This is a list of notable people who are from Nova Scotia, Canada, or have spent a large part or formative part of their career in that province.

Pre-Confederation

• David H. Armstrong, United States Senator from Missouri, born in Nova Scotia^[1]
• Alexander Graham Bell
• Samuel Cunard
• Noel Doiron
• Charles Fenerty, inventor of wood pulp process for papermaking
• Rose Fortune
• Abraham Pineo Gesner, discovered kerosene oil
• Jerome of Sandy Cove
• Joseph Howe
• Gordon Benjamin Isnor
• William Paget^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}
• Angus MacAskill, suffered gigantism, stood 7'9"
• Joshua Slocum, first to sail solo around the world
• Richard John Uniacke
• William Valentine

Military figures

17th-18th century

• 
  Charles de Menou d'Aulnay - Acadian Civil War
• 
  Françoise-Marie Jacquelin - Civil War in Acadia
• 
  Baron de St. Castin - Castin's War
• 
  Father Sébastien Rale - Father Rale's War
• 
  Chief Jean-Baptiste Cope - Father Le Loutre's War
• 
  Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre- Father Le Loutre's War
• 
  Charles Lawrence - Father Le Loutre's War
• 
  Silvanus Cobb
• 
  Jonathan Eddy - American Revolution

See also:

• John Allan - American Revolution
• Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste - Queen Anne's War
• Joseph-Nicolas Gautier - Father Le Loutre's War
• John Gyles - King William's War
• John Handfield - Fort Vieux Logis
• Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour - Acadian Civil War
• Chief Madockawando - King William's War
• Father Pierre Maillard - Father Le Loutre's War
• Charles Morris - King George's War
• Pierre II Surette - French and Indian War

19th century

• 
  Provo Wallis - War of 1812
• 
  John Charles Beckwith - Battle of Waterloo
• 
  Edward Belcher by Stephen Pearce - Franklin's lost expedition
• 
  Nova Scotian Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet, of Kars by William Gush - Crimean War
• 
  Major Augustus F. Welsford - Crimean War
• 
  Captain William B.C.A. Parker - Crimean War
• 
  Nova Scotian Sir John Eardley Inglis by William Gush - Indian Mutiny
• 
  William Hall (VC) - Indian Mutiny
• 
  Lieutenant-Colonel James J. Bremner - North-West Rebellion

See also:

• George Augustus Westphal - War of 1812

Post-Confederation military figures

• 
  Harold Lothrop Borden - Second Boer War
• 
  Margaret Marjory Fraser - World War I
• 
  Walter Harris Callow -World War I, disabled veterans advocate
• 
  Philip Bent, VC - World War I
• 
  John Bernard Croak, VC - WWI
• 
  James Peter Robertson, VC - WWI
• 
  Mona Louise Parsons - World War II
• 
  Leonard W. Murray - World War II

Actors

• Elliot Page
• Chase Tang
• Page Fletcher

Architects

• Brian MacKay-Lyons

Artists

• Mark A. Brennan
• Alex Colville
• William E. deGarthe
• Maud Lewis
• Gilbert Stuart Newton
• Edith Smith
• Michael Ernest Sweet
• Christopher Webb

Cartoonists

• Hal Foster

Diplomats

• Audri Mukhopadhyay

Doctors

• Clement Ligoure, first Black physician in Nova Scotia

Filmmakers

• Mike Clattenburg
• Phil Comeau
• Paul Donovan
• Jason Eisener
• Thom Fitzgerald
• Andrew Hines
• Daniel MacIvor
• Noah Pink

Industry

• Ezra Churchill
• Cyrus S. Eaton
• Alfred Fuller, founder of the Fuller Brush Company
• Alexander Keith, brewer
• John W. Sobey

Inventors

• Walter Harris Callow, inventor of wheelchair accessible bus
• Charles Fenerty, inventor of wood pulp process for papermaking
• Abraham Pineo Gesner, inventor of kerosene

Media

• William Coates Borrett, founder of CHNS-FM, the province's first commercial radio station

Musicians

People

• Brian Ahern (producer)
• Carroll Baker (singer) Carroll Baker CM
• Gary Beals
• Buck 65
• George Canyon,born Fredrick George Lays
• Wilf Carter
• Classified
• Holly Cole
• J. P. Cormier
• Melanie Doane
• Denny Doherty
• Todd Fancey
• Leslie Feist
• J.D. Fortune
• Bruce Guthro
• Rebekah Higgs
• Ashley MacIsaac
• Natalie MacMaster
• Kevin MacMichael
• Rita MacNeil
• Matt Mays
• Sarah McLachlan
• Matt Minglewood
• Anne Murray
• Joel Plaskett
• Steve Poltz
• Heather Rankin
• Jimmy Rankin
• Stan Rogers, from Ontario but lived in and sang about Nova Scotia
• Gordie Sampson
• Tara Slone
• Laura Smith
• Hank Snow
• Scott Storch
• Portia White
• JRDN
• Jody Upshaw

Bands

• April Wine
• The Barra MacNeils
• The Rankin Family
• Rawlins Cross
• Sloan
• The Trews

Religion

• Henry Alline, the Apostle of Nova Scotia
• Moses E. Kiley, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee

Scientists

• Donald O. Hebb
• Abraham Pineo Gesner
• Thomas Mason
• Simon Newcomb
• Willard Boyle

Sports

Sports announcers

• Danny Gallivan
• Paul Hollingsworth

Adventurers

• Howard Blackburn
• Joshua Slocum

Baseball players

• Vince Horsman
• Fred Lake

Boat racers

• Angus Walters

Canoeists

• Richard Dalton
• Stephen Giles
• Michael Scarola

Kayakers

• Jillian D'Alessio
• Karen Furneaux
• Sue Holloway
• Anne Dodge

Bodybuilders

• Cindy Phillips

Boxers

• Chris Clarke
• Buddy Daye
• George Dixon
• Ray Downey
• Bryan Gibson
• Kirk Johnson
• Sam Langford
• Carroll Morgan
• Marty O'Donnell
• Randall Thompson

Curlers

Men’s Curling

• Shawn Adams
• Mark Dacey, from Saskatoon but curls out of the Mayflower Curling Club
• Andrew Gibson
• Rob Harris
• Bruce Lohnes

Women’s Curling

• Mary-Anne Arsenault
• Nancy Delahunt, a Montrealer who has lived in Halifax for several years
• Meredith Harrison
• Colleen Jones
• Kim Kelly
• Jill Mouzar

Equestrians

Harness racing

• Bill O'Donnell

Show jumping

• Ian Millar

Football players

NFL players

• Buck MacDonald
• Eddie Murray
• Tyrone Williams

CFL players

• Tyrone Williams

Marty Martinello born in Sydney, N.S. Played in CFL, won Grey Cup with Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Named to N.S. Ports Hall of Fame.

Rugby union players

• Morgan Williams

Soccer players

• Stephen Hart
• Ante Jazic
• Jacob Shaffelburg

Gymnasts

• Ellie Black

Ice hockey people

Administrators

• Frederick E. Betts, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
• Hanson Dowell, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association

Men

• Paul Andrea, 150 NHL games in the 1960s and 1970s
• Drake Batherson
• Dennis Bonvie
• Eric Boulton
• David Brine
• John Brophy
• Sidney Crosby
• Mal Davis
• Ryan Flinn
• Danny Gallivan
• William Hollett
• Don Koharski
• Craig MacDonald
• Lowell MacDonald
• Parker MacDonald
• Al MacInnis, Hall of Famer
• Nathan MacKinnon
• Cail MacLean
• Paul MacLean
• Al MacNeil
• Brad Marchand
• Mike McPhee
• Dean Melanson
• Glen Murray
• Pokey Reddick
• Bill Riley
• Jody Shelley
• James Sheppard
• Zach Sill
• Jon Sim
• Bobby Smith
• Colin White
• Matthew Highmore
• Ryan Graves

Women

• Jillian Saulnier
• Blayre Turnbull
• Carly Jackson

Sports journalists

• Alex J. Walling

Cross-country skiers

• Sue Holloway

Swimmers

• Nancy Garapick
• Sandy Goss

Track and field athletes

• Duncan Gillis
• Aileen Meagher

Professional wrestlers

• Rocky Johnson
• Great Antonio

Powerlifters

• John "Jackie" Barrett

Suffragettes

• 
  Anna Leonowens
• 
  Edith Archibald
• 
  Eliza Ritchie
• 
  Laura Borden - wife of Prime minister Robert Borden

Writers

• John Boileau (born in New Brunswick, but writing career in Nova Scotia)
• Ernest Buckler
• Lesley Choyce
• George Elliott Clarke
• Darren Greer
• Thomas Chandler Haliburton
• Wendy Lill
• Hugh MacLennan
• Alistair MacLeod (born in Saskatchewan, but lived a significant amount of time in, wrote about, and was buried in, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia)
• Leo McKay Jr.
• Adriana Porter
• Thomas Head Raddall
• Spider Robinson (1970s and '80s)
• Margaret Marshall Saunders
• John Stiles
• Michael Ernest Sweet
• Budge Wilson
• Maria Frances Ann Morris