to enjoy the support of our Former Royal Patron, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. An Honorary Member since 1951, H.R.H. The Prince Philip became the Club’s Patron in 1954 until his death in 2021. The Duke of Edinburgh addressed the Canada Club on several occasions including our Bicentennial Dinner at St James’s Palace in 2010. In 2014, the Canada Club celebrated the 60th Anniversary of our Former Royal Patron at a special reception held at Buckingham Palace.
CLUB RULES
- Respect the Club, its speakers and our welcoming hosts.
- Treat events as an opportunity to relax, rather than for business.
- The use of mobiles and cameras is not permitted.
- Ensure your guests behave appropriately – they remain your responsibility.
- Toasting speakers is customary and a longstanding tradition of the Club.
DRESS CODE
Canada Club events have a range of dress codes – from casual to black tie. We will make clear on the event page what the dress code is.
If you have any questions please:
OUR HERITAGE
Few clubs can claim, as the Canada Club can, to have existed for over 200 years as a purely social club bringing people together for wonderful dinners and to hear notable speakers. Founded in 1810 by fur traders who wintered in London to sell the furs trapped in the Canadian territories, the Canada Club is in fact older than Canada itself and is the oldest Canadian institution outside of Canada. Since its early beginnings, the Canada Club has hosted a combination of Great Dinners and Great Speeches, and through the years has been a London tradition for Canadians as well as their British and International friends.
With no fixed address, and no fixed calendar, The Canada Club generally hosts two events per year in London, both with a Canadian or Canada-linked speaker or theme. Events range from formal dinners to more laid back cultural events or ad hoc speakers. At Club dinners, members and their guests enjoy a multi-course meal and, afterwards, guest speakers address the Club. Topics range from international affairs and global public policy to science & innovation or arts & culture. Whatever the topic, speakers are inspirational leaders in the global community whom we think our Members would be very eager to meet. Dinners are private events and due to Canada Club tradition are off-the-record and are held under the Chatham House Rule.
Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of some of our past speakers and guests of honour:
- 1810 – founding of the Canada Club
- 1812 – Governor Gore of Upper Canada
- 1814 – HRH the Duke of Kent (Father of Queen Victoria)
- 1816 – Sir John Beverley Robinson
- 1831 – Lt General Sir James Kempt and Rear Admiral Sir C. Ogle
- 1832 – John Galt (author and head of the Canada Company)
- 1850 – Samual Cunard (President of the Cunard Line)
- 1861 – Sir Edmund W. Head (Governor General)
- 1863 – Sir John A. Macdonald (later Prime Minister)
- 1865 – Sir John A. Macdonald, Hon. D’Arcy McGee
- 1867 – Delegates of the British North American provinces
- 1868 – Hon Dr. Tupper (later Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Tupper, Prime Minister)
- 1875 – Lord Dufferin (Governor General)
- 1880 – Sir Alexander Galt (first High Commissioner for Canada)
- 1888 – Rt. Hon. Lord Stanley of Preston (Governor-General Designate)
- 1895 – Marquess of Lansdowne
- 1896 – Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain (Secretary of State for the Colonies)
- 1897 – Sir Wilfred Laurier, (Prime Minister)
- 1899 – Lord Strathcona
- 1902 – Duke of Argyll, Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfred Laurier
- 1904 – Hon. Earl Grey, (Governor General Designate), Earl of Minto (ex-Governor General)
- 1907 – Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfred Laurier
- 1908 – Charles Marconi, HRH Prince Alexander of Teck
- 1909 – Robert Falcon Scott (Polar explorer captain)
- 1912 – Rt. Hon. R.L. Borden (Prime Minister of Canada), Sir James Whitney (Premier of Ontario)
- 1913 – HRH the Duke of Connaught (Governor General)
- 1914 – Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Borden
- 1916 – Sir Edward Alderton (First General in charge of Canadian Forces), Duke of Devonshire (Governor General Designate)
- 1918 – Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Robert Borden
- 1919 – Sir Arthur Currie
- 1920 – HRH The Prince of Wales
- 1921 – Lord Byng of Vimy (Governor-General Designate)
- 1923 – EW Beatty (President of the CPR), Rt Hon Mackenzie King (Prime Minister of Canada)
- 1926 – Rt Hon Viscount Willingdon (Governor General Designate)
- 1927 – Rt Hon Stanley Baldwin
- 1928 – Hon. Howard Ferguson (Premier of Ontario), Rt Hon William Lyon Mackenzie King
- 1929 – Sir Winston Churchill
- 1930 – Rt Hon RB Bennett (Prime Minister of Canada)
- 1931 — Earl of Bessborough (Governor General Designate)
- 1946 – Viscount Alexander of Tunis (Governor General Designate)
- 1948 – HRH the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Phillip)
- 1950 – Lester B. Pearson (later Prime Minister)
- 1951 – Rt Hon Louis St. Laurent (Prime Minister of Canada)
- 1953 – Rt Hon Vincent Massey (Governor General)
- 1955 – Admiral Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Sir Antony Eden (Prime Minister of the UK)
- 1957 – Rt Hon John Diefenbaker (Prime Minister of Canada)
- 1959 – Rt Hon Cemeron Cobbold (Governor of the Bank of England)
- 1959 – Rt Hon Lord Parker of Waddington (Lord Chief Justice of Great Britain)
- 1960 – 150th Anniversary Dinner with HRH the Duke of Edinburgh
- 1961 – Rt Hon John Diefenbaker
- 1963 – Roy Thomson (Chairman of the Thomson Organisation)
- 1964 – NR Crump (Chairman of CP Railway)
- 1966 – Rt Hon Viscount Amory (Governor of the HBC)
- 1967 – JVN Duncan (Chairman of Rio Tinto Zinc)
- 1968 – Duke of Devonshire (Chairman, Royal Commonwealth Society), Earle McLaughlin (Chairman, Royal Bank of Canada)
- 1970 – Lester B. Pearson (former Prime Minister)
- 1971 – Robert Bourassa (Premier of Quebec), Jeremey Thorpe (Leader of the UK Liberals), HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
- 1972 – Keith Granville (Chairman B.O.A.C.)
- 1973 – Sir William Barnetson (Chairman, Reuters), Lord Porritt (former Governor General of New Zealand)
- 1975 – Hon. Paul Martin (High Commissioner for Canada)
- 1976 – Rt Hon. Edward Heath (former British Prime Minister), Gordon Richardson (Governor of the Bank of England)
- 1977 – RA Bandeen (President of CN Railways), Earl Mountbatten of Burma (Admiral of the Fleet)
- 1978 – Hon. Gerald Regan (Premier of Nova Scotia)
- 1979 – Claude Taylor (CEO of Air Canada)
- 1980 – HRH the Prince of Wales
- 1981 – Jean Chrétien (Justice Minister, later Prime Minister of Canada)
- 1984 – Victor Rice (Chairman, Massey Ferguson), Rt Hon Joe Clark (Foreign Minister, later Prime Minister of Canada)
- 1985 – Michael Heseltine (UK Minister of Defence)
- 1986- Robin Leigh-Pemberton (Governor Bank of England), Jean de Grandpré (Chairman of Bell Canada Enterprises)
- 1987 – Allan Taylor (Chairman of Royal Bank of Canada)
- 1988 – Sir Denis Rooke (Chairman of British Gas Plc)
- 1989 – Rt Hon. Brian Mulroney (Prime Minister of Canada)
- 1990 – Hon. Grant Devine (Premier of Saskatchewan)
- 1992 – Rt Hon. Brian Mulroney, John Crowe (Governor of the Bank of Canada)
- 1993 – Rt Hon. the Lord Wakeman (Lord Privy Seal)
- 1995 – Hon. Jean Charest (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, later Premier of Quebec)
- 1996 – Matthew Barrett (Chairman of the Bank of Montreal)
- 1998 – Rt Hon. Jean Chrétien (Prime Minister of Canada)
- 1999 – Gordon Thiessen (Governor of the Bank of Canada)
- 2000 – Lord Fellowes (Chairman Barclays Private Bank), HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Don Carty (CEO American Airlines)
- 2001 – Lord Brown of Madingly (Group CEO of BP)
- 2002 – Donald Johnson (Secretary General of the OECD)
- 2003 – Barbara Stymist (CEO Toronto Stock Exchange), Rt Hon. Jean Chrétien (Prime Minister of Canada), Philippe Kirsch (President, International Criminal Court)
- 2004 – Sir Christopher Ondaatje (author, philanthropist, explorer and businessman)
- 2005 – Peter Newman (Journalist)
- 2006 – Rt Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister of Canada)
- 2007 – Hugh Segal (Canadian Senator)
- 2009 – Michael Ignatieff (leader of the Liberal Party of Canada), Mike Lazaridis (President and co-CEO of Research in Motion)
- 2010 – Hon. Louise Arbour (President and CEO of International Crisis Group), HRH the Duke of Edinburgh
- 2018 – Margaret Atwood
- 2020 – Dr Jenny Sidey-Gibbons (Canadian Space Agency Astronaut)
- 2023 – Ballet Jazz de Montréal
- 2024 – Eliza Reid (First Lady of Iceland)
- 2024 – The National Ballet of Canada
The Canada Club was founded on a permanent basis at a meeting held at the Freemasons’ Tavern on the 20th October 1810 for those “who had resided in Canada for some time”. The names of the original 26 founding fur traders are given below. Except for a few short breaks, notably during the Second World War, Canada Club Dinners have taken place ever since.
NAMES OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS
- William Henderson
- William Parket
- Henry Usborne
- John Gillespie
- John Craigie
- Thomas Forsyth
- Isaac Todd
- Simon MacGillivray
- John Henry
- Alexander Gillespie
- Robert Gillespie
- John Blackwood Jr.
- Hart Logan
- William MacGillivray
- D. McTavish
- Edward Ellice
- Alexander Auldjo
- William Maitland
- Angus Shaw
- George Ratcliffe
- A.N. McLeod
- Adam Lymburner
- John Stewart
- N. Newberry
- Sir Alexander Mackenzie*
*The Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, who arguably made the most significant journey in the whole of the 18th century exploration by traversing the North American landmass for the first time, was one of the Founder Members of the Canada Club in 1810.
