Search for ""

Eleanor Koldofsky, record and film producer, arts patron (born 9 September 1920 in Toronto, ON; died 14 February 2023). Eleanor Koldofsky came from a family that valued music. The sister of the violinist Adolph Koldofsky, sister-in-law of pianist Gwendolyn Koldofsky, and former wife of Sam Sniderman, she helped establish the sound-recording archive of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music in 1963 and continued to assist in its development until 1985.

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, CC, OBC, landscape architect (born 20 June 1921 in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany; died 22 May 2021 in Vancouver, BC). Cornelia Oberlander moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1953, where she founded her own architectural firm. During her career, Oberlander established herself as a landscape architect and became recognized for her social and environmental approach to architectural design. (See also Landscape Architecture.) Oberlander was the recipient of numerous awards and honours throughout her career and life.

Sarah Polley, OC, actor, director, writer, producer (born 8 January 1979 in Toronto, ON). Sarah Polley is an acclaimed director and screenwriter and one of Canada's most talented and well-known actors. Her work as a child actor in such TV series as CBC’s Road to Avonlea (1990–96) and in such films as Atom Egoyan's Exotica (1994) and The Sweet Hereafter (1997) established her as a rising star. She later embarked on a highly successful career as a writer-director with such award-winning films as Away from Her (2006), Take This Waltz (2011), Stories We Tell (2012), and Women Talking (2022), for which she won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She has won multiple Genie and Gemini Awards and was the first woman to receive a Genie Award for best director. She is also an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Elliot Page (born Ellen Philpotts-Page), actor, activist, producer (born 21 February 1987 in Halifax, NS). Elliot Page is a serious, soulful and intelligent actor, and one of Canada’s biggest movie stars. A seasoned child performer, Page started out in Canadian feature films and TV series, winning two Gemini Awards by the age of 18. Page’s intense performance in the American indie Hard Candy (2005) led to high-profile roles in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and the indie smash Juno (2007). Juno earned Page an Independent Spirit Award and an Oscar nomination. Adept at quirky comedy (Whip It, Super), intimate drama (Marion Bridge, Mouth to Mouth) and big-budget blockbusters (Inception, the X-Men franchise), Page is equally well-known for environmental activism, advocacy for LGBTQ rights and a grounded, socially-conscious persona.

Brendan James Fraser, actor (born at Indianapolis, Indiana 3 Dec 1968). Brendan Fraser rose to fame in the 1990s as a handsome leading man in comedies, dramas, and action/adventure movies, such as Encino Man (1992), School Ties (1992), Airheads (1994), George of the Jungle (1997), Gods and Monsters (1998), and The Mummy (1999) and its sequels. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2006 and won an Academy Award for his lead performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale (2022) in 2023.

Marie Ginette Jeanne Lise Watier, OC, OQ, businesswoman (born 8 November 1944 in Montreal, QC). Lise Watier is the founder of the company Lise Watier Cosmétiques, launched in 1972. She left the management of the company and retired in 2013 to focus on her foundation, the Lise Watier Foundation. She received many awards and distinctions throughout her career.

Pierre Falcon (a.k.a. Pierriche, Pierre the Rhymer), poet, balladeer (born 4 June 1793 in Elbow Fort, Rupert’s Land, near present-day Swan River, MB; died 26 October 1876 in Grantown, now St. François Xavier, MB). Falcon worked as a fur trader, farmer and magistrate, but is best remembered as the author of many poems and ballads that recount the events and experiences of early Métis settlers. Falcon Lake, on the Manitoba-Ontario border, was named in his honour.

Rose Ouellette, CQ, actress, author, composer (born 25 August 1903 in Montreal, QC; died 14 September 1996 in Montreal). With a career spanning over seven decades, burlesque actor Rose Ouellette holds the distinction of being the first woman ever to have directed two individual playhouses in North America. She was made a Chevalière of the Ordre national du Québec in 1990.

The RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) Flyers was a men’s amateur hockey team comprised mostly of RCAF personnel that was assembled quickly to represent Canada at the 1948 Winter Olympics. After losing exhibition games in Canada, the media declared the team a national embarrassment. Several roster changes improved the team and it won the Gold Medal at the Olympic Winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland.