Famous Canadian Women's Famous Firsts

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The names appearing below are just a fraction of the Canadian women of accomplishment. Check out The Famous Canadian Women 's section ON THE JOB which contains mini profiles of 1100 Canadian Women of Achievement.

Aviators

Eileen Vollick. Born Wiarton Ontario 1908. Fascinated by aviation from childhood this daring young woman enrolled in a Hamilton, Ontario, flying school On March 31 1928 she passed the federal aviation test and become the first Canadian woman to earn a private pilot's certificate. Eileen soon moved to New Your, U.S.A. to make her life but she had opened the doors of aviation to Canadian women who would embrace flying careers as licensed pilots.

Molly Reilly. Born Lindsay, Ontario February 25, 1922. In 1939. Molly tried to sign up with the Royal Canadian Air Force, but they were not accepting women until 1941 when the Women’s’ Division was founded. She was one of the first recruits and she worked in the photographic area to get to fly. She learned to fly after the war and in 1959 became a full time charter pilot where she was the first woman in Canada be a captain. She became the first woman to be a corporate pilot in Canada when she was Chief Pilot for Canadian Utilities Company. She is a member of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.

Rosella Bjornson. Born Lethbridge, Alberta July 13, 1947. As a child she dreamed of being a pilot. At 17 she took her first lesson and completed her Private Pilot's License in just two months! She accumulated flying hours while she did her studies at the University of Calgary and established the first group of Girl Guide Air Rangers in Calgary. In 1973 she was hired as a First Officer with the Canadian airlines Transair. She was the first woman to be hired as a First officer in North America on scheduled jet equipment and the first woman to be hired by a commercial air line in Canada. She was also the first woman to be a member of the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association. During her second pregnancy in 1984 regulations were changed to allow a pilot who is pregnant to fly. In 1990 she became the firs woman to be promoted to Captain with a major Canadian air carrier. Throughout her career, she has made valuable and ongoing contributions to Canadian youth by participating in school career days. I She is a member of the Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.

Judy Camerson is the first woman pilot hired by Air Canada.

Deanne Brasseur and Jane Foster became the first women in the world certified to fly fighter aircraft, February 1989 at Cold Lake , Alberta. Source: The Kids Book of Canadian Firsts by Valerie Wyatt (Toronto : Kids Can Press, 2001)