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Pitikwahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker), Cree chief (born circa 1842 in central SK; died 4 July 1886 in Blackfoot Crossing, AB). Remembered as a great leader, Pitikwahanapiwiyin strove to protect the interests of his people during the negotiation of Treaty 6. Considered a peacemaker, he did not take up arms in the North-West Rebellion (also known as the North-West Resistance). However, a young and militant faction of his band did participate in the conflict, resulting in Pitikwahanapiwiyin’s arrest and imprisonment for treason. His legacy as a peacemaker lives on among many Cree peoples, including the Poundmaker Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.

Alfred Wellington Purdy, OC, OOnt, poet (born 30 December 1918 in Wooler, ON; died 21 April 2000 in Sidney, BC).

Molly Joan Bobak, née Lamb, CM, ONB, RCA, artist, teacher (born 25 February 1920 in Vancouver, BC; died 1 March 2014 in Fredericton, NB). Molly Lamb Bobak joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps in 1942. In 1945, she became the first woman to be named an official Canadian war artist. She led workshops across Canada, gave live art lessons on television and served on many boards and arts councils. She was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and received honorary degrees from the University of New Brunswick, Mount Allison University and St. Thomas University. She was appointed to the  Order of Canada in 1995 and to the Order of New Brunswick in 2002.  

Alfred Joseph Casson, painter (b at Toronto 17 May 1898; d there 20 Feb 1992). After study at Hamilton (1913-15) and Toronto (1915-17), A.J. Casson got his first real job in 1919 at a Toronto commercial art firm as Franklin Carmichael's apprentice.

While they may not have had access to the battlefields, a number of Canadian women artists made their mark on the visual culture of the First World War by representing the home front. First among these were the women affiliated with the Canadian War Memorials Fund, Canada’s first official war art program. Founded in 1916, the stated goal of the Fund was to provide “suitable Memorials in the form of Tablets, Oil-Paintings, etc. […], to the Canadian Heroes and Heroines in the War.” Expatriates Florence Carlyle and Caroline Armington participated in the program while overseas. Artists Henrietta Mabel May, Dorothy Stevens, Frances Loringand Florence Wyle were commissioned by the Fund to visually document the war effort in Canada.

Laurent-Olivier David, lawyer, journalist, newspaper owner, writer, politician (born 24 March 1840 in Sault-au-Récollet (Montréal), QC; died 24 August 1926 in Outremont, QC). David was responsible for founding the Monument-National and was the author of a number of biographies of famous Canadians.

Julien Hébert, visual artist and designer (born 19 August 1917 in Rigaud, Québec; died 24 May 1994 in Montréal). Hébert is considered the father of modern design in Québec. Inspired by the Scandinavian modernism movement, which unites design, industry and craft (see Industrial Design), he dedicated his career to creating objects and environments that were organic, simple and functional, to encouraging local industry, and to developing industrial design teaching in his home province.

Marie Arzélie Éva Circé-Côté, journalist, writer and librarian (born 31 January 1871 in Montréal, QC; died 4 May 1949 in Montréal, QC). A poet and playwright, Éva Circé-Côté was the city of Montréal’s first librarian as well as the curator of the prestigious Philéas Gagnon collection. Throughout her career as a journalist, she wrote over 1,800 pieces for about a dozen newspapers under several pseudonyms. A progressive, secular free thinker, she fought for compulsory education and the status of women.

Jacques Israelievitch, CM, violinist, violist, conductor, teacher (born 6 May 1948 in Cannes, France; died 5 September 2015 in Toronto, Ontario). Violinist Jacques Israelievitch was renowned internationally for his versatility, sensitivity and virtuosic technical ability. After studying in Paris and playing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony, Israelievitch became the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s longest-serving concertmaster (1998 to 2008). A supporter of contemporary music and Canadian composers, he made more than 100 recordings and performed often with noted orchestras and in chamber ensembles worldwide. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.

​Fernande Saint-Martin, OC, visual arts theorist, semiologist, museologist, writer and art critic (born 28 March 1927 in Montréal, Québec).

Joseph Joachim Ulric Voyer, opera composer, playwright, music teacher, organist and court clerk (born 5 July 1892 in Québec City, Québec; died 8 January 1935 in Québec City).

Lillian Kathleen Thomas, née Beynon, journalist, author, suffragist (born 4 September 1874, King Township, ON; died 2 September 1961, Winnipeg, MB).

Marie Uguay, poet (born 22 April 1955 in Montréal, Québec; died 26 October 1981 in Montréal). This young poet was truly a shooting star in the firmament of Québec poetry.

Robert Dickson, poet, translator (born 23 July 1944 in Toronto, Ontario; died 19 March 2007 in Sudbury, Ontario). This Franco-Ontarian poet contributed greatly to the artistic renaissance of French-speaking Ontario in the 1970s.

Sean Michaels, novelist, journalist, music critic (born 1982 in Stirling, Scotland).

​Freda Ahenakew, OC, Cree scholar, author (born 11 February 1932 on the Ahtahkakoop First Nation Reserve in Saskatchewan; died 8 April 2011 at Muskeg Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan). Ahenakew is recognized as one of Canada’s leaders in the acknowledgment and revitalization of the Cree language in Canada.

​Mary E. Dignam (née Williams), painter and founder of the Women's Art Association of Canada (born 13 January 1857 in Port Burwell, ON; died 6 September 1938 in Toronto, ON).

Lynda Lemay, singer-songwriter (born 25 July 1966 in Portneuf-Station, Québec). A Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the recipient of numerous Félix Awards as well as one Victoire de la musique award, Québec artist Lynda Lemay showcases French-language music across the French-speaking world.

​Joe Bocan (née Johanne Beauchamp), Québécoise actress and singer (born 8 September 1957 in Montréal, QC).

Jully Ann Inderia Gordon, singer, songwriter, actor, TV personality (born 8 November 1977 in Toronto, ON). Known as “Canada’s Queen of R&B,” Jully Black is an award-winning R&B and soul singer-songwriter. In 2013, CBC Music named her one of the 25 Greatest Canadian Singers Ever. Her rich and soulful alto voice has garnered comparisons to Tina Turner and Amy Winehouse. Her album Revival (2007) was certified gold in Canada and won the Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. She has written songs for Destiny’s Child, Nas, Sean Paul and Missy Elliott, among others, and started her own recording, management and publishing company. Black has appeared on stage in productions of trey anthony’s play Da Kink in My Hair and Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s Caroline, or Change. She is also a popular television host and panel guest.