Our favorite Canadian celebs

By Molly McGonigle 5:32am PDT, Jun 30, 2020

Canada brings us lots of cool things like maple syrup, hockey and "Degrassi." But we also have Canada to thank for giving us a lot of our favorite stars! In honor of Canada Day on July 1, check out the most popular celebrities who hail from our neighbor to the north… starting with Shawn Mendes! Shawn is from Pickering, Ontario. The Canadian pop star rose to fame after posting song covers on the now-defunct social media video-sharing app Vine as a teen in 2013 and has since crafted an impressive career in music: At 18, his first studio album, "Handwritten," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making him the youngest artist since Justin Bieber to do it. And since 2019, he's been nominated for three Grammys. Shawn has always been proud to hail from the "True North Strong and Free"! In 2019, he even partnered with quintessential Canadian fast food chain Tim Hortons — it doesn't get more Canadian than that! Keep reading for more…

Shay Mitchell was born in Mississauga, Ontario, and relocated to West Vancouver, British Columbia, when she was 10. While the "Pretty Little Liars" alum now resides in Los Angeles, she frequently returns home to spend quality time with her family: In August 2019, the star documented her Vancouver "Shaycation" via Instagram. In October 2019, Shay welcomed daughter Atlas Noa with fellow Canadian and longtime boyfriend Matte Babel.

Ryan Gosling is from Cornwall, Ontario. But you wouldn't know it from his accent. "As a kid, I thought having a Canadian accent didn't sound tough," he told W magazine. "I thought guys should sound like Marlon Brando. So now I have a phony accent that I can't shake, so it's not phony anymore."

Drake is from Toronto, Ontario. Sure, the rapper is up there in the highest echelons of successful hip-hop artists now, but he used to be just a kid in Canada. Starring on "Degrassi: The Next Generation," his character was always caught up in one melodrama after the next. Who would've thought that a move to America would make Drake seem so much tougher?

Ryan Reynolds' hometown is Vancouver, British Columbia. Even though Ryan is a Hollywood bigshot now, he hasn't forgotten his Canadian roots or his love for their ladies. He was involved with fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette for almost five years, and he married Scarlett Johansson in Canada before he wed current wife Blake Lively in 2012. He's also the first Canadian ever to be named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, which happened in 2010.

Celine Dion's hometown is Charlemagne, Quebec. Celine might be the queen of Las Vegas thanks to her wildly successful residency in Sin City, but before she became the superstar that she is today, the French-Canadian diva was Canada's shining star. She's honoring her roots by raising her three sons as French speakers too.

Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara hails from Brampton, Ontario. The hitmaker released her debut single, "Here," in 2014; the track later took the No. 6 spot on Billboard's 25 best songs of 2015 year-end list. To date, Alessia has earned four Grammy nominations and in 2018 took home the award for best new artist. At Canada's 2020 Juno Awards, Alessia received more award nominations than any other artist including for artist of the year and album of the year.

Beloved comedic actor Eugene Levy is from Hamilton, Ontario. Before co-creating and starring on the acclaimed CBC Television series "Schitt's Creek" with son Dan, Eugene was best known for his role as Jim Levenstein's well-intentioned father in the "American Pie" film series. Eugene and wife Deborah have properties in Los Angeles, St. Augustine, Florida, and — of course — the country he grew up in: Canada!

Justin Bieber is from Stratford, Ontario. "Canada's the best country in the world," he once told Rolling Stone. Though the pop star is based in Los Angeles now, after marrying model Hailey Baldwin, he purchased a lakeside estate near his hometown and quarantined there with his wife in the spring of 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.

Alanis Morissette's hometown is Ottawa, Ontario. The music star dubbed the "Queen of Alt-Rock Angst" by Rolling Stone relocated to Los Angeles in 1995 to release her third studio album, "Jagged Little Pill." Ten years later in 2005, she became an American citizen but maintained her Canadian citizenship. The "You Oughta Know" singer was romantically involved with fellow Canadian star Ryan Reynolds, whom she met at Drew Barrymore's birthday party in 2002, until 2007. She's now married to American hip-hop artist Mario "Souleye" Treadway, with whom she has three children.

Michael Cera calls Brampton, Ontario, home. Before making it big in Hollywood in projects like "Arrested Development," the actor appeared on the Canadian series "I Was a Sixth Grade Alien" from 1999 to 2001. He's since teamed up with fellow Canadian actors in a couple of films: He appeared alongside Seth Rogen in 2007's "Superbad" and that same year played Ellen Page's love interest in "Juno." Michael will next voice Hank in the 2021 animated film "Blazing Samurai."

Mike Myers was born in Scarborough, Ontario. Since becoming a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" in 1989, the Canadian comic has starred in countless films including the "Wayne's World," "Austin Powers" and the "Shrek" franchises. Although he now resides in New York City with wife Kelly Tisdale, Mike continues to be a proud Canadian: In addition to being a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism, Mike also published a book titled "Canada" in 2016 that focuses on his relationship with his home country.

If you thought that Nashville was the only place that churned out country stars, think again: Shania Twain is from Windsor, Ontario. She's been so successful that the city where she grew up, Timmins, named a street after her, gave her a key to the city and built the Shania Twain Center in her honor (although it closed in 2013). Heck, in 2005, she was made an officer in the Order of Canada too.

Will Arnett was born in the 6ix — otherwise known as Toronto, Ontario. The Emmy-nominated star of projects including "BoJack Horseman," "Arrested Development," the "Lego" movie franchise and more moved to New York City in 1990 to study acting and is now a dual American-Canadian citizen. Will is still a huge fan of his hometown sports teams including the Maple Leafs, the Raptors and the Blue Jays!

Oh, Canada! Sandra Oh was born in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean, Ontario. The "Killing Eve" star began her career as a ballet dancer and studied drama at the National Theatre School in Montreal. She moved to Los Angeles in 1996, but it wasn't an easy transition. "Canada is much different than the United States," she told New America Media. "Because I never felt doors closed to me in Canada, as [in] who is the teller of the story. And I have felt it [in the U.S.]."

While Tim Riggins might be Dillion, Texas' reigning heartthrob, the actor who played him, Taylor Kitsch, hails from Kelowna, British Columbia. At a young age, his family relocated to Vancouver. Like any good Canadian, Taylor played ice hockey throughout his childhood and in 2002 moved to New York City to pursue a modeling and acting career. In 2006 — two years after moving to Los Angeles — he landed his breakout role on NBC's "Friday Night Lights."

Jason Priestley is from North Vancouver, British Columbia. While the beloved "Beverly Hills, 90210" star now resides in Los Angeles, his starring role on the television series "Private Eyes" has given him the opportunity to return to Canadian soil to film. "I just seem to split my time between Toronto and Los Angeles, which is fine, because I love this city," he told The Canadian Press in 2017.

Rachel McAdams hails from London, Ontario. Not only was Rachel once in a long-term relationship with fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling, but she also spends most of the year living in her hometown. She has neighborly love for the good old U.S. of A., though. "I never thought I'd say this, but I actually miss L.A. when I'm not there," she told Entertainment Weekly. Lucky for her, she can have the best of both worlds.

Nina Dobrev's hometown is Toronto, Ontario. She was one of a bunch of lucky stars who made it big in Canada on the teenage soap opera "Degrassi: The Next Generation" and eventually transitioned to Hollywood, where she made a name for herself on "The Vampire Diaries."

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was born in Mississauga, Ontario. The actress landed her breakout role in the Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher's Netflix coming-of-age comedy series "Never Have I Ever" in 2020. She stars as Devi Vishwakumar, a 15-year-old girl who's trying to navigate high school while coping with the sudden death of her father. "Devi's just a spunky, sassy and witty South Asian girl who's trying to figure out where she belongs in her high school, but also balancing her family dynamic and then her friends as well, trying to be there for everyone even though she might not go about it in the best way," Maitreyi told Variety. "She truly is like the anti-hero of 'Never Have I Ever.' You're rooting for her, but you're also like, 'Man, get it together."

Although Kiefer Sutherland was born in London to two Canadian actor parents, he was raised in Toronto, Ontario. He has an interesting political connection to Canada too: His maternal grandfather, Tommy Douglas — a Scottish-born Canadian politician and former premier of Saskatchewan — is widely credited with bringing universal health care to Canada.

Joshua Jackson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was raised in California until he was 8, then moved back to Canada for middle and high school. Though he split his time between homes in Los Angeles, Vancouver and Paris during his decade-long romance with actress Diane Kruger, he now appears to be using L.A. as his home base since welcoming a daughter with actress wife Jodie Turner-Smith in 2020.

Seth Rogen's hometown is Vancouver, British Columbia. At 16, he won the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest and shortly thereafter, his family relocated to Los Angeles so he could pursue his comedy career. Even though he's been an L.A. resident for years, we bet Canada is proud to call him one of its own.

Pamela Anderson's hometown is Ladysmith, British Columbia. She might have made her career strutting down the beaches of Malibu in a sexy red bathing suit as the star of "Baywatch," but in 2019, Pam moved back to Ladysmith part time to restore a five-acre property there.

Michael Buble's hometown is Burnaby, British Columbia. As a kid, Michael wanted to be a professional hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks. He might not have made it as an athlete, but his 75 million records sold, four Grammys, stunning model-actress wife Luisana Lopilato and three adorable children don't exactly make for a bad life.

Avril Lavigne is from Belleville, Ontario. She's been married to two big-name Canadian musicians: Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley from 2006 to 2009, and Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, whom she married on Canada Day in 2013 and split from in 2015.

Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut and in his early years also lived in Sydney and New York — but he was primarily raised in Toronto. He dreamed of being an Olympic hockey player until an injury sidelined his goalie career and he began to pursue acting. Even though Keanu has both U.S. and Canadian citizenship, he identifies as a Canadian. Patriotic, eh?

Cobie Smulders is from Vancouver, British Columbia. She got to channel her Canadian roots as Robin Scherbatsky on "How I Met Your Mother." She told Canadian outlet Macleans about her role, "They actually came to me and said, 'We think that it would be exotic.' I've never been considered exotic my entire life. The way that they pitched it, it was a way to create a commentary on the U.S., showing Canada had universal health care, gun control. And I got one speech: 'It's a terrible country; it's too bad that I can get in a huge accident and not have to pay for anything.'"

Michael J. Fox's hometown is Edmonton, Alberta. While he has dual citizenship and currently resides in New York City, the actor remains a beloved son in Canada. In 2010, he was given the honor of speaking at the Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Vancouver and made it clear how proud he was to be Canadian. In June that same year, the city of Burnaby, British Columbia, gave him the "Freedom of the City" honor.

Ellen Page was born in in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was discovered at 10 when a casting director came to her school and later found mainstream success in the crossover indie hit "Juno." Ellen, who came out as a lesbian in 2014, told Time magazine about what made her home country different. "The difference I feel in Canada is religion is way less intense," she said. "That's not to say there's not lots of religious people in Canada who observe whatever religion they choose to partake in, but the rhetoric influencing politicians, laws and human rights is just not the same. For me, that's what separates it."

Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario. Although he made his stand-up debut in Toronto, he built his acting career in the United States. Jim has been a U.S. citizen since 2004.

Anna Paquin is from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She lived in Canada until she was 7, moved to New Zealand before finishing high school in Los Angeles and then went to New York for one year of college. Now she's based in L.A. and wed to an Englishman, former "True Blood" co-star Stephen Moyer.

Carly Rae Jepsen hails from Mission, British Columbia. She later moved to Vancouver. In 2007, she came in third place on season 5 of "Canadian Idol" but she reached No. 1 with her hit song "Call Me Maybe" in 18 different countries in 2012.

Emmanuelle Chriqui is from Montreal, Quebec. You'd think from her glamorous role on "Entourage" that Emmanuelle had always lived in Hollywood, but actually, she grew up all over Canada. After Montreal, she moved to Toronto and then to Vancouver, where she got her first taste of TV roles including on the horror-fantasy series "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

Elisha Cuthbert is from Calgary, Alberta. They say you can take the girl out of Canada but you can't take the Canada out of the girl. After moving to Los Angeles, she dated a slew of professional hockey players, keeping ties to one of Canada's favorite pastimes. In 2013, she married Canadian hockey player Dion Phaneuf.

Evangeline Lilly is from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, but she's been based in Hawaii for years: She moved there while filming "Lost," fell for Hawaiian production assistant Norman Kali, with whom she has two kids, and made the island state her home.

Hayden Christensen's hometown is Vancouver, British Columbia. But in 2007, he bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario, and started fixing it up himself and learning about agriculture and now calls the Toronto area home.

Emily VanCamp's hometown is Port Perry, Ontario. She really embraced her culture growing up in Canada because she grew up speaking both French and English. She's also been lucky enough to film in Canada near her friends and family.

Scott Speedman is from Toronto, Ontario. Sure, he was born in England, but Scott spent most of his life growing up in Canada — and perfecting his acting craft at the University of Toronto. He migrated to New York to film "Felicity," and his acting career has kept him in the States ever since.

Neve Campbell is from Guelph, Ontario. Everything in Neve's life comes back to Canada. She got her first big break on the Canadian show "Catwalk." Her first husband, Jeff Colt, was from Canada. And she's really involved with the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada. It's nice to see her so invested in where she came from.

"Degrassi" alum Shenae Grimes is from Toronto, Ontario. She made her mark in America with roles on "90210" and in "Scream 4."

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