The Hon. Lois Mitchell is a career businesswoman and a proud, longstanding member of Canada’s dedicated corps of community volunteers. She is currently the President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

She served as the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta from June 12, 2015 until she completed her five-year term on August 26, 2020. During her tenure in office, she chose to make history education a priority and became founding patron of the History and Heroes Foundation, of which she is now the Chair.

The Hon. Lois Mitchell is currently Co-Chair of the Global Business Forum, Co-Chair of Ignite Calgary and Chair of BIRS (Banff International Research Station). She is also a board member of the Canadian Paralympic Foundation. She recently concluded her term as a Director for the Football Canada Board (June 2023).

Prior to becoming Lieutenant Governor, she spent many years working as an entrepreneur, providing leadership and sales training and served as senior partner for a business development organization. Her résumé as a community volunteer includes service in a wide range of areas, including sport, education, the arts, national unity and support for Canada’s men and women in uniform. She is a past Board Chair of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, past Board Chair of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and a past Board Director for UBS Bank (Canada) and Mitacs (a national nonprofit that partners with Canadian academia, private industry and government to operate research programs related to industrial and social innovation).

Her belief in the value of amateur sport, to both individuals and the community as a whole, prompted volunteer service as a Director of the Hockey Canada Foundation, Ambassador and Governor of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, Co-Chair of the Gold-Medal Plates dinner in support of aspiring Olympians and she was the Chair for the inaugural World Women’s Under-18 Hockey Championships. She has long been a proud supporter and advocate of the Special Olympics Canada Foundation.

Lois, along with her late husband Doug, have extended generous patronage over the years to a variety of programs and scholarships to support Canada’s athletes and to foster opportunities in amateur sport. The Doug and Lois Mitchell Trophies are presented annually to the top male and female Canadian university athletes as part of the U SPORTS Mitchell Family Athletic Awards which have been championed by the Mitchells since 1993. In 2020, they established the U SPORTS Alumni of the Year Awards to honour former university athletes who have become successful in their business careers and continue to give back to their communities and alma mater.

In 2015, Hon. Lois Mitchell received Honourary Doctor of Laws degrees from both the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary, became a Dame of Justice of the Order of St. John and received the Alberta Order of Excellence. In 2012 she was named a Member of the Order of Canada.