Claire Elyse Brosseau

Claire Brosseau (born February 24, 1977) is Canadian actress, writer and stand-up comedian. She has appeared in Just For Laughs and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. She had parts in the films A Previous Engagement and Who is KK Downey? and a recurring role in the television series The Business. In 2025, she found herself at the centre of an ongoing national debate in Canada regarding assisted dying for applicants suffering from mental illness.

Early life and education Brosseau was born on February 24, 1977 in Montreal. Her mother is Mary Louise Kinahan. Claire grew up in Toronto and Montreal. She trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She performed stand-up comedy at The Great Canadian Laugh-Off, Just For Laughs, LA, Bridgetown, Seattle, Sudbury, Winnipeg, and Ventura comedy festivals, Comedy Central and The Comedy Channel. After graduating from The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City in 1999, Brosseau worked as a singer at Don't Tell Mama in Times Square. She appears in A Previous Engagement (2005), If I Were You (2012), starring Marcia Gay Harden, and Girl's Best Friend (2008) starring Janeane Garofalo.

In May 2010, Brosseau embarked on a year long break from dating. Her blog, The Manbbatical, was published on Toronto's NOW! magazine website. homelessness, crisis centres for women, and adoption seminars. Reporters and hosts regularly interview Claire about mental illness across all media platforms. When she could no longer perform because of memory loss, she sold her life story. Writer Tim McAuliffe based the television show Satisfaction on their friendship when they were roommates. In 2026, The Hill Times published her letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Brosseau is also the author of A Clichéd Work Of Staggering Mediocrity on Substack.

Health and assisted dying advocacy Brosseau was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at fourteen. In 2022, Brosseau wrote to the Senate of Canada advocating for legislative changes to protect the equal and constitutional rights of people who live with severe and persistent mental illness. In May 2026, she filed an emergency injunction with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeking an exemption from the exclusion of people with mental illness as their sole underlying condition from accessing MAID.

Filmography

Film

Television