Important People

Throughout Canada's history, many individuals have played a significant role in shaping the country. These important people have contributed in areas such as politics, human rights, science, and the arts. Learning about them helps us understand Canada's cultural and historical development. Knowing who they are is also helpful when preparing for the Canadian citizenship test.

Able Seaman William Hall

Able Seaman William Hall of Horton, Nova Scotia, whose parents were American slaves, was the first black man to be awarded the V.C. for his role in the Siege of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Agnes Macphail

Agnes Macphail, a farmer and teacher, became the first woman MP in 1921.

Air Marshal William A. Bishop

Flying ace Captain Billy Bishop, born in Owen Sound, Ontario, earned the V.C. in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War, and was later an honorary Air Marshal of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Brigadier Paul Triquet

Captain Paul Triquet of Cabano, Quebec, earned the V.C. leading his men and a handful of tanks in the attack on Casa Berardi in Italy in 1943 during the Second World War, and was later a Brigadier.

Catriona Le May Doan

Catriona Le May Doan carries the flag after winning a gold medal in speed skating at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

Chantal Petitclerc

Chantal Petitclerc became a world champion wheelchair racer and Paralympic gold medalist.

Colonel Alexander Roberts Dunn

Then Lieutenant Alexander Roberts Dunn, born in present-day Toronto, served in the British Army in the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava (1854) in the Crimean War, and was the first Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

Count Frontenac

Count Frontenac refused to surrender Quebec to the English in 1690, saying: “My only reply will be from the mouths of my cannons!

David Johnston

David Johnston, 28th Governor General since Confederation, with grandchildren.

Donovan Bailey

In 1996 at the Olympic Summer Games, Donovan Bailey became a world record sprinter and double Olympic gold medallist.

Filip Konowal

Corporal Filip Konowal, born in Ukraine, showed exceptional courage in the Battle of Hill 70 in 1917, and became the first member of the Canadian Corps not born in the British Empire to be awarded the V.C.

Gabriel Dumont

Métis Resistance: Gabriel Dumont was the Métis’ greatest military leader.

Jacques Cartier

Jacques Cartier was the first European to explore the St. Lawrence River and to set eyes on present-day Québec City and Montreal.

John Buchan

John Buchan, the 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, was a popular Governor General of Canada (1935–40). Immigrant groups, he said, “should retain their individuality and each make its contribution to the national character.” Each could learn “from the other, and … while they cherish their own special loyalties and traditions, they cherish not less that new loyalty and tradition which springs from their union.”

John Cabot

John Cabot, an Italian immigrant to England, was the first to map Canada’s Atlantic shore, setting foot on Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island in 1497 and claiming the New Founde Land for England. English settlement did not begin until 1610.

John Graves Simcoe

Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe was Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant Governor and founder of the City of York (now Toronto). Simcoe also made Upper Canada the first province in the British Empire to abolish slavery.

Laura Secord

In 1813, Laura Secord, pioneer wife and mother of five children, made a dangerous 19-mile (30-km) journey on foot to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon of a planned American attack. Her bravery contributed to victory at the Battle of Beaver Dams. She is recognized as a heroine to this day.

Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray

Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, a navy pilot born in Trail, B.C., was killed while bombing and sinking a Japanese warship in August 1945, a few days before the end of the Second World War, and was the last Canadian to receive the V.C. to date.

Marjorie Turner-Bailey

Olympian Marjorie Turner-Bailey of Nova Scotia is a descendant of black Loyalists, escaped slaves, and freed men and women of African origin who, in the 1780s, fled to Canada from America, where slavery remained legal until 1863.

Mark Tewksbury

Mark Tewksbury, Olympic gold medallist and prominent activist for gay and lesbian Canadians.

Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an outspoken activist in the movement to abolish slavery in the U.S.A. In 1853, she became the first woman publisher in Canada, helping to find and edit "The Provincial Freeman", a weekly newspaper dedicated to anti-slavery, black immigration to Canada, temperance (urging people to drink less alcohol), and upholding British rule.

Paul Henderson

In 1972, Paul Henderson scored the winning goal for Canada in the Canada-Soviet Summit Series. This goal is often referred to as “the goal heard around the world” and is still remembered today as an important event in both sports and cultural history.

Phil Edwards

Phil Edwards was a Canadian track and field champion. Born in British Guiana, he won bronze medals for Canada in the 1928, 1932, and 1936 Olympics, then graduated from McGill University Medical School. He served as a captain in the Canadian Army during the Second World War and, as a Montreal doctor, became an expert in tropical diseases.

Pierre Le Moyne

Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, was a great hero of New France, winning many victories over the English, from James Bay in the north to Nevis in the Caribbean, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Sir Arthur Currie

Sir Arthur Currie, a reserve officer, became Canada’s greatest soldier.

Sir Frederick Banting

Sir Frederick Banting of Toronto and Charles Best discovered insulin, a hormone to treat diabetes that has saved 16 million lives worldwide.

Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester)

Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester), as Governor of Quebec, defended the rights of the Canadians, defeated an American military invasion of Quebec in 1775, and supervised the Loyalist migration to Nova Scotia and Quebec in 1782–83.

Sir Isaac Brock and Chief Tecumseh

Major-General Sir Isaac Brock and Chief Tecumseh. Together, British troops, First Nations, and Canadian volunteers defeated an American invasion in 1812–14.

Sir John A. Macdonald

Sir John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada.

Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine

Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine, a champion of French language rights, became the first head of a responsible government (similar to a prime minister) in Canada in 1849.

Sir Sam Steele

Sir Sam Steele was a great frontier hero, Mounted Policeman, and soldier of the Queen.

Sir William Logan

Sir William Logan, a world-famous geologist, was born in Montreal in 1798 to Scottish immigrant parents. Logan founded and directed the Geological Survey of Canada from 1842 to 1869 and is considered one of Canada’s greatest scientists.

Terry Fox

In 1980, Terry Fox, a British Columbian who lost his right leg to cancer at the age of 18, began a cross-country run, the “Marathon of Hope,” to raise money for cancer research. He became a hero to Canadians.

The Duke of Wellington

The Duke of Wellington sent some of his best soldiers to defend Canada in 1814. He then chose Bytown (Ottawa) as the endpoint of the Rideau Canal, part of a network of forts to prevent the U.S.A. from invading Canada again. Wellington, who defeated Napoleon in 1815, therefore played a direct role in founding the national capital.

Wayne Gretzky

One of the greatest hockey players of all time, Wayne Gretzky, played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1979 to 1988.