Chris Lea is a politician and political activist in Canada. He was the leader of the Green Party of Canada from 1990 to 1996. He is, to date, the party's longest-serving leader.

Lea is notable for being the first openly gay political party leader in Canadian history. During the 1980s, he contributed articles to The Body Politics , a periodical focusing on gay issues.

Lea lives in Toronto, and has worked as an architect in the city. He is currently the Facility Manager of Hart House at the University of Toronto. In 2002, he began a side career as a stage performer in opera productions. In February 2005, he undertook his first on-stage solo in a performance of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville. He is also a board member of the Toronto Opera Repertoire , specializing in graphic design.

The Green Party of Canada was highly decentralized in the early 1990s, and the leadership position was in most respects a nominal title. Lea does not appear to have exercised any personal influence over party policy. After his resignation, the party leadership became more centralized.

As party leader, Lea campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1993 federal election, and received 623 votes in the Toronto riding of Trinity—Spadina for a sixth-place finish. He also campaigned for the Ontario legislature in the 1995 provincial election as a candidate of the Green Party of Ontario, receiving 241 votes in the Toronto riding of St. George—St. David . Lea has not sought federal or provincial office since this time, though he remains active within the Green Party. In 1998, he was chosen as the party's Chief Agent at a national conference.

He has long been an ally of Jim Harris in the Toronto Green community, and was among those endorsing Harris in his successful bid to renew his leadership of the party in 2004.