These famous folks chose to live here

Happy Canada Day! (Almost. And Happy Dominion Day to your granny.) From sea to shining sea, this is a good time to be Canadian. So let’s honour some celebrities who decided to stay right here and resist the call to leave for fame and fortune. All those go

DRAKE

Drake’s place on Toronto’s Bridle Path a 35,000-squarefoot manse nicknamed The Embassy, may be a tad over the top, but a guy who could live anywhere in the world has chosen to build his dream house in the Six. (He’s a neighbour of Lightfoot’s now, by the way.) Drake constantly boosts Toronto through his music. Happy to have you here, sir.

RACHEL MCADAMS

Maybe every actor lives mostly out of a suitcase, but McAdams lives part of the year in Toronto and is loyal to this town. She has two hit films this year — Game Night and Disobedience — but is keeping an even lower profile than usual, no doubt thanks to that new baby boy.

SHAWN MENDES

The teen singer/songwriter superstar just got his own place in Toronto — but as he confessed to James Corden (on Carpool Karaoke), his mom still comes by to do his laundry for him. Awwww! In case you missed it, Time magazine named the Pickering, Ont., native to its 2018 annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

DEADMAU5

Famed DJ and producer Deadmau5 (a.k.a. Joel Zimmerman) has a mansion on many acres in Campbellville, Ont., about an hour’s drive outside Toronto. What an excellent spot to think about music! That location gives him the best of city and country, if you ask me. But you didn’t.

MARTIN SHORT

Canada’s beloved comic spends his summers in Muskoka and has done so for many years. Short’s greatest gift to humour is his ability to “go Hollywood” even as he simultaneously keeps the whole thing at arm’s length — it’s so quintessentially Canadian! For his similar summer stay-put-spirit we also hereby acknowledge Jim Carrey. And by the way, doesn’t Eugene Levy live here almost year-round? Funny people are so smart.

GORDON LIGHTFOOT Canada’s famed troubadour is one of the biggest True North superstars to just stay put in his beloved country. Lightfoot has perfected the art of hiding in plain sight, moving freely through the land where he is revered, but where his space is respected. While such peers as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell increasingly become caricatures of themselves, Lightfoot remains here among us.