• Français
FacebookTwitterYoutubeInstagram
Find Your Local Union
Subscribe to E-news
 
Login
Contact

UFCW Canada - Union Logo

Canada's Private Sector Union

  • About Our Union
  • Media & News
  • Resources
  • Issues
  • Action Centre
  • Join the Union

1820 - 1900

Harriet Tubman

Born as a slave in Maryland, Tubman escaped in 1849.

As a member of the Underground Railroad network, she
led more than 300 other slaves to freedom by helping them
escape to Canada.

During the Civil War, Tubman was a scout for the Union Army.
She remained a leading suffragette up until her death in 1913.

Top

1823 - 1893

Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Born in 1823 as a free American black woman, Cary emigrated to Windsor, Ontario in 1851, where she opened a school for fugitives’ children.

In 1853, she became the first black woman in North America to found a weekly newspaper - the Provincial Freedom.  

Cary later returned to the U.S., where she became one of only two black women lawyers in America.

A committed suffragette, Cary was the first Black woman ever to cast a vote in a U.S. federal election.

Top

1870s

North American women give birth to a new movement – the first stage of feminism.

Women volunteer to create parks and improve public health.
At the same time, women form the “Temperance Movement” and advocate for the prohibition of alcohol.

The political organizing skills that women acquired during this period would later be used to advocate for women's voting rights.

Top

1870s – Women’s Suffrage

The Women’s Suffrage Movement calls on the Canadian government to extend the right to vote to all women.

Prior to the suffrage movement, only women with property could vote.

Throughout Canada, women from many different backgrounds mobilize for their right to vote.

Top

1875

Grace Annie Lockhart

In 1875, Lockhart graduated from Mount Allison University as the first woman in the British Empire to earn a university degree.

Top

1876

Dr. Emily Stowe

A pioneering physician, Stowe was the first Canadian woman doctor to practice in Canada.

At that time that she was applying for college, no Canadian college would accept a woman student, so Stowe earned her degree at the New York Medical College for Women, graduating in 1867.

She also created Canada’s first suffrage group, the Toronto Women's Literary Club.

Today several public elementary schools are named after Stowe. Read her full biography here.

 

Top

1897

Clara Brett Martin

Martin was the first woman to practice law in Canada and the entire British Empire. She managed to overcome the perception that women lawyers were unfit to practice due to the possibility that their feminine attributes might unduly sway judges and juries.

Martin also lobbied to overturn Law Society of Upper Canada regulations that barred women lawyers because only “persons” could be admitted.

Top

  • <<< Issues
  • Women and Gender Equity
    • Women & Gender Equity Committee
    • Posters & Downloads – Women’s Issues
    • Important Dates & Events
    • Women in Canada - History Timeline
      • 1820 - 1900
      • 1901 - 1915
      • 1916 - 1920
      • 1921 - 1930
      • 1931 - 1940
      • 1941 - 1950
      • 1951 - 1970
      • 1971 - 1980
      • 1981 - 1990
      • 1991 - 2000
      • 2001 - 2010
      • 2011 - Present
    • Women Profiles
    • Violence Against Women
    • Affordable Child Care For All
    • Sexual Harassment
    • Gender Wage Gap
    • News
  • Join the Union
Workplace Sexual Harassment

#No More Sexual Harassment In The Workplace Brochure

5.5"x8.5"

Download #NoMore materials

#NoMore Print Materials

5.5"x8.5"

View the results of our survey

View the results of our #NoMore survey

5.5"x8.5"

Workplace Sexual Harassment

Workplace Sexual Harassment in Canada

5"x6"

Domestic Violence and the Workplace A Bargaining Guide

Domestic Violence and the Workplace
A Bargaining Guide

11"x8.5"

Cyberbullying and Women

Cyberbullying and Women

5"x6"

UFCW Canada Guide to Bargaining for Work-Family Issues

UFCW Canada Guide to Bargaining for Work-Family Issues

5"x6"

Bargaining Guide for Future Pandemics

Bargaining Guide for Future Pandemics

8.5"x11"

  • About Our Union
    • About Our Union
      • Find Your Local Union
      • National President
      • National Council
      • Constitution
      • Union History
      • Mission Statement
      • Annual Reports
      • Join UFCW Canada
  • Media & News
    • Media & News
      • News
      • Media
      • Subscribe to E-news
  • Resources
    • Resources
      • Union Training & Scholarships
      • Health & Safety
      • The National Defence Fund
      • Member Discounts
      • Great Canadian Food Products
      • UFCW Canada Equity Grant Program
  • Issues
    • Issues
      • Leukemia Fundraising
      • Political Action
      • Women and Gender Equity
      • Social Justice
      • The Union for Agriculture Workers
      • UFCW Pride – Union Pride!
      • Young Workers
      • Food Justice
      • Global Solidarity
      • Uber Drivers United
      • Conscious Cannabis
  • Action Centre
    • Action Centre
      • Make Truth and Reconciliation a Statutory Holiday
      • Demand that the Government of Canada #Act4QueerSafety and Tackle Rising Hate
      • Urge the Canadian government to legislate Anti-Scab Laws now!
      • Support the Passing of the Bill C-22 and the Canada Disability Benefit
      • Take Action to Protect Farm Workers and Canada’s Food Supply
      • Make Child Care Accessible for all and Protect the Child Care Workforce
      • Stop the Hate! Support an anti-racist COVID-19 recovery
      • Help support justice for First Nations children in Canada
      • Support the expansion of EI benefits
      • Tell Sobeys to protect workers and ditch toxic receipts
      • Save The Beer Store
      • Help close the Gender Wage Gap today
      • #NoMore campaign to end gender-based violence
  • Join the Union
    • Join the Union
      • Why UFCW Canada
      • Union Advantage
      • Union Facts
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Everything About Unions
      • Industries We Represent
      • Workplaces We Represent
      • How to Join a Union
      • Join Now

Login

FacebookTwitterYoutubeInstagram

Copyright © 2023 UFCW Canada. All Rights Reserved
United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Canada's private sector union