Fernand Dorais (March 8, 1928 – January 16, 2003) was a Canadian writer, Jesuit priest and academic.

[1] A professor of French literature and translation at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario from 1969 to 1993, he was noted for his work as a key builder of Franco-Ontarian cultural identity, through both his academic research and his role in the development of many of the Franco-Ontarian community's contemporary cultural institutions.

[2] Born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Dorais was educated at the Université de Montréal, Columbia University and the Sorbonne.

[3] He also served as a mentor to the Coopérative des artistes du Nouvel-Ontario, a group of Laurentian University art students who would go on to play a transformative role in Franco-Ontarian culture in the 1970s through creative projects such as the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario theatre company, the La Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario art gallery, the La Nuit sur l'étang music festival and the progressive rock band CANO.

[4] Dorais published several works of academic literature during his lifetime, including Entre Montréal… et Sudbury : pré-textes pour une francophonie ontarienne and Témoins d'errances en Ontario français : réflexions venues de l'amer.