Marie Morin. Born March 19,  1649. She took her vows as a nun on October 27, 1671. She was the first Canadian born woman to become a religious sister. She would become bursar and superior of the Hospitalièrs of Montreal. She was also one of the first women writers in New France. She wrote the annals of the Hotel Dieu (1697-1725) and her own memoirs. She was a heroic woman, a true product of the early days of New France. 

Kateri Tekawitha. Born Ossernenon, New York U.S.A. 1656. Died St-Francois-Xavier Mission (Kahnawake) New France (Quebec) April 17 1680. She became a baptized Christian in 1676 and a year later moved to Kahnawake. In 1679 the Jesuits gave her permission to take a vow of chastity. She died after a prolonged illness. Her relics are preserved in a shrine at Kahnawake and numerous miracles have since been reported. She was beatified, a major  step in the Roman Catholic Church of  the process to being declared a Saint, on June 22, 1980. She is the first North American Native candidate for sainthood in the Catholic Church.

Marguerite Bourgeoys  Born Troyes, France April 17, 1620. Died January 12, 1700. She Came to Canada as a nun to work in the colony of New France. She would founded the Congregation de Notre-Dame de Montreal to encourage young women to work for their community with Devine guidance. The Sisters taught and set up schools in New France.  Today the order has several thousand members and has expanded their work to the USA and Japan.   Mother Marguerite Bourgeoys was the first woman in Canada to be canonized (declared a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church), October 31, 1982.

Marie de L’Incarnation née Marie Guyant. Born Tours, France October 28, 1599. Died  April 30, 1672.  Widowed within two years of her marriage she decided to raise her infant son before dedicating herself to religious  life. She read about Canada in the famous Jesuit Relations and decided it was the place for her to be.  She arrived in New France 1639 She served the little community by founding and becoming the first Superior of  the Ursuline Order of Canada. An expert in several native languages she translated religious books and created devotions for her native students in their own language.  Her personal letters are a valuable source of French Canadian history.

Mother Marie-Léone (Elodie)  Paradis. Born L'Acadie, Lower Canada May 12, 1840. Died May 3, 1912. In 1854, at the age of 14 she presented herself at a convent near Montreal. In August 1857 she took her vows under the name of Sister Marie-de-Saint-Léon. She served in Quebec, and in the USA in  New York and Michigan.  She soon found herself in the Canadian Maritimes in  Acadia, where in 1874 she was chosen to direct a group of novices in New Brunswick. The Holy Cross Fathers in the region were desperate for help to educate the Acadians of the region. They could not afford to pay lay teachers. This energetic and devoted woman is credited with infusing energies and saving the Acadian culture in the region. Returning to Quebec in 1895 she sought support and recognition for her order of Little Sisters of the Holy Family, which would help priest with educational needs. . Official recognition came in 1896. Elodie Paradis was beautified in Montreal on September 11, 1984, by Pope John Paul ll during his Canadian Visit. She was the first Canadian Woman to be beautified (the first step in the process to becoming a saint in the Roman Catholic Church) on Canadian soil.  Pope John Paul ll made the declaration during his Canadian visit.

Mother Joseph (Esther) Pariseau.  Born Saint-Martin (Laval) Lower  Canada  (Quebec) April 16, 823. Died  January 1902. In December 1843 she entered the service of  the  Sisters of Providence in Montreal. She volunteered, with four others, to be a missionary in the Washington and Canada western territories. She would be the power behind the establishment of some 10 schools, 2 orphanages, 15 hospitals, an asylum and home for the aged. In 1866 she was in charge of building and financing missions in the Canadian and American West. She would set out on  "begging tours" in the Canadian and American west to finance the institutions that the order would build. Because of her contribution in designing and building institutions she is considered to be one of the first architects in the northwest and is also recognized as an early artisan who used native northwest woods. The state of Washington gave her national prominence in 1980 when her statue was placed in Statuary Hall in Washington D.C., as an historic leader of Washington State. She is the fifth woman and the first Catholic sister represented in the United States gallery of "first citizens."

Lois Miriam Wilson.  (née Freeman) Born Winnipeg, Manitoba 1927.  After 15 years as a homemaker she became an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. In 1976 she became first woman president of the Canadian Council of Churches, and in 1980 she was appointed the first woman to the top position of Moderator of the United Church. She is a member of the Order of Canada and has received the Pearson Peace Prize and the World Federalist Peace Award.