Knowledge Center

Firsts in Business

• Barbara G. Stymiest: First woman to be President and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Stock Exchange; First woman president of a North American stock exchange (1999)1
• Sheila Fraser: First woman Auditor General of Canada (2001)2
• Linda Cook: First woman to lead a major Canadian integrated oil and gas company, Shell Canada Ltd (2003)3

Firsts in Their Professions

• Jeanne Mance: First lay nurse to practise in North America. Established the first hospital in Montreal - the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal (1644)4
• Emily Howard Stowe: First Canadian woman to practice medicine in Canada (1867)5
• Harriet Brooks: First Canadian woman nuclear physicist (1888)6
• Clara Brett Martin: First Canadian woman barrister (1899)7
• Roberta Lynn Bondar: Canada’s first woman astronaut (1992)8
• Henriette Bourque: First woman lawyer hired by the Department of Justice (1939)9

Firsts in Government

• Agnes Campbell Macphail: First woman elected to the House of Commons as a Member of the Canadian Parliament (1921)10
• Cairine Reay Mackay Wilson: First woman Senator (1930)11
• Ellen Louks Fairclough: First woman Minister in the federal Cabinet (1950)12
• Thérèse Casgrain: First woman to head a provincial political party (1951)13
• Muriel McQueen Fergusson: First woman to be appointed as Speaker of the Senate (1972)14
• Pauline McGibbon: First woman Lieutenant Governor (1974)15
• Ione Christensen: First woman Territorial Commissioner (1979)17Bertha Wilson: First woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada (1982)16
• Joyce Fairbairn: First woman Leader of the Government in the Senate (1984)17
• Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé: First woman to appointed Governor General of Canada (1984); First woman speaker of the House of Commons (1980)18
• Audrey McLaughlin: First woman to head a Canadian federal political party (1989)19
• Andrée Champagne: First woman Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons (1990)20
• Nellie J. Cournoyea: First aboriginal premier (1991)21
• Catherine Callbeck: First woman elected Premier of a province (1993)22
• Sheila Maureen Copps: First woman Deputy Prime Minister (1993)23
• Jean Augustine: First black woman elected to the House of Commons (1993)24
• Kim Campbell: First woman elected as leader of the PC Party (1993) first woman Prime Minister of Canada (1993)25
• Beverley McLachlin: First woman Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (2000)26
• Rosemary Brown: First Black Woman Elected to a Canadian Provincial Legislature (1972) and First Black Woman to Run for the Leadership of a Canadian Federal Political Party (1975)27

Firsts for Women in Education

• Grace Annie Lockhart: First woman in Canada to receive a university degree (1875)28
• Emma Baker and Clara Benson: First women to have received a Ph.D. from a Canadian university (1903)29
• Carrie Matilda Derick: First woman professor at an university in Canada (1912)30
• Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill: First woman to receive an Electrical Engineering degree in Canada (1927) and the first woman aircraft designer in the world (1938)31

First Rights

• Participate in Canada’s armed forces and auxiliary services war effort. (1914)32
• Vote in Manitoba’s provincial elections (1916)33
• Vote in Federal elections (1918)34
• Recognized as persons under the law (1929)35
• Canadian Human Rights Act gave "equal pay for work of equal value" right to all persons (1978).36
• Equality of the sexes included in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982).37

• 1. TMX Group Inc., "TMX Group History" (July 7, 2009).
• 2. "Auditor General Sheila Fraser," CBC News (November 28, 2006).
• 3. Mark Lowey, "New Shell Canada CEO Puts Down Roots: Linda Cook Set to Take the Helm in Calgary," Business Edge (August 10, 2003).
• 4. Library and Archives Canada, "Celebrating Women’s Achievements: Canadian Women in Science: Jean Mance."
• 5. Library and Archives Canada, "Famous Canadian Physicians: Dr. Emily Howard Stowe."
• 6. Marelene F. Rayner-Canham and Geoffrey W. Rayner-Canham, Harriet Brooks: Pioneer Nuclear Scientist (Montreal, QU: McGill Queen’s University Press, 1992).
• 7. University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, "Clara Brett Martin 1899."
• 8. Roberta Bondar, "The Making of Dreams."
• 9. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 10. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 11. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 12. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 13. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 14. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 15. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 16. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 17. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 18. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 19. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 20. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 21. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 22. The Government of Prince Edward Island, “Premiers Gallery: Catherine Sophia Callbeck.”
• 23. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 24. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 25. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 26. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 27. Canadian Heritage, "Canadians and Their Government: A Resource Guide" (2009).
• 28. Parks Canada, "Who Will Remember Us?"
• 29. Robbins, Meg Luxton, Margrit Eichler, and Francine Descarries, Minds of Our Own: Inventing Feminist Scholarship and Women’s Studies in Canada and Quebec 1966-76 (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008).
• 30. Peggy Curran, "Honouring Carrie Derick, Canada’s First Female Professor on International Women’s Day," The Montreal Gazette (March 8, 2011).
• 31. Library and Archives Canada, "Celebrating Women’s Achievements: Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill."
• 32. Library and Archives Canada, "From Country to Colony: First World War."
• 33. Parliament of Canada, "Women’s Right to Vote in Canada."
• 34. Parliament of Canada, "Women’s Right to Vote in Canada."
• 35. Library and Archives Canada, "Are Women Persons? The 'Persons’ Case."
• 36. Canadian Human Rights Commission, "Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: Employers' guide."
• 37. "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."