John Galt (2 May 1779 – 11 April 1839) was a Scottish novelist, entrepreneur, and political and social commentator. Galt has been called the first political novelist in the English language, due to being the first novelist to deal with issues of the Industrial Revolution.
Galt was the first superintendent of the Canada Company (1826–1829). The company was formed to populate a part of what is now Southern Ontario (then known as Upper Canada) in the first half of the 19th century; it was later called "the most important single attempt at settlement in Canadian history".
In 1829, Galt was recalled to Great Britain for mismanagement of the Canada Company (particularly incompetent bookkeeping), and was later jailed for failing to pay his son's tuition. Galt's Autobiography, published in London in 1833, includes a discussion of his life and work in Upper Canada.
He was the father of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt of Montreal, Quebec, one of the leading Fathers of Confederation from Lower Canada.
