Women In Canadian History – (1645 – 2022)
Canada’s history has been shaped by many determined women who worked hard to promote and uphold gender equality. These women fought for important rights such as the right to vote in provincial and federal elections, the right to own property, the right to fair wages, and ultimately, the right to be seen as “persons” under the law. Nowadays, Canadian women are protected from unfair treatment based on factors like gender, age, and marital status by laws such as the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1645 | Jeanne Mance founds Canada’s first hospital |
| 1813 | Laura Secord, Canadian heroine of the War of 1812 |
| 1853 | Mary Ann Shadd Cary becomes the first Black newspaperwoman in North America |
| 1867 | Dr. Emily Stowe becomes the first Canadian woman physician to practice in Canada |
| 1875 | Grace Annie Lockhart pioneers women’s university education |
| 1897 | Clara Brett Martin becomes Canada’s first woman lawyer |
| 1903 | Emma Baker is the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from a Canadian university |
| 1914-1918 | First female officers serve with the Canadian Army Medical Corps |
| 1916 | Women in Manitoba become the first in Canada to win the right to vote |
| 1917 | Louise McKinney and Roberta MacAdams Price are the first women elected to a legislature in the British Empire |
| 1918 | Some women are granted the right to vote in federal elections |
| 1921 | Agnes Macphail becomes the first woman elected to the House of Commons |
| 1924 | Cecile Eustace Smith represents Canada in an Olympic Games for the first time |
| 1927 | The Famous Five petition in the groundbreaking Persons Case |
| 1929 | Women are declared as “persons” |
| 1941 | Women’s Divisions are established in the Army Corps and the Royal Canadian Navy |
| 1954 | Elsie Knott is the first woman elected chief of a First Nation community |
| 1960 | All Canadian women are given the right to vote |
| 1967 | The Royal Commission on the Status of Women is established |
| 1969 | Réjane Laberge-Colas is the first woman appointed as a judge to a superior court |
| 1970 | Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women is tabled in Parliament |
| 1971 | The Canadian Labour Code is amended |
| 1977 | The Canadian Human Rights Act is created |
| 1979 | Nellie J. Cournoyea becomes the first woman to serve as premier of a territory |
| 1981 | Women’s rights are enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms |
| 1983 | Jeanne Sauvé becomes the first woman to serve as Governor General of Canada |
| 1987 | Combat roles in the Royal Canadian Air Force are opened to women |
| 1992 | Dr. Roberta Bondar is the first Canadian woman astronaut sent into space |
| 1993 | Jean Augustine is the first Black Canadian woman elected to the House of Commons |
| 1993 | Kim Campbell is the first woman Prime Minister of Canada |
| 1995 | Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action is adopted |
| 1996 | Sexual orientation is added to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms |
| 2001 | Canadian Human Rights Commission recommends a pay equity system |
| 2001 | A task force to address pay equity is appointed |
| 2004 | The Standing Committee on the Status of Women is established |
| 2005 | Same-sex marriage becomes legal nationwide |
| 2009 | Josée Kurtz becomes the first woman to command a major Canadian warship |
| 2012 | Canada leads a successful international campaign at the United Nations to establish the International Day of the Girl |
| 2015 | First gender-balanced Cabinet in Canadian history is announced |
| 2015 | National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is launched |
| 2017 | Gender expression and gender identity are added to the Canadian Human Rights Act |
| 2017 | Canada takes action against gender-based violence |
| 2019 | Karen Jensen becomes the first-ever Canada’s Pay Equity Commissioner |
| 2019 | Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is released |
| 2022 | The endorsement of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence is a significant step towards gender equality |
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Women Empowerment in Canada
Canada has the highest rate of women’s labor force participation in the world with 61.3% women. Half of the students who went to college are women. 75% of women who work for themselves love their job. Only around a quarter of women are in charge as managers or leaders. Canada is in 18th place globally for how many women are in parliament, with almost 30% of the seats in the House of Commons held by women in 2023.
Immigrant women had 11.6% of seats in the House of Commons, which is a bit more than Canadian-born women. In a recent study, 69 Canadian companies found that women make up about 45% of all new employees, but only 25% hold the position of vice president and 15% of CEOs. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), almost all adult women in Canada will be literate in 2022.