12 Richest Women in Canada (2024)

As one of the world’s economic powers, Canada has become one of the most fertile grounds for business and money-making. As an international hub of business, which has attracted so many businessmen from all over the world, Canada it would be fundamentally wrong if Canada did not seek to provide equal representation for all genders in the business world.

Concurrently, the Canadian government recently announced that it was starting a $10-million fund to help even more female entrepreneurs set up their businesses. With such an initiative we are about to see a list of Canadian women break the billion-dollar mark.

The top 10 richest women in Canada represent entrepreneurship, entertainment, fashion, and much more. These women serve as a source of inspiration to women everywhere, as evidence that women too can make, control, and invest money on the scale that can rival the men. These are the wealthiest Canadian women. 

Top 10 Richest Women in Canada

1. Sherry Brydson

Company: Thomson Reuters Corp.

Net Worth: $13. billion

Sherry Brydson is one of the richest, most powerful women in Canada. This woman is also a self-made billionaire. She is one of the board members of the Thomson Reuters empire, and she controls the investment firm Woodbridge. Her company has more than 45,000 people on its payroll worldwide. Sherry Brydson also controls other businesses including Viking Air and Vista Radio. 

2. Phyllis Lambert

Company: Seagram

Net Worth: $2 billion

Phyllis Lambert is a Canadian billionaire heiress and businesswoman. Phyllis was born in 1927 in Montreal, to Samuel and Saidye Bronfman, and so is a member of the Seagram empire.  Her brother is the famous billionaire Charles Bronfman. Phyllis Lambert is also a humanitarian; she has won several awards for her business acumen and philanthropy.

She is an architect in addition to her stake in the Seagram empire, and so her business includes liquor, oil and gas, real estate, and chemicals. While she is of Canadian nationality, she spends much of her time in Paris in her art and sculpture studio. She is evidence that women can have several ventures, and be successful in all of them.

3. Mirella Saputo

Company: Saputo, Inc.

Net Worth: $5 billion

Mirella Saputo is the wife of Lino Saputo, head of the Saputo family, which owns the huge cheese-making company Saputo, Inc. The company has revenues in excess of $11 billion per year and a net income of $731 million. The company employs more than 12,000 people. Mirella Saputo is part of a $5 billion fortune, and she is well known as a philanthropist.

4. Heather Reisman

Company: Indigo Books

Net Worth: CAD $2.93 billion

Heather Reisman is a billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist. She was born in Montreal and attended McGill University, where she studied social work. She has been in the e-publishing business for a long time; she founded the ebook store Kobo, although she no longer owns the company. However, today she is the owner of Indigo Books, the biggest ebook dealer in Canada, and one of the biggest ebook depositories in the world.

5. Susan Niczowski

Company: Summer Fresh

Net Worth: $2.9 billion

Susan Niczowski was born in Toronto, to a family of Macedonian descent. She is a microbiologist and billionaire business owner. She studied at the University of Toronto, where she got her degree in math and chemistry. Her first job in microbiology was at Shopsy’s food, a meat plant.

She then started out on her own using her microbiology skills to develop packaging that would keep vegetables and perishables fresh in the package, and so founded her company Summer Fresh, which deals on foods that are sold fresh, and that can be eaten on the go. The company now brings in nearly $100 million per year and has been renamed Summer Fresh Salads, Inc. recently.

6. Rita Bronfman

Company: Seagram

Net Worth: $2.1 billion

Another member of the Brofman family makes the list; her name is Rita Bronfman. She is reputed to be worth around $2.1 billion and holds a serious stake in the Seagram Empire. Rita and her husband, Charles, have dual American and Canadian citizenship and are serious business people.

Rita and Charles, due to their part-ownership of Seagram, a liquor and beverage company, One can say the two are in the liquor and beverage business. Also, they are major charitable donors; they make big charitable donations in Canada, the U.S., and Israel. 

7. Celine Dion

Company: Feeling, Inc.

Net Worth: CAD $800 million

Celine Dion is a world-famous singer and producer. She was born in Quebec, Canada, speaks fluent French and English, and is one of the biggest music stars of this generation. 

Celine Dion has been a big player in the music business since the 1980s. she has so many hit songs to her name, but what she will arguably be remembered most for is her ballad in the iconic movie Titanic. She has not stopped there; Celine Dion is also a businesswoman. She and her late husband, René, founded Feeling, Inc., a music company based in Quebec. She is also the owner of Le Mirage Golf Club.

8. Mandy Rennehan

Company: Freshco

Net Worth: $650 million

Mandy Rennehan was born in Nova Scotia, and her father was a lobster fisherman. Even though she and her family often faced poverty, as feeding six children on a fisherman’s pay was a huge task, Mandy gained something from the experience of growing up in the seasonal fishing industry. That something has helped build Freshco into a grocery and supermarket chain with 98 stores in their empire.

Mandy built this empire from scratch, store by store, and today is one of the most powerful and richest women in Canada.

9. Shania Twain

Company: Singer-songwriter

Net Worth: $400 million

Eileen Regina Edwards, better known by her stage name Shania Twain is an acclaimed singer who has sold over 100 million records, raking in a huge fortune in the process. Of course, she too struggled before finding fame and fortune. It took her some time to get her foot in the door. She signed to a major record label when she was young, but her first album was not a success financially.

But in 1995, she teamed up with producer Mutt Lange for a second album – one which would prove to be her breakthrough. To date, she has released four studio albums, the third of which is the best-selling record by a female artist ever.

10. Coco Rocha

Company: Model

Net Worth: $185 million

As we are talking about women, it would be unbelievable if we did not have a name from the fashion industry. Coco Rocha is that name. She is one of fashion’s most stunning discoveries in recent years. Coco Rocha first hit success after appearing on the cover of Vogue Italia in 2006. Subsequently, she founded designer Christian Lacroix’s Paris show.

She is also a model; she has worked with designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Flare, and Harper’s Bazaar, to name just a few. She has done marketing gigs for coca-cola, done a reality series, and even done health-related modeling work. Coco Rocha is the real deal.

11. Kim Cattrall

Business/ Company: Actress

Net Worth: $75 million

Kim Cattrall is a Canadian screen goddess best known for her role in Sex and the City. Kim Cattrall was actually born in the United Kingdom, but her family relocated to Vancouver Island when she was still a baby. She later moved to America as a teenager to pursue a career in Hollywood. 

Cattrall found minor success in the film industry during the late 1970s but blossomed in the 1980s. she sealed her status as a screen icon with her role in Star Trek VI as Lieutenant Valeris, and her place as in Hollywood fame with her performance in Sex and the City.

She has made a truckload of money and has received numerous awards, including a Golden Globe.

12. Nelly Furtado 

Company: Singer-songwriter

Net Worth: $35 million

Nelly Furtado was born in Nova Scotia, making her a Canadian by birth, but this start musician has become an international citizen; a multi-platinum selling artist, and a top-tier celebrity by her own right. She is certainly one of the biggest singer-songwriters of the 2000s and has earned her spot in popular culture and history.

Nelly Furtado was born to Portuguese parents, and quickly discovered her passion for music. Thanks to her incredible voice, she quickly went from a backup singer for a hip hop group to a top-selling music star. 

Related:

• 7 Richest Provinces in Canada
• Top 10 Richest Cities in Canada
• 10 Richest Families in Canada
• Top 10 Richest Neighbourhoods In Edmonton
• Top 10 Richest People In Calgary, Alberta

Conclusion:

The richest women in Canada would make women proud; they are capable and industrious women who have excelled in their various sectors in life. Due to their success, these women serve as inspiration to women everywhere; while some of them are second or third-generation business owners, some of these women have built their empires from scratch.