Fr. Alan Campeau has been named by Pope Francis as the new Bishop of Thunder Bay in northern Ontario.

Pope Francis announced today that the current pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Dryden, Ont., would assume the role that has been unfilled since Bishop Fred Colli retired on July 1, 2024.

Bishop-elect Campeau has for three decades had ties to the Thunder Bay Diocese, when his services were first offered to the diocese by his home Diocese of London in 1995. For the previous five years after his ordination in 1990 Campeau had served in parishes throughout the London Diocese.

Advertisement

Campeau entered London’s St. Peter’s Seminary in 1983 and was ordained to the diaconate in 1989. During those years he earned a BA in sociology and philosophy from King’s College at Western University before completing his Master of Divinity at St. Peter’s in 1990.

Advertisement

He’s had a number of pastoral roles in Thunder Bay over the past 30 years, taking him to parishes in Thunder Bay, Kenora, Sioux Narrows, Nestor Falls, Dryden, Ignace and Vermilion Bay, along with several missions, a number of them on First Nation reserves, including Grassy Narrows, White Dog and Eagle Lake First Nations.

Since 2008, Campeau has served as Dean for the Western Deanery and for many years was a member of the Presbyteral Council.

Advertisement

Campeau takes over following the resignation of Colli following 25 years as head of the diocese. Fr. Joseph Arockiam has been administrator in the interim.

The Diocese of Thunder Bay is made up of 43 parishes and missions, with 31 diocesan priests, five priests in consecrated life, 28 permanent deacons and a Catholic population of just under 74,000.