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The Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–1899 drew about 100,000 people from around the world to the Klondike Region of Yukon. Women played a vital role in the gold rush, even though they are estimated to have made up no more than 10 per cent of Yukon’s population at the height of the stampede. While still responsible for both paid and unpaid domestic labour, women took on a variety of other roles in the Klondike, including prospecting, entrepreneurship, entertainment, sex work and nursing.

Demasduit (also known as Demasduwit, Shendoreth, Waunathoake, and Mary March), creator of a Beothuk dictionary (born 1796; died 8 January 1820 at Bay of Exploits, Newfoundland). Demasduit was a Beothuk woman taken captive by English fishers in 1819. She was subsequently sent to an Anglican missionary where she created a list of Beothuk vocabulary. After her death, her remains and those of her husband were taken to Scotland. After much lobbying, the remains were returned to Newfoundland in 2020. The Government of Canada has recognized Demasduit as a Person of National Historic Significance.

Marie-Anne Lagimodière (née Gaboury), settler (born 2 August 1780 in Maskinongé, QC; died 14 December 1875 in St. Boniface, MB). Marie-Anne Lagimodière accompanied her fur-trader husband, Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière, to what is now Western Canada. She was one of the first women of European descent in the area and they became some of the first settlers in Red River. Marie-Anne Lagimodière was grandmother of Louis Riel, the Métis leader of the Red River Resistance.

Sylvia Estes Stark, pioneer (born 1839 in Clay County, Missouri, US; died 7 November 1944 in Fruitvale, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia). Born into enslavement, Sylvia Stark was one of more than 600 Black Americans who emigrated to British Columbia in 1858 at the invitation of Governor James Douglas. She was one of the original settlers on Salt Spring Island.

Chloe Cooley was one of hundreds of Black women enslaved in the French and British colonies that became Canada. Although little is known about Chloe Cooley, who was enslaved in Upper Canada, her struggles against her enslaver, Sergeant Adam Vrooman, precipitated the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada of 1793. The Act was the first legislation in the British colonies to restrict the slave trade. (See also Black Enslavement in Canada.)

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Mary Isabella Macleod, née Drever (b at Red R 11 Oct 1852; d at Calgary 15 Apr 1933).

Catharine Parr Traill, née Strickland, pioneer writer, botanist (born 9 January 1802 in London, England; died 29 August 1899 in Lakefield, ON). Catharine Parr Traill’s books are some of the earliest in the Canadian literary canon. Works such as The Backwoods of Canada: Being Letters from the Wife of an Emigrant Officer (1836) offer detailed descriptions of pioneer life in Canada, while Canadian Wildflowers (1868) and Studies of Plant Life in Canada (1885) showcase her skill as an amateur botanist.

Gloria Leon Baylis (née Clarke), registered nurse, civil rights activist, founder and owner of Baylis Medical Company (born 29 June 1929 in Barbados, died 12 April 2017 in Montreal, QC). Baylis, a British-trained Caribbean migrant nurse was the key witness in Her Majesty the Queen, Complainant v. Hilton of Canada Ltd., Accused. (See also Caribbean Canadians.) On 2 September 1964, one day following the introduction of the Act Respecting Discrimination in Employment in Quebec, Baylis inquired about a permanent part-time nursing position at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel (QEH), which was operated by Hilton of Canada. Baylis was told that the position had already been filled. With the support of the Negro Citizenship Association (NCA), Baylis filed a complaint. On 4 October 1965, the court found that Hilton of Canada had violated the Act. For 11 years, Hilton of Canada appealed the ruling. On 19 January 1977, the Court of Appeal of Quebec upheld the initial conviction, a fine of $25 and related costs. This case is significant because it is the first time in Canadian history that an institution had been found guilty of racial discrimination in employment. (See also Prejudice and Discrimination in Canada.)

Mary Ann Camberton Shadd Cary, educator, publisher, lawyer, abolitionist (born 9 October 1823 in Wilmington, Delaware; died 5 June 1893 in Washington, D.C.). Mary Ann Shadd became the first Black woman in North America to publish and edit a newspaper, the Provincial Freeman. As one of the first Black newspaperwomen in North America, Shadd promoted the abolition of slavery and the emigration of African Americans to Canada (see Black Canadians; Black Enslavement in Canada; Slavery Abolition Act, 1833). She also advocated on behalf of women’s rights (see Women’s Movements in Canada).