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Sir Samuel Hughes, teacher, journalist, soldier, politician (born at Darlington, Canada W 8 Jan 1853; died at Lindsay, Ont 24 Aug 1921). A Conservative and an enthusiastic supporter of Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy, Sam Hughes was elected to Parliament for Victoria North in 1892.

Three successive victories over the local champion Thomas Loudon led a group of Torontonians in 1876 to form the Hanlan Club to back Hanlan as a professional. The club bought him an English-made shell and equipped it with a sliding seat and swivel oarlocks.

​Zacharie Vincent, known as Telariolin, was an Aboriginal artist (born 28 January 1815 in the village of Jeune-Lorette, Québec — formerly Village-Huron, today the Wendake Reserve; died 9 October 1886 in Québec City).

​In 1975, alpine skier Ken Read became the first North American to win a World Cup downhill race. For a period of about ten years, Read and three other young Canadians — Dave Irwin, Dave Murray, and Steve Podborski — challenged the European ski establishment and changed the course of ski racing history in Canada.

Carmen Lombardo. Saxophonist, singer, songwriter, b London, Ont, 16 Jul 1903, d Miami 17 Apr 1971. He was a brother of Guy Lombardo. He studied flute in London and played flute and C-melody saxophone in western Ontario with the Lombardo Brothers' Orchestra and Concert Company in his teens.

Gerald Vincent Bull, engineer and ballistics expert (born 9 March 1928 in North Bay, ON; died 22 March 1990 in Brussels, Belgium). He studied at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies. At the time, he was the youngest person to ever receive a PhD from the university. He was involved in some of Canada’s most advanced experimental defence projects. Later in his life, Bull was convicted of breaking an international arms embargo against apartheid South Africa. He spent his life perfecting artillery systems; some of his designs could launch payloads into space. He was assassinated during the development of a space gun for Iraq.

Anne Innis Dagg, CM, zoologist, feminist activist, author (born 25 January 1933 in Toronto, ON). Dagg is best known as a giraffe expert. In 1956, she became the first Western researcher, man or woman, to study the animal in the wild in Africa. Though better known, two of her contemporaries, Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, followed in her footsteps: Goodall began her study of chimpanzees in 1960 and Fossey her study of mountain gorillas in 1963. Dagg was also a pioneer in the study of mammal gaits and homosexual behaviour. Later in her career she fought for equality between men and women, particularly in academia.

Sankaran, Trichy. Performer, composer, ethnomusicologist, b Poovalur, Madras State, India, 27 Jul 1942; BA (Madras), 1964; MA (Madras) 1966. He is the most distinguished performer from the gharana (circle of pupils) of Palani Subramania Pillai, with whom he studied 1954-9.

Charles Dutoit, conductor (b at Lausanne, Switzerland, 7 Oct 1936). He received his musical education (in violin, viola, piano, percussion, composition and orchestral conducting) at the conservatories of Lausanne and Geneva, where he obtained a premier prix in conducting in 1958.

The Seneca (Onöndowa’ga, “People of the Great Hills”) are an Indigenous nation. Known as the “Keepers of the Western Door,” they are the western-most member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy with ancestral lands located south of Lake Ontario. Today, some Seneca people also live on Six Nations territory near Brantford, Ontario. (See also First Nations.)

In 1917, the Canadian government passed the Military Service Act, which made all male citizens (aged 20 to 45) subject to conscription. As the First World War (1914–18) dragged on, the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) desperately needed reinforcements, as the number of volunteers had nearly dried up. Earlier in the war, Black volunteers had faced resistance and opposition in their efforts to enlist. However, Black Canadians were not exempt from conscription and at least 350 were drafted into the CEF. Those who served overseas worked primarily with the Canadian Forestry Corps, although some also served on the frontlines.

Electronic group The Halluci Nation (previously known as A Tribe Called Red) has garnered international acclaim for its politically charged, powwow drum-driven dance music. Featuring the DJs Bear Witness (Thomas Ehren Ramon) and 2oolman (Tim Hill), the group emerged from an Ottawa club party called Electric Pow Wow, which began in 2007. Former members include DJ Shub (Dan General), and founding members DJ NDN (Ian Campeau) and Dee Jay Frame (Jon Limoges). The group has described its “powwow step” music as “the soundtrack to a contemporary evolution of the powwow.” ATCR is part of what broadcaster and educator Wab Kinew has called the “Indigenous Music Renaissance,” an innovative new generation of Indigenous artists in Canada. The group was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize in 2013 and 2017, and has won three Juno Awards, including Breakthrough Group of the Year in 2014 and Group of the Year in 2018.

Remi J. De Roo, Roman Catholic bishop of Victoria, activist, writer (born on 24 February 1924 at Swan Lake, Manitoba; died 2 February 2022). Bishop De Roo has been president of the Bishops' Western Catholic Conference. He was also a founding member of the World Conference of Religions for Peace as well as the chairman of the Human Rights Commission of British Columbia.

Sylvia D. Hamilton, filmmaker, writer, educator (born in Beechville, NS). Sylvia Hamilton specializes in re-evaluating Canadian history and focusing on the perspectives of Black Canadians, particularly Black Canadian women. Her films include Black Mother Black Daughter (1989); the Gemini Award winner Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia (1993); the biographical documentary Portia White: Think On Me (2000); and The Little Black School House (2007). She has received many honours and awards, including the Nova Scotia Portia White Prize, the Pierre Berton Award from the Governor General’s History Awards for Popular Media, and the Luminary Award from the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC).

Alphonse Desjardins, journalist, parliamentary reporter, founder of the Desjardins Group (born 5 November 1854 in Lévis, Québec; died 31 October 1920 in Lévis, Québec).

Ydessa Hendeles, CM, OOnt, art collector, curator, artist, philanthropist (born 27 December 1948 in Marburg, Germany). A winner of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Ydessa Hendeles is best known as one of the world’s leading collectors of contemporary art and photography. The founder of the Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation in Toronto, she has curated more than 35 contemporary art exhibitions in Toronto and around the world.