Women have been serving in the Canadian Senate since 1930, when Senator Cairine Wilson became the first woman appointed to the Senate by the government of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Since then, women have represented every province and territory in the Senate.
Women won the right to be appointed to the Senate in 1929 due to the Famous Five Persons Case (Edwards v Canada (AG)).
Former women senators The following women were appointed to the Senate of Canada but no longer serve. This table follows the structure used in the List of current senators of Canada.
+ Historical Women Senators of Canada Name Province or Territory (Senate Division) Date Appointed Date Left Office Appointed on the advice of Notes or Titles Other Professions Cairine Wilson (Rockcliffe) 1930-02-15 1962-03-03 King First woman appointed senator homemaker, social worker Iva Campbell Fallis (Peterborough) 1935-07-20 1956-03-07 Bennett homemaker, teacher Muriel McQueen Fergusson (Fredericton) 1953-05-19 1975-05-23 St. Laurent lawyer Mariana Beauchamp Jodoin (Saurel) 1953-05-19 1966-06-01 St. Laurent Nancy Hodges (Victoria) 1953-11-05 1965-06-12 St. Laurent journalist Florence Elsie Inman (Murray Harbour) 1955-07-28 1986-05-31 St. Laurent director Olive Lillian Irvine (Lisgar) 1960-01-14 1969-11-01 Diefenbaker teacher Josie Quart (Victoria) 1960-11-16 1980-04-17 Diefenbaker volunteer worker Mary Elizabeth Kinnear (Welland) 1967-04-06 1973-04-03 Pearson shipper, clerk Ann Bell (Heath) (Nanaimo-Malaspina) 1970-10-07 1989-11-29 Trudeau director Thérèse Casgrain (Mille Isles) 1970-10-07 1971-07-10 Trudeau lecturer, journalist, humanist Renaude Lapointe (Mille Isles) 1971-11-10 1987-01-03 Trudeau journalist Margaret Norrie (Colchester-Cumberland) 1972-04-27 1980-10-16 Trudeau farmer, professor (assistant) - biology Joan Neiman (Peel) 1972-09-01 1995-09-09 Trudeau lawyer Margaret Jean Anderson (Northumberland-Miramichi) 1978-03-23 1990-08-07 Trudeau businesswoman Florence Bayard Bird (Carleton) 1978-03-23 1983-01-15 Trudeau broadcaster, author, journalist Dalia Wood (Montarville) 1979-03-26 1999-01-31 Trudeau real estate broker, businesswoman Yvette Boucher Rousseau (De Salaberry) 1979-03-27 1988-03-17 Trudeau professor, union staff member, author Martha Bielish (Lakeland) 1979-09-27 1990-09-26 Clark farmer, teacher Anne Cools (Toronto Centre -York) 1984-01-13 2018-08-11 Trudeau First black member; Longest serving member of the Senate community-development worker, administrator Lorna Marsden (Toronto-Taddle Creek) 1984-01-24 1992-08-31 Trudeau professor of sociology Joyce Fairbairn (Lethbridge) 1984-06-29 2013-01-18 Trudeau First woman to serve as Leader of the Government of the Senate journalist Brenda Robertson (Riverview) 1984-12-21 2004-05-23 Mulroney businesswoman Ethel Cochrane 1986-11-17 2012-09-23 Mulroney professor - community college, reading specialist, school principal, teacher Eileen Rossiter 1986-11-17 2004-07-14 Mulroney realtor Mira Spivak 1986-11-17 2009-07-12 Mulroney educator, businesswoman Solange Chaput-Rolland (Mille Isles) 1988-09-26 1994-05-14 Mulroney commentator, journalist, writer Pat Carney 1990-08-30 2008-01-31 Mulroney economist, economic consultant, journalist Nancy Teed (Saint John) 1990-08-30 1993-01-29 Mulroney interior decorator, personnel consultant, businesswoman Mabel DeWare (Moncton) 1990-09-23 2001-08-09 Mulroney volunteer worker, dental assistant Janis Johnson 1990-09-27 2016-09-27 Mulroney public affairs consultant, political officer Thérèse Lavoie-Roux (Acadie) 1990-09-27 2001-03-12 Mulroney professor, social worker, therapist Raynell Andreychuk 1993-03-11 2019-08-13 Mulroney judge, ambassador, lawyer Erminie Cohen (Saint John) 1993-06-04 2001-07-23 Mulroney businesswoman Marjory LeBreton 1993-06-18 2015-07-04 Mulroney senior political adviser, administrative supervisor Lise Bacon (De la Durantaye) 1994-09-15 2009-08-25 Chrétien administrator Sharon Carstairs 1994-09-15 2011-10-17 Chrétien teacher Landon Pearson 1994-09-15 2005-11-16 Chrétien editor, author Céline Hervieux-Payette (Bedford) 1995-03-21 2016-04-22 Chrétien director of public relations, lawyer, administrator, businesswoman Rose-Marie Losier-Cool (Tracadie) 1995-03-21 2012-06-18 Chrétien teacher Doris Margaret Anderson (St. Peter's, Kings County) 1995-09-21 1997-07-05 Chrétien professor, nutritionist Marie Charette-Poulin (Northern Ontario) 1995-09-21 2015-04-17 Chrétien lecturer, broadcasting executive, public servant, researcher, executive Lorna Milne (Peel County) 1995-09-21 2009-12-13 Chrétien genealogist, lecturer, author, businesswoman Shirley Maheu (Rougemont) 1996-02-01 2006-02-01 Chrétien insurance broker, administrator Jean Forest (Edmonton) 1996-05-16 1998-08-28 Chrétien businesswoman, teacher Lucie Pépin (Shawinigan) 1997-04-08 2011-09-07 Chrétien registered nurse Peggy Butts 1997-09-22 1999-08-15 Chrétien social activist, educator, cleric Catherine Callbeck 1997-09-22 2014-07-25 Chrétien businesswoman Marisa Ferretti Barth (Repentigny) 1997-09-22 2006-04-28 Chrétien social worker Thelma Chalifoux 1997-11-26 2004-02-08 Chrétien educator Joan Cook 1998-03-06 2009-10-06 Chrétien volunteer worker, businesswoman Marian Maloney (Surprise Lake, Thunder Bay, North Western Ontario) 1998-06-11 1999-08-16 Chrétien community-development worker, public relations officer, organizer of events, fundraiser Lois Wilson (Toronto) 1998-06-11 2002-04-08 Chrétien author, minister Joan Fraser (De Lorimier) 1998-09-17 2018-02-02 Chrétien journalist Vivienne Poy (Toronto) 1998-09-17 2012-09-17 Chrétien First Senator of Asian ancestry author, fashion designer, entrepreneur Sheila Finestone (Montarville) 1999-08-11 2002-01-28 Chrétien political analyst, administrator Ione Christensen 1999-09-02 2006-12-31 Chrétien judge, public servant Isobel Finnerty 1999-09-02 2005-07-15 Chrétien political activist, medical secretary Jane Cordy 2000-06-09 2024-11-18 Chrétien teacher Betty Kennedy 2000-06-20 2001-01-04 Chrétien broadcaster, author, journalist Libbe Hubley 2001-03-08 2017-09-07 Chrétien politician Mobina Jaffer 2001-06-13 2024-08-19 Chrétien First South Asian woman appointed to the Senate solicitor, barrister, lawyer Viola Léger (Acadie) 2001-06-13 2005-06-29 Chrétien actress, drama teacher, artistic director Maria Chaput 2002-12-12 2016-02-29 Chrétien consultant, businesswoman Pana Merchant 2002-12-12 2017-03-31 Chrétien businesswoman, teacher Madeleine Plamondon (The Laurentides) 2003-09-09 2006-09-21 Chrétien consumer advocate Marilyn Trenholme Counsell 2003-09-09 2008-10-22 Chrétien nutritionist, physician Lillian Dyck 2005-03-24 2020-08-23 Martin activist, professor, dean (associate), scientist, researcher, neurochemist Elaine McCoy 2005-03-24 2020-12-29 Martin lawyer Nancy Ruth (Cluny) 2005-03-24 2017-01-05 Martin activist, administrator Claudette Tardif 2005-03-24 2018-02-02 Martin professor, educational administrator, dean, teacher Andrée Champagne (Grandville) 2005-08-02 2014-07-17 Martin radio & tv announcer & producer, public relations officer, actress, administrator, writer Sandra Lovelace Nicholas 2005-09-21 2023-01-31 Martin activist, carpenter, health care provider, administrator Nicole Eaton 2009-01-02 2020-01-20 Harper trustee, director, columnist Nancy Greene Raine (Thompson-Okanagan-Kootenay) 2009-01-02 2018-05-10 Harper athlete, director Suzanne Fortin-Duplessis (Rougemont) 2009-01-14 2015-06-30 Harper teacher Linda Frum 2009-08-27 2021-08-27 Harper author, journalist, columnist Carolyn Stewart-Olsen 2009-08-27 2021-07-26 Harper registered nurse, communications director JoAnne Buth 2012-01-06 2014-08-10 Harper president / manager Asha Seth 2012-01-06 2014-12-15 Harper gynaecologist, obstetrician Betty Unger 2012-01-06 2018-08-20 Harper registered nurse, businesswoman Diane Bellemare (Alma) 2012-09-06 2024-10-12 Harper professor, economist, executive manager Lynn Beyak 2013-01-25 2021-01-25 Harper business owner Frances Lankin 2016-04-01 2024-10-20 Trudeau, J. social activist, union officer, chief executive officer Ratna Omidvar 2016-04-01 2024-11-04 Trudeau, J. professor, executive director Patricia Bovey 2016-11-10 2023-05-14 Trudeau, J. curator, historian, arts consultant Renée Dupuis (The Laurentides) 2016-11-10 2024-01-16 Trudeau, J. author, lawyer, human rights consultant Diane Griffin 2016-11-10 2022-03-17 Trudeau, J. professor, environmental consultant, senior public servant Nancy Hartling 2016-11-10 2025-01-31 Trudeau, J. executive director, lecturer, social worker Josée Forest-Niesing 2018-10-11 2021-11-20 Trudeau, J. lawyer Judith Keating 2020-01-30 2021-07-15 Trudeau, J. lawyer, public servant Judith Seidman (De la Durantaye) 2009-08-27 2025-09-01 Harper consultant, educator, social worker, epidemiologist, researcher Marie-Françoise Mégie (Rougemont) 2016-11-25 2025-09-21 Trudeau, J. professor, physician
Current women senators The following women are currently serving in the Senate of Canada. This table follows the structure used in the List of current senators of Canada.