Lois Elizabeth Mitchell (née Boulding; June 22, 1939) is a Canadian businesswoman and philanthropist who was the 18th

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the m ...

from 2015 to 2020. Her appointment as Lieutenant Governor was made by

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...

David Lloyd Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commiss ...

on the

Constitutional advice In constitutional law, advice is a formal and usually binding instruction given by one constitutional officer of state to another. Particularly in parliamentary systems of government, heads of state often act on the basis of advice issued by prime ...

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

Stephen Harper, effective June 12, 2015. A former teacher and founder of a consulting firm, Mitchell is also a longtime organizer of events and active volunteer in the Calgary community, along with her late husband, Doug Mitchell.

Career

Mitchell was born on June 22, 1939Lois & Doug Mitchell
/ref> and raised in Vancouver. She attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

and studied physical education, graduating around 1961. She later worked as a teacher in British Columbia for two years before moving to Calgary. She is the founder of and a senior partner at Rainmaker Global Business Development, a marketing and consulting firm based in Calgary and the president of Amherst Consultants. Considered one of the most prominent people in Calgary, she is also a member of the boards of directors of UBS Bank Canada,

Mitacs Mitacs is a nonprofit national research organization that, in partnerships with Canadian academia, private industry and government, operates research and training programs in fields related to industrial and social innovation. History Mitacs was ...

and Canada World Youth, the governor of the Canadian Women's Hockey Association, a co-founder of the Global Business Forum, and one of twelve founders of

Crime Stoppers Crime Stoppers or Crimestoppers is a community program that helps people to provide Anonymity, anonymous information about Crime, criminal activity. Often managed by non-profit groups or the police, it operates separately from the emergency tel ...

Calgary. She has also been a board member of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce (also a former chair), International Institute for Olympic, Paralympic and Sport Pedagogy, Special Olympic Foundation,

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The orchestra gives the majority of its performances in the Jack Singer Concert Hall at Arts Commons. It is also the resident orchestra for the Calgary Opera, ...

, and Hockey Canada Foundation. Mitchell also is the chair of the

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

n Research Centre at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and in 1997 was named an honorary consul of Colombia to Alberta by the Colombian ambassador to Canada. She and her husband, Doug, donated to and organized many hockey and sport-related events. The Doug and Lois Mitchell Outstanding Calgary Artist Award was established in 2012 from contributions from her and her husband. She established the

Hayley Wickenheiser Hayley Wickenheiser (born August 12, 1978) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, resident physician and assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was the first woman to play full-time professional men’s hockey in a positio ...

Thunderbird Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to: * Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture * Ford Thunderbird, a car Birds * Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds ...

Ice Hockey Endowment in 2007 to support the UBC Women's Ice Hockey team.

Lieutenant governor

On May 20, 2015, Mitchell was appointed by

David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...

on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to be

lieutenant governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the m ...

, replacing Donald Ethell. She was sworn in on June 12. As the viceregal representative in Alberta, she is styled "

Her Honour Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun she. Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music * H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer ** ''H.E.R.'' (album), 2017 * HIM (Finni ...

" while in office and has the style "

the Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

" for life.

Personal life

She was appointed to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 2012, when she also received the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

. In 1998, she won the YMCA Women of Distinction Award, and in 2008 was named Citizen of the Year by the City of Calgary. She was married to Douglas Mitchell, whom she met while at school in British Columbia, from 1961 until Doug's death in 2022. Doug was a lawyer, a

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

player in his youth, and later a commissioner of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. They had four children, two daughters and two sons. Her grandfather, Tom Mackie, served as the chief of the

Calgary Police Service Calgary Police Service (CPS) is the municipal police service of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Alberta and third largest municipal force in Canada behind the Toronto Police Service and the Mont ...

from 1909 to 1912. She is of Scottish heritage.Mr.& Mrs. Calgary:: inal EditionTeel, Gina. Calgary Herald algary, AltaAugust 13, 2005: E1 Front.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Lois Living people 1939 births Lieutenant Governors of Alberta Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence Members of the Order of Canada Businesspeople from Calgary Businesspeople from Vancouver Politicians from Calgary Politicians from Vancouver Canadian philanthropists University of British Columbia alumni Women in Alberta politics Canadian women viceroys Canadian people of Scottish descent 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians