Dorothea Crittenden (30 April 1915 – 6 December 2008) was a Canadian deputy minister for the Ministry of Community and Social Services from 1974 to 1978. With this position, Crittenden was the first female in Ontario to become a deputy minister. Before her deputy position, Crittenden was with the Department of Public Welfare where she helped with the creation of the General Welfare Assistance Act for Ontario and the Canada Assistance Plan between the 1950s and 1960s. After leaving the ministry, Crittenden was the first female to become chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission from 1978 to 1981. Between the 1980s and 1990s, Crittenden worked for the Ontario Nursing Home Complaints Committee as their chair and was a government consultant.