Women's History Month (Oct) and Person's Day (Oct 18)

This Heritage Minute celebrates the story of Viola Desmond, an entrepreneur who challenged segregation in Nova Scotia in the 1940s.

This lesson includes a Heritage Minute video about Emily Murphy and her quest to have women recognized as "persons" in Canada. There are also learning resources for teachers to access.

A member of one of Canada's most remarkable families, Pauline Vanier devoted herself tirelessly to helping refugees and displaced persons during the Second World War (1939 to 1945).

Learn about Josephine Mandamin, the water defender, who began walking around the Great Lakes to raise awareness about water pollution.

Olive Patricia Dickason changed the way that Canadians think about their history and Indigenous history in Canada

Mary Two-Axe Earley was a pioneer and architect of the Canadian women’s movement. Her political activism forged coalition of allies to challenge Canadian laws that discriminated against Indigenous women.

She sued the Department of National Defence for firing her in 1989. Just before her case went to trial, the Canadian military abandoned its policy banning gays and lesbians.

This article documents the life and artistic career of Daphne Odjig, a founding member of Professional Native Indian Artists Inc

One of Canada's finest and most internationally renowned dancers. She worked for 28 years with the National Ballet of Canada

Pickford was one of the first actors to star in movies and became one of the most renowned stars of the silent film era. She was a trailblazer for women in the motion picture industry.

In this 20 minute video, you can learn about the life of Emily Carr and "her beloved landscape of British Colombia from childhood talent through struggles for acceptance in a male-dominated art world." (site)

This Historica Heritage Minute, created in 2016, tells the story of Inuk artist Kenojuak Ashevak. It tells how she started creating her art which now hangs in galleries around the world.

Pitseolak Ashoona began creating art in the last two decades of her life — and helped found a modern form of Inuit art. A prolific artist, she produced more than 7000 works in her career.

An interview with Ann Makosinski, who is one of the most famous female Canadian inventors. Her rise to prominence is centred around her extraordinary invention: the Hollow Flashlight. Impressively, she accomplished this revolutionary achievement at a young age.

Croteau invented the Actar 911 CPR manikin. Her invention has helped millions of people to learn CPR

This video by Heritage Canada documents the life of Olivia Poole, an Indigenous Canadian woman, who invented the Jolly Jumper.

Yvonne Brill is known for her contributions to the advancement of rocket propulsion systems and designing rocket systems for space missions to the moon while keeping modern satellites in orbit.

In this short documentary, Buffy St. Marie candidly discusses her hopes, creative vision and songwriting skills, as well as her role as an Aboriginal activist.

Alanis Morissette is one of Canada’s most recognized and internationally acclaimed singer-songwriters.

Cited as a key musicians in the development of pop-punk music, she has sold 40 million albums.

Céline Dion is the most commercially successful Canadian singer of all time and one of the best-selling music artists ever

A biographical article about k.d. lang, the singer and occasional actress from Alberta.

A country music musician, she has sold over 100 million records and the best-selling female artist in country music history.

An article in the Canadian Encyclopedia about singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell who had a significant impact on the American Folk Music scene.

This short documentary looks at the lives of Tegan and Sara as artists, as individuals, as sisters, as queer women, and as leading activists in the LGBTQ community.

This short film explores the passions of singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan, using her own words and drawings to guide us through her rich creative world, the founding of the groundbreaking Lilith Fair, and her philanthropic work.

A biography of Susan Aglukark, an Inuit singer/songwriter, who blends traditional and modern traditions in her music.

This biography of former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson is from the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Learn more about Canada's one and only female Prime Minister. The Canadian Encyclopedia has this detailed profile of Kim Campbell, including her political career.

Learn about the life and accomplishments of Canada's former Governor-General Michaëlle Jean.

The first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons, Agnes Macphail fights for penal reform.

Thérèse Casgrain was a reformer, activist, and politician. Best remembered as one of the leaders of the campaign for women's suffrage in Québec, she had a long political career and vigorously fought against social, economic and political injustices affecting both women and men.

Learn about Rosemary Brown, Canada's first Black female member of a provincial legislature and the first woman to run for leadership of a federal political party.

After her perilous journey to warn of an American attack during the War of 1812, the Kahnawake Mohawks repel the invasion (1813).

Mona Parsons, a partisan World War II Allied agent in the Netherlands escapes execution and later imprisonment by the Nazis.

In 1734, she was charged with arson after a fire leveled Montreal’s merchants' quarter. While it remains unknown whether she set the fire, Angélique’s story has come to symbolize Black resistance and freedom.

Read a biography of Julie Payette, a Canadian engineer and astronaut who has spent time on the International Space Station.

From The Canadian Space Agency, here is a biography of Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space.

Donna Strickland, a physicist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, together with Gérard Mourou, for the practical implementation of chirped pulse amplification

Elsie MacGill was the world’s first female aeronautical engineer and Canada’s first practicing woman engineer. She oversaw Canada’s production of Hawker Hurricane aircrafts at the Canadian Car & Foundry factory during the Second World War.

One of the first female surgeons in Canada, Lucille Teasdale devotes her life to health care in Uganda (1962).

Maud Menten is a highly celebrated figure today, not only as being among the first Canadian women to become a medical doctor, but also because of her career which includes a lengthy list of other notable ‘firsts’. Teaming up with Leonor Michaelis, she formulated the Michaelis-Menten equation, a vital formula in enzymology.

An article about the life and work of Margaret Atwood, who is among the most prolific and celebrated writers in Canadian history.

This article from the Canadian Encyclopedia gives biographical information and a short review of Margaret Laurence's writing.

Lucy Maud Montgomery battled depression, rejection, and sexism to become known around the world for Anne of Green Gables and 19 other novels. This Heritage Minute tells her story in her own words, as drawn from her journals.

Montgomery's works are internationally recognized as touchstones for Canadian culture. The L.M. Montgomery Institute is dedicated to the study of L.M. Montgomery's life, work and influences.

In Margaret Atwood: Once in August, filmmaker Michael Rubbo attempts to discover what shapes the celebrated writer's fiction and what motivates her characters.

Mary Ann Shadd Cary was a writer, educator, lawyer, abolitionist and the first black newspaperwoman in North America. She founded her newspaper in Canada.

Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk was an Inuit author, teacher, and historian best known for writing the first novel in Inuktitut.

Olive Patricia Dickason changed the way that Canadians think about their history and Indigenous history in Canada