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Create AccountMarie Gérin-Lajoie, feminist, pioneer social worker, founder of the Institut Notre-Dame du Bon-Conseil (born 9 June 1890 in Montréal, QC; died 7 January 1971 in Montréal).
The Canadian Federation of University Women was founded in 1919 as a Canadian counterpart to the International Federation of University Women, whose purpose was to emphasize women's role in social reconstruction and the prevention of war.
Rebecca (Becky) Buhay, political activist, educator (born 11 February 1896 in London, England; died 16 December 1953 in Toronto, ON).
Anna Brownell Jameson, née Murphy, writer, feminist, art historian (b at Dublin, Ire 17 May 1794; d at London, Eng 17 Mar 1860). Anna spent her early adulthood as a governess in England, in 1825 publishing A Lady's Diary
Annie Buller (married name Guralnick), political activist, union organizer (born 9 December 1895 in Ukraine; died 19 January 1973 in Toronto, ON).
Sandra Birdsell (née Sandra Bartlette), CM, Mennonite-Métis, short-story writer, novelist (born 22 April 1942 in Hamiota, MB). Birdsell’s fiction often investigates the lives of small-town characters, especially women. She has written novels, plays, radio dramas and scripts for television and film. Appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2010, Birdsell has been nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for English Language Fiction three times, and for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2001.
Madeleine Parent, union organizer and feminist (born 23 June 1918 in Montréal, QC; died 12 March 2012 in Montréal).
Anne-Marie Huguenin (née Gleason, pen name “Madeleine”), writer, journalist and editor (born 5 October 1875 in Rimouski, Québec; died 21 October 1943 in Montréal).
Clémence DesRochers. Monologuist, comedian, singer-songwriter, actress, broadcaster, artist, b Sherbrooke, Que, 23 Nov 1933; honorary doctorate (Sherbrooke) 1994.
Claire Bonenfant, CQ, bookseller, film director, feminist (born 27 June 1925 in Saint-Jean, Île d’Orléans, QC; died 29 September 1996).
Bella Hall Gauld, labour educator, political activist, pianist (born 31 December 1878 in Lindsay, ON; died 21 August 1961 in Montreal, QC).
Clémence DesRochers, actress, humorist, singer and author (b at Sherbrooke, Qué 24 Nov 1934). Daughter of the poet Alfred DESROCHERS, she is the most famous female monologist of her generation in Québec.
The Highway of Tears refers to a 724 km length of Yellowhead Highway 16 in British Columbia where many women (mostly Indigenous) have disappeared or been found murdered. The Highway of Tears is part of a larger, national crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In 2015, the federal government launched a national inquiry into these cases.
This article contains sensitive material that may not be suitable for all audiences.
At their root, Indigenous feminisms examine how gender and conceptions of gender influence the lives of Indigenous peoples, historically and today. Indigenous feminist approaches challenge stereotypes about Indigenous peoples, gender and sexuality, for instance, as they appear in politics, society and the media. Indigenous feminisms offer frameworks for learning about and understanding these, and other issues, regardless of one’s gender or ethnicity.
Pat Adachi was born and raised in Vancouver, the daughter of Japanese immigrants. She grew up in the heart of the city’s Little Tokyo neighbourhood, within walking distance of the local grounds where her father would take her on Sundays to watch her favourite baseball team, the Vancouver Asahi. Adachi and her family lived normal lives, until she and her community were uprooted in 1942, when the federal government ordered Japanese Canadians to internment camps in rural British Columbia (see Internment of Japanese Canadians).
In this interview, Adachi shares her story and relates the experiences of the 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were interned in Canada during the Second World War.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Marie Rollet, first Frenchwoman to settle in New France (born circa 1580 in Paris, France; died in May 1649 and buried 27 May 1649 in Quebec City, New France). She is recognized as the first female French farmer in New France, alongside her husband Louis Hébert.
In 1973 av Paul moved to Montréal, joining Les Grands Ballets Canadiens as principal dancer. Her beauty, artistic maturity and versatility won her a wide-ranging repertoire in both purely classical and neo-classical works and she created many roles in new ballets including several by Macdonald.
Claudette Bradshaw, community activist, politician (born 8 April 1949 in Moncton, NB). Claudette Bradshaw’s early career was spent in nonprofit social work. She founded Moncton Headstart, an early family intervention centre, and advocated for at-risk youth. She was Member of Parliament for Moncton–Riverview–Dieppe from 1997 to 2006 and served in several ministerial roles in the Liberal governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, including Minister of Labour and Minister of State (Human Resources Development). Since then, she has become a major advocate for mental health, literacy and affordable housing.
Rose Mamelak Johnstone, FRSC, biochemist (born 14 May 1928 in Lodz, Poland; died 3 July 2009 in Montreal, QC). Rose Johnstone is best known for her discovery of exosomes, a key development in the field of cell biology. These tiniest of structures originating in all cells of the human body are vehicles that transport proteins, lipids and RNA from one cell to another. A pioneer of women in science, Johnstone was the first woman to hold the Gilman Cheney Chair in Biochemistry and the first and only woman chair of the Department of Biochemistry in McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine.
Besha (Bessie) Starkman (Perri), organized crime boss (born 14 April 1889 or 21 June 1890 in Poland; died 13 August 1930 in Hamilton, ON). During the Prohibition era she became known as Canada’s first high-profile female crime boss. With her common-law spouse, mobster Rocco Perri, she ran a bootlegging and drug-smuggling enterprise. Starkman was gunned down in the garage of her home and her murderers were never caught. Her funeral was one of the largest ever seen in Hamilton.
