Events listed relate to Canadian women with a few extra items added to give the timeline perspective.
This timeline is not all inclusive.
 



LAST UPDATED January 2021

Copyright © 1998-2021  Dawn E. Monroe. All rights reserved 

 ISBN: 0-9736246-0-4
DATES

EVENTS
1940
 		 January 1940 - The 1st marriage between a British woman and a Canadian serviceman was celebrated at Farnborough Church in the Aldershot area of England. Some 48,000 such marriages  followed over the next 6 years. These marriages  formed part of a most unique  immigration movement in Canada. This generation of women, many with infants,  mostly British, these  war brides are an important part of Canadian history that has gone relatively unnoticed by historians and journalists. As the women approach their senior years, they are just beginning to tell their stories Source : Canadian War Brides online (accessed May 20, 2005)

April 25, 1940 - The Quebec government passes a law allowing women of the province the right to vote in provincial elections and the right to run for election in the provincial legislature (Statutes of Quebec 1940 c.7)
Winter 1940- the Preston Rivulettes and the Winnipeg Olympics both default in attending the Dominion Women's Hockey Championships. Neither team could raise the fund to attend the championships. The great depression and the effort for World War ll had taken the wind out of the sails of women's hockey. There would not be another national event in women's hockey until 1967 Source "Queens of the Ice Lanes: the Preston Rivulettes and women's hockey in Canada 1931-1940 " by Carly Adams in Sport History Review 2008 Vol. 39 pages 1-29.

1940 - The Canadian Press votes Dorothy Walton (1909-1981), who won the Toronto, Ontario & Canadian Badminton Championships, winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's Top Female Athlete of the Year

June 5, 1940 - The famous winning Edmonton Grads women's basketball team played its last regular game in Edmonton, Alberta

 1940 - Edra Ferguson (1907-2011) is the 1st woman judge to be named to the small Claims Court of Ontario when it is established

1940 - Canadian General Electric's Fred Moffatt invents the electric kettle Source : Canuck Chicks and Maple Leaf Mamas : women of the Great White North by Ann Douglas Toronto, McArthur and Co., 2002.  pg 17.

 1940 - The 1st female clerk is appointed to work for the Toronto Police Force Source: Herstory: Milestones in the History of the Toronto Police Service Women Online Accessed June 2011.

1940 - Ethel Stark (1916?-   ) founds the Montreal Women's Symphony.  Although denied even the most basic financial assistance, the Montreal Women's Symphony continued to perform until the late 1960s

1940 - Tillie Hosken of Toronto is the 1st woman to bowl a score of 450 in 5-pin bowling Source: 5-pin Bowling History online (accessed May4,  2005)

 1940 - Artist Emily Carr (1871-1945) publishes Klee Wyck which wins the Governor's General Award in literature

Births 1940:
1940 - Born Ann Conner Brimer (1940-1988) educator & promoter of books for children
1940 - Born Elizabeth Magdalena 'Lena' Pederson (1940-   ) 1st woman and the 1st Inuit woman to be elected to the Northwest Territories Council
1940 - Born Jackie Shane (1940-2019) soul singer who filled nightclubs in Toronto in 1960's
1940 - Born Rosemary Speirs (1940-  ) journalist
February 15, 1940 - Born Marilyn Edythe Broughton (1940-   ) educator musician & composer
February 25, 1940 - Born Monica Proiette (1940-1967) Machine Gun Molly
March 1940 - Born Mary Hart Gilliland (1940-2010) social activist
March 4, 1940 - Born Nellie J. Cournoyea (1940-   ), 1st aboriginal women to become Premier of a Canadian Territory
March 12, 1940 - Born Cathie Anne Oberholtz (!940-2012) anthropologist
April 6, 1940  - Born Maria Campbell (1940-   ) author of books and screenplays
April 23, 1940 - Born Diane Mary Loomer (1940-2012) Choirmaster, composer , Order of Canada recipient
August 24, 1940 - Born Francine Lalande (1940-2014) federal politician who championed assisted suicide
September 19, 1940 - Born Sylvia Tyson (1940 -   ) folk & country music singer
October 3, 1940 - Born Cynthia Jean Durance (1940-2005) Librarian who worked at the National Library of Canada

Deaths 1940:
1940 - Died Agnes Marion Miller Ayer (1890-1940) artist & social activist from Newfoundland
1940 - Died Lillian Freiman (1885-1940) 1st Canadian Jew to be awarded the Order of the British Empire.
1940 - Died Agnes Elizabeth Wetherald (1857-1940) freelance journalist.
January 3, 1940 - Died Jean Anne Pinkham (1849-1940) Social activist and volunteer in Saskatchewan and Alberta
March 18, 1940 - Died Maud Abbott (1869-1940) acclaimed medical doctor who specialized in the study of heart disease.
April 2, 1940 - Died Olive Gertrude Stewart (1890-1940) World War l Nursing Sister
May 14, 1940 - Died Emma Goldman (1869-1940) social activist & anarchist writer
June 1940 - Died Rosemonde Desjardins (1885-1940) Quebec singer
June 8, 1841 - Died Helen Richmond Young Reid (1869-1941) social activist
August 17, 1940 - Died Amanda Matilda Nilsson (1864-1940), pioneer in Canadian northwest
August 24, 1940 - Died Janet Chisholm Lee (1862-1940) worked with Adelaide Hoodless to establish Womens Institutes.
September 8, 1940 - Died Laura Bordon (1889-1940) wife of Prime Minister Robert Laird Bordon (1854-1937)
September 12, 1940 - Died Annie Mackinnon Fitch (1868-1940) noted mathematician
October 18, 1940 - Died Mary Henderson Flett Dickson (1857-1940) cultural activist in Toronto
December 18, 1940 - Died Margaret Eleanor Theodora Addison (1868-1940) dean of women Victoria College, University of Toronto
1941 1941 - The National Selective Service (NSS) is established and would regulate the recruitment of civilians, providing a way to fill the labour shortage by recruiting women to fill positions vacated by men who were serving overseas during World War ll. The NSS would breakdown stereotypes of workers allowing women both single and married to occupy jobs that were traditionally held by men

1941 - Legislation is changed to allow women to enlist in the Canadian Forces More than 45,000 women volunteer for full-time military service other than nursing. All three services establish women's divisions and the range of duties broadens during the war from traditional trades such as clerks, cooks, drivers, and telephone operators to include mechanics, parachute riggers, and heavy mobile equipment drivers.   Source: National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces, Fact sheet. Online (Accessed March 2014)

1941 - Married women form 10% of the Canadian work force but by 1941 they made up 23% of the Canadian work force. Source: Janet Ray, Towards Women’s Rights, Toronto, Grolier Ltd, 1981.  

April 29, 1941 - Premier Joseph-Adèlard Godbout established legislation to amend the Bar Act to allow women to be called to the Bar in the Province of Quebec. Source: Elizabeth Monk BCL '23 by Kathryn Lèger. Montreal Gazette, October 28, 2011. Accessed June 2013.

June 13, 1941 - Fern Blodgett  (1918-1991) became the 1st Canadian woman to serve in the Merchant Marines. Source: 100 more Canadian Heroines by Merna Forster (Dundurn Press, 2011)

May 24, 1932 - Federal legislation brings the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission into existence.

1941-1945 - During World War ll 4, 480 Nursing Sisters served

July 2, 1941- The Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC) is formed. 21,000 women served in the CWAC during World War ll.  Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia. Women in the Military. online

July 31, 1941 - The Royal Canadian Navy, Women's Division are formed. Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia. Women in the Military. online
August 13,1941 - The Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division (WD) is established. 17,000 women served in the WD

 Winter 1941 - The Ladies Ontario Hockey Association amalgamates with the Ontario Branch of the Women's Amateur Athletic Federation. It is  too expensive for women's hockey teams to raise funds for travel to games Source "Queens of the Ice Lanes: the Preston Rivulettes and women's hockey in Canada 1931-1940 " by Carly Adams, Sport History Review 2008 Vol. 39 pages 1-29.

1941 - Kirkland Lake, Ontario, miners are forbidden to march when on strike. 500 armed police are sent to stop miner's marches. The next day mothers, wives, and children, families of miners, march down the streets of the town. They won the right to collective bargaining

1941 - The Canadian Press votes Mary Rose Thacker (1922-1983), who has won the North American Figure Skating Championship for three years in a row, her second Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's Top Female Athlete of the Year

1941 - Jessie Gray (    -1978) is the 1st Canadian woman to become a "fellow" in the Royal College of Surgeons and the first woman member of the Central Surgical Society of North America.

1941 - Mary Margaret "Margery" Booker (1901-1955) becomes the 1st Canadian woman to be appointed as a School Inspector when appointed in Virden District, Manitoba. Source: Memorable Manitobans Profile by Gordon Goldsborough. Online (Accessed December 2011)

1941- Lucile Garner Grant (1910-2013) establishes the stewardess programme for Yukon Southern Air Transport (later Canadian Pacific Airlines) Source: “She was Canada’s firs airline stewardess” by Nora Ryell The Globe and Mail, March 29, 2013.

Births 1941:
1941 - Born Sandy Brown (1941-  ) Social activist and volunteer she was the first woman to be appointed to the Jewish Federation of Toronto.
1941 - Born Anne Golden (1941-  ) administrator and social activist for the homeless.
1941 - Born Julie Johnston (1941-   ) author award winning author
1941 - Born Mari-Lou MacDonald (1941-   ) actor in movies and TV also a stunt person.
1941 - Born Elizabeth "Betty" MacRae (1941-  ) Canada's first woman neurosurgeon
January 18, 1941 - Born Denise Bombardier (1941-    ) journalist, novelist & media personality with French language CBC, Montreal.
January 19, 1941 - Born Charlotte Vale-Allen (1941-   ) prolific author with works sell in some 20 countries.
January 25, 1941 - Born Sara Barber (1941-   ) medal winning swimmer.
February 10, 1941 - Born Susan Mann (1941-   ) academic & historian
February 20, 1941 - Born Buffy Sainte-Marie (1941-   ) folk singer and social activist for Native Peoples.
March 9, 1941 - Born Donna Arlene Chow (1941-   ) A research scientist with an interest to recognizing women's work in her field
April 1, 1941- Born Bonnie Sherr Klein (1941-   ) Quadriplegic social activist who does not give up.
April 10, 1941 - Born Janet "Jay" Barbara Acton (1941-2012) skier
April 14, 1941 - Born Nina Raginsky, (1941-   )  photographer
April 29, 1941 - Born Paula Ross (1941-   ) international prima ballerina.
May 15, 1941 - Born Vivienne Poy (1941-   ) Senator
May 21, 1941 - Born Lise Boucher (1941-   ) award winning pianist
June 6, 1941 - Born Doris Jean Saunders (1941-2006) editor  & local historian
July 21, 1941 - Born Eva L. J. Rosinger (1941-   ) environmental scientist
August 25, 1941 - Born Carol Bolt (1941-2000) Canadian playwright
August 29, 1941 - Born Dr. Phyllis Jean McAlpine (1941-1998) Genetic researcher
September 1, 1941 - Born Gwendolyn MacEwen(1941-1987), award winning poet.
December 18, 1941 - Born Marguerite McDonald (1941-2015)  1st female national reporter at CBC TV’s parliamentary bureau in Ottawa

Deaths 1941:
1941 - Died Gertrude E. Cutts (1858-1941) well known artist.
1941 - Died Margaret Mackellar (1861-1941) an indomitable early lady doctor.
January 6, 1941 - Died Alice Ashworth Townley (1860-1941) Vancouver social activist, author, & journalist
February 20, 1941 - Died Mary Travers (La Bolduc) (1894-1941) popular vocalist and composer of her era.
March 31, 1941 - Died Marguerete Martha Allan (1895-1942) amateur dramatist.
October 23, 1941 - Died Helga Steinvor Baldvinsdotir (1855- 1941) penname Undine, author and poet
 November 2, 1941 - Died Amanda Maria Shaw (1864-1941) poet
1942 January 10, 1942 - Elizabeth Monk (1898-1980), Constance Garner-Short, Suzanne Filion and Marcelle Hémond-Lacoste are the 1st women admitted to the Bar in Quebec. Source : Herstory: A Canadian Womens Calendar2006, Coteau Books, 2005.

1942-1945 - Women on the home front were encouraged to enter the work force and hundreds of thousands of women stepped in jobs in wartime industry in jobs typically held by men

July 31, 1942 - The Women's Royal Canadian Navel Service (WRENS) is established. 7,000 WRENS would serve during World War ll

1942 - 45,423 women entered wartime forces in Canada. Source Female roles in World War ll online (Accessed May 13, 2009)

1942 - Mary Greyeyes-Reid (1920-2011)  is the 1st Aboriginal woman to enlist in the Canadian Womens Army Corp. Sources: Women’s History Month: Women in Canadian Military Forces: A proud Legacy. Status of Women Canada. October 2011. Online (Accessed March 2014)

1942 - All Canadian women between ages of 18 to 24 were registered for Selective Service in case of a shortage of manpower in the war effort. Source: Herstory: The Canadian Women's calendar 2008 (Saskatoon women's calendar collective/Coteau Books, 2007)
1942 - On the home front food rationing begins

1942 - The province of Quebec passes legislation to allow women to hold office as school trustees

October 2, 1942 - Marion Orr (1918-1995) is the 1st Canadian woman to operate a flying club when she is hired as Manager and Chief Flying Instructor by the St Catherines Flying club

1942-1945  - The Canadian Press discontinues awarding the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for Canada's Tope Female Athlete of the year because the sports writer decided athletes could not rate as heroes while young Canadian men were fighting for freedom in the shadow of death during World War ll

1942-1945 - Women were asked to reduce their consumption of goods that were in short supply, and to recycle to support those serving overseas. Tons of used rubber products were recycled into vitally needed tires and other necessary war products. Gasoline was rationed. Ration books were distributed to keep track of what people were allowed to have
1942 - Canada's 1st nutrition guidelines are introduced. They are called CANADA'S OFFICIAL FOOD RULES. In 1944 the name was changed to Canada's Food Rules. They came about with wartime food rations and an economic recession , coupled with a physically active Canadian Lifestyle led to a country of people with relatively poor eating habits

1942 - Songwriter Ruth Lowe (1918-1981) pens Put your Dreams Away for Another Day which becomes Frank Sanatra's (1915-1998) closing theme as his concerts

Births 1942:
1942 - Born Ethel Weiss Auster (1942-2005) librarian
1942 - Died Ann/Annie Baillie (1888-1942) World War l Nursing Sister
1942 - Born Sandra Louise Birdsell (1942-   )  novelist
1942 - Born Chantal duPont (1942-2019) photographer, Painter, sculptor & graphic artist
1942 - Born Carol Anne Letheren (1942-2001) trailblazer in women's sports and Canadian Olympic administrator
1942 - Born Virginia Dobson Shrivastava (1942-   ) social activist working in India
1942 - Born Sandra Tewksbury (1942-1962) Olympic figure skater
January 6, 1942 - Born Nancy Ruth (1942-   ) , Canada's 1st feminist philanthropist served in Canadian senate. .
|January 28, 1942 - Born Anne-Marie Comeau (1942-   ) founder & artistic director of La Baie en joie dance group & school
February 5, 1942 - Born Gail Fox (1942-   ) poet & editor
February 21, 1942 - Born Lenka J. Husa (1942-   ) veterinarian & educator
 March 6, 1942 - Born Lorna Marsden (1942- academic, author and member of the Canadian Senate
March 3, 1942  - Born Menaka Thakkar (1942-   )  classical dancer who has received awards in Canada & India
March 6, 1942 - Born Irene F. Whittome (1942-   ) award winning sculptor
March 10, 1942 - Born Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré (1942-   ) lawyer & 1st Black woman to teach at the University of Montreal.
March 19, 1942 - Born Mary Eleanor Nichols Bales (1942-2014) Award winning realtor.
March 27, 1942 - Born Arlene Billinkoff (1942-2009) long time legislative reporter for Winnipeg Free Press.
April 3, 1942 - Born Linda Crutchfield-Bocock (1942-   ) champion water skier, alpine skier and in luge
April 10, 1942 - Born Donna Jean Hennyey (1942-   ) champion fencer.
April 16, 1942 - Born Linda Crabtree (1942-   ) founder of CMT International
April 26, 1942 - Born Sharon Carstairs (1942-   )  member of the Canadian Senate
June 6, 1943 - Born Paulette Kay Jiles (1943-  ) poet, novelist, playwright, & journalist
June 21, 1942 - Born Jeannette Vivian Lavell (1942-   ) courageous woman who fought to improve the status of aboriginal women.
June 24, 1942 - Born Mary Dawson (1942-   ) lawyer & civil servant
July 1, 1942 - Born Genevieve Bujold (1942-   ) actor
July 11, 1942 - Born Daphne Marlatt (1942-   ) prolific poet
July 27, 1942 - Born Edith Butler(1942-   )  Acadian singer and appointed to the Order of Canada
August 10, 1942 - Born Louise Forestier (1942-   ) singer, songwriter & actor
September 1, 1942 - Born Nycole Trumel (1942-   ) 1st women to be president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada
September 22, 1942 - Born Gail Dianne Bowen (1942-   ) author of mysteries and adventure novels for young readers
October 5, 1942 - Born Gisele Lamoureux (1942-2018) photographer, botanist & ecologist
October 13, 1942 - Born Danielle Juteau (1942-   ) academic, pioneer of ethnic studies in Canada
 October 26, 1946 - Born Ranee Lee (1946-  ) jazz singer, author, & educator
November 12, 1942 - Born Janet Turner Hospital (1942-   ) author
November 14, 1942 - Born Connie Rooke,(1942-2008) Canadian academic
December 19, 1946 - Born Elaine Ling (1946-2016) photographer, musician, & medical doctor

Deaths 1942:
1942 - Died Mary Richmond Kerr Austin (1860-1942) cultural activist
 1942 - Died Azilda Belanger (1893-1942) pioneer of Northern Ontario & educator
1942 - Died Juliette Rose Anne 'Dollie' Belanger (1856-1942) activist and pioneer of Northeastern Ontario
1942 - Died Ida Steinberg (1885-1942) business woman whose family built an international business
1942- Died Rosalind Goforth (1864-1942) author
January 25, 1942 - Died Agnes Lockhart Hughes (1866-1942) journalist & poet
May 27, 1942 - Died Mary Sollace Saxe (1868-1942) librarian Westmount Public Library, author, & playwright
May 30, 1942 - Died Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870-1942) 1st woman photojournalist in North America
May 31, 1942 - Died Florence Rosalind Goforth (1864-1942) 1st Presbyterian Missionary to China with her husband
June 10, 1942 - Died Lady Grace Julia Parker Drummond (1860-1942) social activist
October 6. 1942 - Died Ella Cora Hind, (1861-1942) first woman journalist in the Canadian west  & women's rights activist
December 1, 1942 - Died Mary Alfretta "Retta" Gifford Kilborn (1864-1942) Methodist Medical Missionary in China
December 15, 1942 - Died Harriett Armine Nutting-Gosling (1861-1942) social activist, community volunteer & suffragette
1943 January 3, 1943 - Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) is declared venerable ( a stage to being declared a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church) by Pope Pius Xll. She is the 1st Native American woman and the first North-American lay-woman considered for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church

January 19, 1943 - Dutch Princess Julianna gives birth to a baby girl. The Canadian Government prepared a document declaring the place of birth at the Ottawa Civic Hospital as 'extraterritorial'...meaning outside Canadian territory, allowing the baby to be born as a Dutch citizen

May 30, 1943 - The All American Girls Professional Baseball League plays its 1st game. The League lasted to 1954 with over 50 young Canadian women scouted to play baseball 

1943 - Dr. Jean Flatt Davey (1909-1989) becomes the second woman to enlist and the 1st woman doctor to enlist. Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co Ltd, 1974) ; Order of Canada, online (Accessed February 2014)

June 1943 - There are an estimated 795,000 women in the work force in Canada up 159,000 since 1939 Janet Ray, Towards Women’s Rights, Toronto, Grolier Ltd, 1981.  

 June 1943 - Isabel Janet Macneill / MacNeill (1908-1990) became commanding officer of HMCS Conestoga, the 1st woman in the British Commonwealth to hold such a command. The Canadian Navy commissioned land based facilities as 'ships' with the HMCS Conestoga being located in Galt, Ontario Source: Herstory 2006: The Canadian Women’s Calendar. Coteau Books, 2005) ; Macneill, Isabel 1908-1990. Fonds. Memory Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Public Archives. Online (Accessed October 2014)

1943 - Monique Leyrac (1928-    ) using her natural gifts of music and drama starts her acting career on radio. She is the first great international star from French Canada

 1943 - 261,000 women are involved in production of Canadian war goods

 Births 1943:
1943 - Born Sally Armstrong (1943-   ) acclaimed award winning journalist, author & documentary film maker
1943 - Born Shirley Elford (1943-2011) acclaimed glass sculptor
1943 - Born Janice Filmon (1943-   ) 2nd woman to be appointed Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
 1943 - Born Allene Goforth (1943-   ) 1st deaf student to graduate university in Canada
1943 - Born Sharon Johnston (1943-  ) wife of 28th  Governor General,  David Lloyd Johnston.
 1943 - Born Daurene Lewis (1943-2013) 1st Black woman in Canada to become a mayor when elected mayor of Annapolis, Nova Scotia
 1943 - Born Anne Lindsay ( 1943-   ) Renowned home economist and health eating advocate
 1943 - Born Sheila Ann Martin (1943-   ) wife of Prime Minister Paul Martin
1943 - Born Constance Rooke (1943-2008) author & academic administrator
1943 - Born Janice Gross Stein (1943-   ) educator inducted into the order of Canada 2006
January 19, 1943 - Born Allison Ruth Gordon (1943-   ) journalist & author
 January 22, 1943 - Born Nancy Jane Drake (1943-2020) stage actor, director & teacher
January 23, 1943 - Born Joy Langan (1943-2009) social activist, feminist & Member of Parliament
March 12, 1943 - Born Jalynn Bennett (1943-2015) powerhouse businesswoman
March 19, 1943 - Born Heather Robertson (1943-2014) author & journalist
April 14, 1943 - Born Eleni Skalbania (1943-2013) businesswoman
May 11, 1943 - Born Nancy Green (1943-   ) international champion skier who has been awarded the Order of Canada.
June 18, 1943 - Born Jill Bodkin (1943-   ) business woman & financial leader
July 15, 1943 - Born Anna Maria Pellegrini (1943-   ) opera soprano
July 16, 1943 - Born Sally Wishart Armstrong (1943-   ) social activist, journalist, & biographer
July 21, 1943 - Born Judith Maxwell (1943-   ) economist
July 20, 1943 - Born Diane Margaret Keating (1943-   ) poet
August 12, 1943 - Born Anne Cools (1943-   ) 1st Black woman to be appointed to the Senate of Canada
September 7, 1943 - Born Beverly McLachlin (1943-   ), 1st woman to be Chief Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court
September 29, 1943 - Born Barbara Jean McInnis (1943-   ) entrepreneur and philanthropist
October 1, 1943 - Born Angèle Arsenault (1943-   ) Acadian music writer & performer
November 3, 1943 - Born Paule Gauthier (1943-   ) Lawyer and public servant, Officer of the Order of Canada
November 25, 1943 - Born Evelyn Merle Nelson (1943-1987) renowned mathematician

Deaths 1943:
1943 - Died Aileen Isabel Bicknell (née Silk)  (1896-1943) early Canadian woman lawyer
1943 - Died Lovisa McDougal (1855-1943), pioneer of Canadian northwest
1943 - Died Harriet Oliver (1863-1943) pioneer of western Canada and political wife
February 18, 1943 - Died Ida Lynd (1857 -1943) an indomitable early Canadian woman doctor
February 22, 1943 - Died Virna Sheard (1865-1943) poet & short storey writer.
March 11, 1943 - Died Emily Poynton Weaver (1865-1943) historian & author
June 11, 1943 - Died Annie Crisp Bond (1854-1943) nurse and philanthropist
June 13, 1943 - Born Gail Harvey Moore (1943-1993) champion golfer
June 22, 1943 - Died Mary Ellen Birties (1858-1943) 1 of  1st  nurse training program ,Winnipeg General Hospital, 1887,  Order of the British Empire
September 24, 1943 - Died Hattie Walker (1865-1943) social activist
September 25 - Died Augusta Stowe-Gullen (1957-1943) the 1st woman to graduate in medicine from a Canadian university
October 21, 1943 - Died Anne- Marie Gleason (1875-1943) pioneer journalist known mainly as "Madeleine"
October 26, 1943 - Died Emma Sophia Baker ( 1856-1943) psychologist
October 30, 1943 - Died Mary Meager Southcott (1862-1943) nurse & person of National Historic Significance
November - Died Minna Keen (1861-1943) pioneer photographer
1944 January 25, 1944 - Florence Li Tim-Oi (1907-1992) becomes the first woman to be ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church. She emigrates to Canada in 1983 and is re-ordained

March 17, 1944 - Margaret "Ma" Murray (1888- 1982 ) begins her newspaper in the Peace District of British Columbia, The Alaska Highway News. In 1971 she receives Order of Canada. Sources: “Ma Murray: Fighting Editor of the Peace” by Stephen Franklin, Weekend Magazine Vol. 8 No. 23, 1958

June 6, 1944 - Allied units, including those from Canada land in Normandy beaches on D-Day.

July 1944 - The Canadian Wives Bureau is established within the Department of National Defence to prepare war brides of Canadian service men for their travels to Canada

July 17, 1944 - The 1st nursing sisters of the Royal Canadian Army Corps, Lt M. Green, Cpt. H. M. Boutilia & Moya MacDonald, land in France

August 2, 1944 - The federal universal Family Allowance Act is passed. It is a program for mothers and families in Canada. Quebec insists that payments be made to fathers. The Allowance will take effect July 15, 1945.
 

1944 - The Division of Public Health Nursing is established by Ontario Provincial Board of Health. Nurses . Nurses are now responsible for all public health nursing duties in the province including maternal and infant well being, consultative services to public health hospitals, and in-house training for other public health nurses..


September  1944 - a teacher shortage in the Canadian prairies means that more than 500 small schools cannot open. Source: The Timechart of Canadian history by Meredith Macardle (2004)

1944 - Tommy Douglas (1904-1986) leads the C.C.F Party to victory in Saskatchewan provincial elections, they form the first socialist government in North America

1944 - Portia White (1911-1968) is the 1st black Canadian woman to appear in the New York Town Hall, where she was touted as the “Canadian Marion Anderson”

1944 - Rhona Wurtele-Gillis (1922-   ) & Rhonda Wurtele-Eaves (1922-   ) champion swimmers, were Female Athletes of the year Source: Who's Who in Canadian Sport, Bob Ferguson Scarborough, Prentice Hall, 1977 pg. 292.

1944 - Prenatal courses are introduced. The Victorian Order of Nurses, the Visiting Homemakers and public health departments across Canada start to offer pregnancy and childbirth preparation classes to mothers-to-be. Source : Canuck Chicks and Maple Leaf Mamas : women of the Great White North by Ann Douglas Toronto, McArthur and Co., 2002.

1944 - The name of Canada's Official Food Rules ( appearing in 1942) are changed to Canada's Food Rules by the Government of Canada.

1944 - Olga Chumak (1919-2003)  became the 1st woman lawyer of Ukrainian heritage in the province of Ontario Source: Diversifying the bar: Lawyers making history. Biographies of Early Exceptional Ontario Lawyers. Online Accessed January 2013.

Births 1944:
1944 - Born Averill Piers Baker (1944-   ) used her musical abilities to overcome her Cancer
1944 - Born Ginette Anfousse (1944-  ) illustrator and author of the children's series Mon Ami Pichou
1944 - Born Martha Blackburn-Hughes (1944-1992) broadcaster & businesswoman
1944 - Born Mary Coyne Rowell Jackman (1944-1994) philanthropist
January 25 1944 - Born Jolan Ezebet Szathmary. (1944-   ) award winning academic
February 1944 -  Born Eva Matsuzaki  (1944-   ) renowned architect known for her "Green buildings"
February 11, 1944 - Born Annette av Paul (1944-   ) prima ballerina
February 17, 1944- Born Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Professor and economist
February 21, 1944 - Born Louise Beaulac-Baillargeon educator, Pharmacologist and scientist
April 16, 1944 - Born Wendy Elizabeth Griner-Ballantyne (1944-   ) international champion figure skater
April 22, 1944 - Born Dolores Wawia (Muk Ke Queh) (1944-2020) Indigenous educator and social activist
April 28, 1944 - Born Elizabeth Ann Pacey (1944-   ) an historian who was responsible for several historic sites being preserved in Nova Scotia
May 14, 1944 - Born Catherine McKinnon (1944-   ) singer
May 20, 1944 - Born Eleanor Caplan (1944-  ) politician
May 22, 1944 - Connie Eaves (1944-   ) academic research scientist
May 28, 1944 - Born Rita McNeil, (1944-2013)  award winning country & folk singer who promoted her maritime culture
July 3, 1944 - Born Lynne Cohen (1944-2014) photographer of void interiors
July 15, 1944 - Born Leilani Marietta Muir a social activist for those who cannot stand up for themselves
August 4, 1944 - Born Penn Kemp (1944-   ) poet
August 14, 1944 - Born Raynell Andrechuk., (1944-   ) judge , ambassador and member of Senate of Canada
August 15, 1944 - Born Carole R. Moore (1944-   ) librarian
August 22, 1945 - Born Anastasia Marie Shkilmyk (1945-2014) social worker
August 24, 1944 - Born Lillian Eva Dyck (1944-   ) One of the first aboriginal women to become an academic research scientist 
September 30, 1944 - Born Diane Dufresne (1944-   ) celebrated francophone chanteuse and painter 
October 4, 1944 - Born Madeline Hombert (1944-   ) independent film producer and community volunteer
October 12, 1944 - Born Joan Fraser (1944-   ) award winning journalist & editor
October 14, 1944 - Born Nancy Riche (1944-2011) Awarded the 1992 Persons Case & known as a woman of courage.
November 23, 1944 - Born Katherine Louise Wall ( 1944-   )  community volunteer and inductee of the Order of P.E. I.
December 3, 1944 - Born Gayle Hitchens Borthwick (1944-   ) champion golfer

Deaths 1944:
May 6, 1944 - Died Anna Yonker(1890-1944) social activist and leading philanthropist
September 27, 1944 - Died Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944) founder of the Four Square Gospel Church.
September 28, 1944 - Died Louise Bowman (1882-1944) poet
October 26, 1944 - Died Elizabeth Fulton Parker (1856-1944) social activist

1945 1945 - Lieutenant Joan Bamford Fletcher (1918-1979)  leads 2,000 formed Dutch civilian prisoners through six weeks in the Sumatran Jungle to safety commanding 70 former Japanese soldiers. She was awarded the Order of The British Empire for her bravery and leadership.

May 5, 1945 - World War ll European hostilities cease.

June 20, 1945 - The Canadian government introduces the Family Allowance Act giving every mother of a child 16 and under an allowance to help clothe, feed and educate that child. A Youth Allowance is provided for children between 16 and 18 years who are still attending school. These payments are sent directly to the mother except for Quebec where the fathers received the payments.

June 26, 1945 - Canada joins the United Nations. The Charter of the United Nations, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Since then, the Organization has helped create a historic legacy of internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.

July 15, 1945 - The federal government's universal family allowance program takes effect in Canada.

1945 - Bernice Carnegie Redmon returns to Canada after studying nursing in Virginia to become the 1st Black Canadian woman to work as a nurse. He works at the Nova Scotia Department of Public health. She opens the door so that young Black women could enter the profession

1945 - Annie Powers (1907-1989) becomes the 1st Francophone women in Ontario to become a medical doctor.

1945 - By the end of the war some 45,423 women have enlisted in the armed forces providing support functions for the war effort Source: The Timechart history of Canada by Meredith Macardle (2004)

1945 - Married women form 23% of the Canadian work force where previously in 1941 they made up only 10% of the Canadian work force. In total women made up 31.4% of the Canadian work force Source: Janet Ray, Towards Women’s Rights, Toronto, Grolier Ltd, 1981.  

1945 - Jean Spears (1921-   ) founds the England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Canada Club for War Brides. In 2006 she is awarded the Order of the British Empire for her efforts on behalf of War Brides Sources:  Canadian War Brides; Online: Women in Ottawa: Mentors and milestones online (accessed July 2011)

1945 - The Toronto Board of Police Commissioners order the salary range of policewomen be the same as that in effect for policemen and that the women be equipped with proper blue uniforms. Source: Herstory: Milestones in the History of the Toronto Police Service Women Online Accessed June 2011.

1945 - Dr Lotta Hitschmanova (1909-1990) founds the Unitarian Service Committee, Canada's first overseas relief and development agency Source: USC Canada proposal to the Royal Canadian Mint (Ottawa, 2005)

1945 - Gwethalyn Graham (1913-    )  publishes her novel, Earth and High Heaven, the 1st Canadian novel to top the American bestseller list

1945 - Barbara Ann Scott (1928-2012) champion figure skater is voted by the Canadian Press as winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy as Overall Top Athlete of the Year

Births 1945:
1945 - Born Rita Shelton Deverell (1945-   ) Hall of Fame Broadcaster
1945 - Born Victoria Henry (1945-   ) civil servant & artist
1945 - Born Gunhild "Gunnie" Hotte (1945 -    ) artist
1945 - Born Kathryn Elizabeth McCallion (1945-2014) career diplomat
1945 - Born Karen Mock (1945-   ) award winning human rights consultant
1945 - Born Judy Rebick, (1945-   ) journalist & social activist
1945 - Born Gene Sutton (1945-2009) award winning coach in gymnastics
1945 - Born Carole Taylor (1945-  ) Hall of fame broadcaster.
January 15, 1945 - Born Bonnie Burnard (1945-2017) award winning author
January 25, 1945 - Born Elizabeth Joan Latimer (1945-2014) renowned palliative care medical pioneer
February 2, 1945 - Born Pauline Vaillancourt Arvida (1945-   )  soprano who founded Chants Libres
February 7, 1945 - Born Colette Whiten (1945-   ) sculptor
March 27, 1945 - Born Anna Mae Aquash (1945-1976) activist on behalf of Aboriginal North Americans
 April 6, 1946 - Died Idola Saint-Jean (1879-1945) journalist & social activist
May 14, 1945 - Born Joan Lynn Hendry (1945-   ) 1st Canadian woman to jump over six meters in the long jump in field events
June 8, 1945- Born Bronwyn Deborah Anne Drainie (1845-   ) broadcast journalist
June 12, 1945 - Born Marjorie Mills (1945-2013) piano player who recorded with Quality Records of Canada, Gemstone Records, & Master Recordings
June 16, 1945 - Born Lucienne Robillard (1945-   ) provincial & federal Liberal Party member of government with multiple cabinet positions
June 20, 1945 - Born Anne Murray (1945-   ) award winning & popular singer
June 22, 1945 - Born Marti Maraden (1945-   ) stage actress & director
July 6, 1945 - Born Rosemary Forsyth (1945-   ) actor
July 31, 1945 - Born Charlotte Diamond (1945-   ) children's singer.
August 10, 1945 - Born Marjorie Homer-Dixon (1945-   ) champion kayaker
October 20, 1945 - Born Jo-Ellen Bogart (1945 - ) author
November 6, 1945 - Born Elizabeth Composer (1945-2014) philanthropist & social motivator for anti-Semitism.
December 4, 1945 - Born Roberta Lynn Bondar (1945-   ) Canada's 1st woman in space
December 8, 1945 - Born Mary Steuart-Mllwaine  (1945-   )medal winning & world record holding swimmer
December 10, 1945 - Born Margaret Isobel Drynan (1945-1999) musician & composer
 December 27, 1945 - Aldea Landry  (1945-   ) member of provincial parliament

 Deaths 1945:
1945 - Died Stella Irene Boyd (1891-1945) Entertainer, contralto & vocal teacher in Manitoba
1945 - Died Irene Currie Love (1881-1945) journalist & one of the founders of the Canadian Women's Press Club
1945 - Died Antoinette Gerin-Lajoie (1870-1945) social activist
 1945 - Died Ida Madeline 'Mattie' Gunterman (1872-1945) amateur photographer
1945 - Died Constance Easton Hamilton (1862-1945) 1st woman in Canada elected to serve in a large metropolitan area
1945 - Died Mary Hewitt Smart-Shenstone (1857-1945) cultural activist in Toronto
1945 - Died Elizabeth McDougall Young (1852-1945) pioneer of the Canadian North West
January 15, 1945 - Died Kate Simpson Hayes (1856-1945) journalist & one of founders of Canadian Women's Press Club
January 17, 1945 - Died Lorrie Alfreda Dunnington-Grubb (1877-1945) pioneer in the profession of landscape architecture
March 20, 1945 - Died Mattie Cartmell (1845-1945) educator & missionary to Japan
March 20, 1945 - Died Dorothy Campbell Hurd Howe (1883-1946) one of the most successful lady golfers in 20th century
April 1, 1945 - Died Mabel Annesley Johnston (1870-1945) author
May 1945 - Died Antoinette Gérin-Lajoie (1871-1945) journalist & one of the founders of Canadian Womens Press Club
September 14, 1945 - Died Irene Currie Love (1880-1945) journalist & one of founders of the Canadian Women's Press Club
November 1, 1945 - Died Marie Gerin-Lajoie (1867-1945) champion of women's rights in Quebec

1946 1946 - The women's sections of all 3 Canadian armed service branches are disbanded Source: Women in the Military. The Canadian Encyclopedia Online
 
February 9, 1946 - The 1st official group of Canadian War Brides, women who had married Canadian Servicemen overseas during World War ll arrives. The Mauretania ll lads at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia with 900 servicemen's dependants on board Source: CanadianWarbrides.com Accessed June 2011.

1946 - Only 46 women hold elected positions in municipal governments across Canada

 1946 - Gladys Porter (1893-1967) is the 1st woman in the Canadian Maritimes to become Mayor of a municipality, Kentville, Nova Scotia. She serves in this position until 1960 when she became the 1st woman elected to the Nova Scotia Provincial legislature

1946 - Laure Eva Rièse (1910-1996) becomes the 1st woman faculty member to earn her PhD Sources: Laure Eva Rièce Collection. E.J. Pratt Library, University of Victoria Campus, University of Toronto. Online. Accessed July 2013.

1946 - The Canadian Press resumes voting after inactivity during World War ll and votes Barbara Ann Scott (1928-2012), the Canadian and North American Ladies Figure Skating Champion, winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's Top Female Athlete of the Year

November 8, 1946 - Viola Desmond (1914-1965) was arrested in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia when she sat in the downstairs seating instead of the balcony where Blacks were forced to sit in the segregated Roseland Theatre. This event tool place several years before Rosa Parks took her seat on the front of a  bus in the United States! More information: Historica: Black history (Accessed March 2007)
1946 - The Ontario Teachers Federation approves the principle of equal pay for men and women teachers Source: Canadian Chronology onlome  (accessed April 28, 2003)

1946 - Winnie Roach-Leuszler (1926-2004) internationally acclaimed swimmer is the 1st woman to be hired by the YMCA to set up Programmes  swimming instruction and coaching. She wins the 5 mile World Swimming Championship in Toronto when she is 3 months pregnant

1946 - Freda Farrell Waldon (1898-1973)  is the 1st president of the Canadian Library Association

1946 - Gretta Wong Grant (1921 -   ) is the 1st Chinese Canadian woman to practice law in Canada

1946 - The Miss Canada Pageant has its beginnings as a swimsuit contest for the centennial of the city of Hamilton, Ontario

1946 - Gabrielle 'Gaby' Pleau (1920-???) is the 1st Francophone woman to join the Canadian downhill ski team

1946 - Earle Tupperware invents Tupperware. The parties come later Source : Canuck Chicks and Maple Leaf Mamas : women of the Great White North by Ann Douglas Toronto, McArthur and Co., 2002. p. 16

Births 1946:
1946 - Born Susan Jane Anstey (1946-2005) equestrian sports journalist
1946 - Born Martha Cole (1946 -  ) sculptor
1946 - Born Patricia Demers (1946-   ) 1st woman to serve as President of the Royal Society of Canada
1946 - Born Barbara Hall (1946-   ) 1st mayor of Toronto to march in the Pride Parade
1946 - Born Ann Meekitjuk Hanson (1946-   ) film maker
1946 - Born Janis Rapoport (1946-    ) author & playwright
February 1, 1946 - Born Mary Jo Leddy (1946-   ) theologian, journalist and social activist
February 6, 1946 - Born Kate McGarrigle (1946-   ) singer & recipient of the order of Canada
February 17, 1946 - Born Denise Marie Baillargeon (1946-2013) founder of Rescuing Our African Daughters.
February 28, 1946 - Born Med Luxton (1946-   )  author & feminist, co-founder of the of the Women's Studies Programme at the University of Toronto.
March 1946 - Died Alice Maud Dunning Grant (1865-1946)  1st woman to receive a masters degrees fro Acadia University.
March 7, 1946 - Born Elaine Jean McCoy (1946-2020) MLA in Alberta and member of Canadian Senate
March 25, 1946 - Born Madeleine Dion Stoat (1946 -   ) in 2008 she is listed as one of the top 100 nurses in Canada
March 26, 1946 - Born Phyllis Marion Boyd (1946-   ) 1st woman and 1st non lawyer to become Attorney-General in the Province of Ontario
April 2, 1946 - Born Carol Dunlop (1946-1982) author, photographer, & activist
April 9, 1946 - Born Bobbie Steen (1946-1995) sport administrator
April 27, 1946 - Born Janis Gudrun Johnson (1946-   ) appointed to senate September 1990
April 28, 1946 - Born Ginette Reno ( 1946-   ) chanteuse who holds the hearts of her fans across the country
May 3, 1946 - Born Karen G. Adams (1946-   ) librarian & administrator
May 22, 1946 - Born Ann Hanson (1946-   ) film producer
June 6, 1946 - Born Judy Jarvis (1946-1986) dancer, choreographer, and teacher
June 14, 1946 - Born Frances Jane Wasselein (1946-2015) social activist & feminist in British Columbia
June 22, 1946 - Born Linda Bond (1946 -   ) she became General of the Salvation Army January 31, 2011
July 1, 1946 - Born Rosalie Abella (1946-   )  justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
July 16, 1946 - Born Louise Frechette (1946-   ) public Servant & Canadian Diplomat
August 4, 1946 - Born Anne A. Taylor (1946-2014) teacher, communications administrator & volunteer
August 18, 1946 - Born Joan M. Boggs(1946-   ) senior scientist Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
September 23, 1946 - Born Anne Wheeler (1946-   ) actor, filmmaker, producer, director & writer
September 29, 1946 - Born Laurie Dennett (1946-   ) author & humanitarian
October 17, 1946 - Born Sylvia Gunnery (1946-  ) award winning author of books for youth.
October 27, 1946 - Born Audrey Jeanne Kunkel (1946-2009) award winning journalist
November 3, 1946 - Born Rosalinda "Linda" Linsangan Natividad-Cantiveros (1946-2008) community activist.
November 17, 1946 - Born Debbie Van Kiekebelt (1946-   ) champion in track & field & Canada's 1st female sports broadcaster
November 26, 1946 - Born Judy Gingell (1946-   ) politician, 1st Aboriginal Commissioner of the Yukon
December 16, 1946 - Debbi Wilkes (1946-   ) international champion pairs figure skater
December 17, 1946 - Born Marilyn Palmer O'Connor (1946-   ) champion golfer

Deaths 1946:
1946 - Died Louise Alexander (1880-1946) artist
1946 - Died Ethel Beatrice Street-Langton (1868?-1946) cultural activist
February 10, 1946 - Died Sophia Margaretta Hensley (1866-1946) author, lecturer, & social activist who wrote under male pen names
 April 5, 1946 - Died Janet Morrison Miller-Murray (1891-1946) early applicant for the Barr in Newfoundland
May 31,1946 - Died Nora M. Duncan (1883-1946) western Canadian poet & radio host
 July 31, 1946 - Died Jessica Donalda Bell Dunlap (1867-1946) philanthropist & cattle breeder
 November 17, 1946 - Died Henriette Saint-Jacques (1860-1946) journalist & author of several books
1947 January 1, 1947 -  The Canada Citizenship act comes into effect creating for the 1st time "Canadian citizens" instead of British subjects. Prime Minister Mackenzie King is given the 1st citizenship certificate. The Canadian Citizenship Act allowed women who married a man from another country to retain her Canadian Citizenship. A Canadian man’s wife who came from another country had to wait 1 year before becoming a Canadian citizen while a Canadian woman’s husband who came from another country had to wait 5 years to become a citizen and their children would have to take the citizenship of their father making them citizens of a foreign country if he had not yet received his Canadian citizenship 

1947 - Leila Wightman (1899-1976) the 1st Canadian woman to own and run a telephone company, Wightman Communications in Clifford, Ontario  Sources: Telecommunications Hall of Fame (Accessed October 2011)

1947- Barbara Ann Scott (1928-2012) is the 1st Canadian woman to win the World Figure Skating championships. She is voted by the Canadian Press as winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's Top Overall Athlete of the Year for a second time

October 1, 1947 - The Canadian Department of External Affairs lifts the ban on women not working in the Foreign Service Source: Margaret Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto: Dundurn, 1995) 

1947 - Canadian women make up only 22.7% of the Canadian work force a drop from 31.4%. This drop of women from the workforce is due to the return of servicemen from the war ‘taking back’ job opportunities and by the closing of provincial day cares which had been opened to allow mothers to work during the war Source: Janet Ray, Towards Women’s Rights, Toronto, Grolier Ltd, 1981.  

October 22, 1947 -   The Montreal Women's Symphony, an ensemble of 80 women under conductor Ethel Stark (1916?- 2012 )   performed at the renowned Carnegie Hall in New York-the first Canadian symphony orchestra to achieve this

1947 – for the 1st time women were allowed to write Canadian Foreign Service Examinations leading to positions in the Canadian Foreign Service which were previously only open to men Source: Margaret Weiers, Envoys Extraordinary: Women of the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto: Dundurn, 1995) 

November 20, 1947 - Canadian Photo journalist Pat Holden Collins (1924-2011) was one of six photographers allowed to be official photographers for the wedding of then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip , Duke of Edinborough at Westminster Abby, London England. Sources: Groundbreaking wartime photographer was first woman to shoot Eisenhower by Michael Posner. The Globe and Mail December 9, 2011. ; Chrystia Chudczak, Documentary photographer . Online (Accessed January 2012)  

1947 - The Canadian Press resumes voting after inactivity during World War ll and votes Barbara Ann Scott (1928-2012), the European & World Champion Ladies Figure Skating Champion, winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's Top Female Athlete of the Year for a second year in a row

1947 - Food rationing begun in 1942 as part of the home front war effort is ended

1947 - General electric invents the automatic electric clothes washer Source : Canuck Chicks and Maple Leaf Mamas : women of the Great White North by Ann Douglas Toronto, McArthur and Co., 2002. pg 17

 1947 - Former British colonies form the British Commonwealth of Nations with Great Britain
Births 1947:
1947 - Born Patricia Hill Bailey (1947-2017) nursing professor
1947 - Born Angela Enright (1947-   ) 1st woman to head the Canadian Anesthesiologists Society in 1994
1947 - Born Maude Victoria Barlow (1947-   ) social activist and "voice of dissent"
1947 - Born Ann Blades (1947-   ), illustrator and author of books for children.
1947 - Born Anne Dunn (1947 -  ) world champion curler
1947 - Born Judith Guichon (1947-   ) 29th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
1947 - Born Dr. Joyce Nsubuga (1947-2006) social activist for the health & rights of Black women
1947 - Born Laura Sky (1947-   ) award winning filmmaker
January 8, 1947 - Born Eleanor Reed Townsend (1944-1988) champion fiddler
January 15, 1947 - Born Victoria Tennant (1947-   ) prima ballerina of the National Ballet of Canada
January 15, 1947 - Born Andrea Martin (1947-   ) Emmy award winning actor
February 3, 1947 - Born Marlene Philip (1947-   ) poet & author of novels for young adult readers
February 7, 1947 - Born Frances Elaine Aboud (1947-  ) educator & author.
February 10, 1947 - Born Louise Arbour (1947-   ) Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
February 11, 1947 - Born Abigail Hoffman (1947-   ) Olympic athlete & champion of athlete's rights
February 12, 1947 - Died Annie Midlige (1864-1947) fur trader and Pioneer in eastern Quebec
March 7, 1947 - Born Jean Ashworth Bartle (1947-    ) musician & choral director. Founder of Toronto Children’s Chorus
March 10, 1947- Born Kim Campbell (1947-   ) politician & 1st woman to become Prime Minister of Canada
March 13, 1947 - Born Judith Rose Marcuse (1947-   ) prima ballerina.
April 1947 - Born Christilot Hanson Boylen (1947-   ) medal winning equestrian only athlete to achieve three individual gold medals in Pan Am Games 
April 19, 1947 - Died Edith MacTavish Rogers (1876-1947) 1st woman elected to the Manitoba Legislature
April 22, 1947 - Born Micheline Bouchard (1947-   ) engineer and CEO, Member of Order of Canada
April 30, 1947 - Born Kathleen 'Kit' Margaret Pearson (1947-   ) award winning author
May 12, 1947 - Born Micheline Lanctot (1947-   ) actor, film director, screen writer & musician
May 28, 1947 - Born Lynn Johnson (1947-   ) award winning cartoonist & comic strip artist
May 30, 1947 - Born Jocelyn Bourassa  (1947 -   ) 1st female Quebec & 1st Canadian Female Athlete of the Year
June 11, 1947 - Born Marsha I. Sheppard (1947-    ) scientific researcher
June 14, 1947 - Born Vanessa Clare Harwood-Scully (1947-   ) premier ballet dancer with National Ballet of Canada
June 19, 1947 - Born Helen Chan, physician at the Hospital for Sick Children and professor at the University of Toronto.
June 24, 1947 - Born Suzy Lake (1947-  ) award winning visual artist
June 27, 1947 - Born Vicki Lynn Bardon (1947-   ) business woman, founder of Shuttles and Seawind
July 13, 1947 - Born Rosella Marie Bjornson (1947-   ) career pioneer in aviation.
July 26, 1947 - Born Arlette Lefebvre (1947-  ) at Hospital for Sick Kids, Toronto she is known as Dr. Froggie
August 9,1947 - Born Henriette Schellenberg (1947 -   ) soprano
August 21, 1947 - Born Mary J. May Simon ( 1947-  ) ambassador for Canada
August 24, 1947 - Born Linda Hutcheon (1947-   ) author, editor & art critic
August 29, 1947 - Born Viola Wyse (1947-2009) Chief of the Snuneymuxu
September 27, 1947 - Born Lorna B. Williams (1947-   ) academic & outstanding teacher who furthers education for her peoples.
October 7, 1947 - Born Judy Sams (1947-   ) award winning golfer
October 13, 1947 - Born Mary Gordon (1947-   )  social activist & founder of Roots of Empathy programs used internationally
November 7, 1947 - Born Lata Pada (1947-   ) South Asian dancer & choreographer
November 21, 1947 - Born Marjorie Evalena Bailey (1947-  ) Canadian track & field star.
November 30, 1947 - Born Ann Mortifee (1947-   ) singer, composer, & author

Deaths 1947:
1947- Died Helen Armstrong (1875- 1947) feminist, only woman leader in Winnipeg general strike
1947 - Died Louise Duffield Cummings (1870-1947) renowned mathematician
1947 - Julie Lawson (1947-   ) author of books for youth
1947 - Died Idella ‘Dell’ Gertrude MacGregor (1880-1947) World War 1 Nursing Sister
1947- Died Jane Flett McKay (1857-1947) pioneer of the Canadian Northwest
January 11, 1947 - Died Tanguay (1879-1947) vaudevillian & movie star who in 1912 was the highest paid woman actor in the US
February 15, 1947 - Died Margaret Marshall Saunders (1861-1947) author of the 1st Canadian book to sell a million copies
March 19, 1947 - Died Prudence Heward (1896-1947) acclaimed figure painter
April 22, 1947 - Died Georgina Binnie-Clark (1871-1947) journalist & farmer
May 9, 1947 - Died Louise Duffield Cummings (1870-1947) noted mathematician
May 21, 1947 - Died Belle Choné - Oliver (1875-1947) an indomitable lady medical missionary
May 23, 1947 - Died Sarah 'Allie' Brock Brick (1877-1947) pioneer in Canadian north west
May 29, 1947 - Died Margaret Campbell McGilvary (1878-1947) World War 1 Nursing Sister
July 9, 1947 - Died Helen Elizabeth Reynolds Ryan (1860-1947) 1st woman doctor in Northern Ontario.
July 14, 1947 - Died Margaret Jane "Nellie Bryant (1864/5?-1947) early  photographer , possible the 1st to use dry places in a camera
October 10 1947 - Died Joyce Anne Marriott (1913-1947) poet
1948

1948  - The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human rights  asserting that all people are equal without distinction of any kind such a s race, colour, sex, language…or other status. It is the 1st international document to proclaim sex equality as a fundamental human right.

1948 - The Canadian Elections Act is changed so that race is no longer grounds for exclusion from voting in Federal Elections. Japanese Canadian, including women are granted the vote in Canadian elections.

March 1948 - The Canadian government suspends government sponsored travel for War Brides and children of Canadian servicemen except in special conditions usually related to health and availability to travel.

1948 - Women over the age of 21 in Newfoundland gain the right to vote in elections, the same age as male voters.  Prior to this date women had to be 25 in order to vote.

January 1948 - Mary Pickford (1892-1979) holds the premier of her movie Sleep My Love in Ottawa Canada. She dines with prime Minister W. L. M. King the evening of the premier. Source: 100 Canadian women : famous and forgotten faces by Merna Forster Toronto, Dundurn Press, 2004 pg 207.

February 6, 1948 - Barbara Ann Scott (1928-2012) wins Canada's 1st gold medal in ladies' figure skating at the Winter Olympics in St Moritz, Switzerland.

1948 - Vitamin B 12 is discovered.

1948 - The Canadian Press  votes Barbara Ann Scott (1928-2012), Gold Medalist at the 1948 Olympic Games, European, & World Champion Ladies Figure Skating Champion, winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's Top Female Athlete of the Year for a third year in a row. She is also awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's Top Overall Athlete of the Year for the third time and second year in a row.

1948 - Ruth Bailey and Gwennyth Barton were the 1st  black women to graduate from a Canadian school of nursing.  Source: Black History Month online (accessed May 2005)

1948 - Mary Peck (1904-1992) begins her campaign to make people aware of Arthritis. This is the roots of the foundation of the Canadian Arthritis Society. Source: The history of Metropolitan Vancouver Hall of Fame online (Accessed November 2012) :Pioneers every one by E. Blanche Norcross (Burns and MacEachern Ltd, 1979)

Births 1948:
1948 - Born Marilyn Halvorson (1948-   ) author
1948 - Born Susan Harrison (1948-2013) author
1948 - Born Maryka Omatsu (1948 -   ) 1st East Asian Canadian Judge when appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice
 1948 - Born Jeanette Armstrong (1948-   ) author
 1948 - Born Marie-Jeanne Bartleman (1948-  ) political wife of James Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
 1948 - Born Francoise David (1948 - ) social activist
 1948 - Born Diane Dupuy,(1948-   ) founder of the Famous People Players, a black light theatre group of young developmentally youth
1948 - Born Charlotte Gray (1948-   ) award winning author of popular history works
January 1948 - Died Inga Johnson (1881-1948) World War l Nursing Sister
 February 29, 1948 - Born Yolande Racine (1948-   ) art history researcher, archivist, curator & educator
March 4, 1948 - Born Joanna Ruth Nichols (1948-   ) author of books for children
April 3, 1948 - Born Monique Larue (1948-    ) respected author in French language
April 6, 1948 - Born Margaret Gibson (1948-   ) award winning author
April 22, 1948 - Born Mary Louise 'Mary Lou' Fallis (1948-   ) opera singer & comedienne
April 26, 1948 - Born Erika Ritter (1948-   ) playwright, writer & broadcaster with the CBC
May 24, 1948 - Born Lorna Crozier (1948-   ) award winning poet
June 4, 1948 - Born Margaret Gibson Short (1948-2006) short story writer and novelist
June 4, 1948 - Born Frieda Wishensky (1948-   )  author of books for young readers
June 7, 1948 - Born Welwyn Wilton Katz (1948-   ) acclaimed author of books for youth
July 31, 1948 - Born Maureen Kempston-Durkes (1948-   ) President & General Manager of General Motors Canada
August 15, 1948 - Born Adrienne Patsy Gallant (1948-   ) bilingual Acadian pop singer and actor
August 19, 1948 - Born Susan Jacks (1948 -   ) member of the musical duo "The Poppy Family" & telecommunications executive
September 10, 1948 - Born Margaret Joan Trudeau (1948-   ) wife of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau
September 16, 1948 - Born Lynda Maureen Haverstock (1948-   ) Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan
September 29, 1948 - Born Elizabeth 'Liz' Maxwell (1948-2005) author & teacher
October 17, 1948 - Born Margaret 'Margot' Ruth Kidder (1948-2018) actor in film & TV
November 26, 1948 - Born Maria Beverly Lay (1948-   ) world record holder swimming champion & coach
December 25, 1948 - Born Jane Marie Youngberg (1948-   ) champion Badminton Player
December 27, 1948 - Born Ydessa Hendeles (1948-   ) artist, curator & philanthropist

Deaths 1948:
1948 - Died Friselda Caisse (1858-1948) local social activist in Ontario
1948 - Died Cécile Laberge (1861-1948) journalist & one of the founders of the Canadian Women's Press Club. 1904
1948 - Died Geraldine Oakley (  -1948) indomitable lady doctor of Calgary, Alberta
1948 - Died Margaret 'Madge' Watt (1868-1948) founder of Women's Institutes in Great Britain
February 1, 1948 - Died Octavia Grace England (   -1948) 1st woman valedictorian at McGill University
April 1948 - Died Clara May Hood-Morrison (1876-1948) World War 1 Nursing Sister
November 29, 1948 - Died Margaret Madge Rose Robertson Watt (1888-1948) instrumental at establishing Women's Institutes in England
December 2, 1948- Died Rose-Anna Vachon (1870 (?)- 1948) baker & business woman
December 6, 1948 - Died Sarah Margaret Armour Robertson (1891-1948) artist of the modernist movement
1949 1949 - Newfoundland joins Confederation.

December 12, 1949 - Nancy Hodges is named Speaker of the British Columbia Provincial Legislature, the 1st woman to hold the post of Speaker in the British Commonwealth. Source: British Columbia Federation of Labour .online

 1949 - The federal government makes changes to Canada's Food Rules (originally introduced in 1942) to reflece living styles of post war Canadians. The Public is exercising less and eating more, and changes to the rules are necessary. They are the first of many changes to be made reflecting lifestyle changes in North America.

1949 - The Canadian Press resumes votes Irene Strong (1929-   ), who holds numerous Canadian swimming records,  winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's Top Female Athlete of the Year for a second year in a row.

1949 - The government requires iodine be added to table salt. It is a known prevention of Goiter.

1949 - Carmen Elizabeth Clarke (1911-1960)  became the first woman to write a son that sold over 1, 000,000 copies!

1949 - Pillsbury's Grand National Recipe and Baking contest is introduced and is the forerunner of the Pilsbury's biennial Bake-Off Cooking and Baking Contest.

Births 1949:
1949 - Born Linda Marie Fedigan (1949-   ) scientist & primatologist & educator
 1949 - Born Zahra Kazeml (1949-2003) murdered photographer & documentalist
 1949 - Born Ann Klager Higgs (1949 -   ) champion  water-skier
 1949 - Born Jeanne Lamon (1949-   ) violinist & award winning Director of Tafelmusik
1949 - Born Terry Litovitz (1949-2005) accounting teacher who was concerned for her students
March 1, 1949 - Born Jane Haist (1949-    ) medal winner in shot put and discus throw
March 4, 1949 - Born Carroll Baker (1949-   ) award winning country music singer
March 30, 1949 - Born Liza Frulla (1949-   ) provincial politician in Quebec
April 13, 1949 - Born Marlyn Bowering (1949-   ) award winning author & poet
May 17, 1949 - Born Myra Freeman (1949-   ) 1st woman to be appointed Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
June 30, 1949 - Born Maxine Tynes (1949-2011) acclaimed Black poet
July 1, 1949 - Born Patricia 'Pat' Capponi (1949-2020) activist on behalf of mental illness and author
July 11, 1949 - Born Liona Boyd (1949 -   ) classical guitarist
July 22, 1949 - Born Jane Purves (1949-2013) journalist & politician
July 30, 1949 - Born Alexina Louie (1949-   ) musician & composer
August 6, 1949 - Born Mary diMichele,(1949-  ) poet & writer
August 20, 1949 - Born Mobina Jaffer (1949-   ) appointed to the Senate in 2001, the 1st Muslim Senator in Canada
October 16, 1949 - Born Jane Elizabeth Vasey (1949-1982) blues musician.
November 5, 1949 - Born Ratma Omidvar (1949-   ) Senator & activist for immigration
November 14, 1949 - Born Carol Matas (  1949-   ) author
December 25, 1949 - Born Jane Elizabeth Proctor (1949-2014) physiotherapist to team Canada

Deaths 1949:
1949 - Died E. Maud Graham (1876-1949) teacher in South African Boer War & author
1949 - Died Sophie Strub (   -1949) founder of a family pickle business
1949 - Died Nellie Yip Quong (1882-1949) social activist for Chinese immigrants in British Columbia
January 4, 1949 - Died Almanda Walker-Marchand (1868-1949) founder Federation des femmes-française
January 14, 1949 - Died Elizabeth Smith-Shortt (1859-1949)  pioneer  women doctor
March 2, 1949 - Died Alice Amelia Chown (1866-1949) suffragist & author
March 23, 1949 - Died Nora Frances Henderson (1897-1949) 1st woman elected to Hamilton, Ontario's city council
April 21, 1949 - Died Agnes Dennis (1859-1949) social activist.
April 22, 1949 - Died Emilie Tremblay (1872-1949) Yukon pioneer & 1st white woman to climb the Chilkoot trail in 1894
May 4, 1949 - Died Marie Arzélie Éva Circé-Côté (1871-1949) journalist, playwright, 1st Librarian for Montreal
May 18, 1949 - Died Margaret Alexandra Shea (1863-1949) 1st woman to be a professional nurse in Newfoundland
May 26, 1949 - Died Alba Elizabeth Andrew (1884-1949) World War l Nursing Sister
June 4, 1949 - Died lice Jane Jamieson (1860-1949) 1st woman in the British Empire appointed as  judge. in juvenile court
November 22, 1949  - Died Bertha Hannah Wright Carr-Harris (1863-1949) author & social activist
 December 23, 1949 - Died Mary 'Maysie' Parsons-Marcy (1899-1949) Nursing Sister World War l

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