History of Health and Healthcare in Canada

November 10, 1824

Organizations 

Classes Begin at Canada’s First Medical School

Canada’s first medical school, the Montreal Medical Institution, began classes for its first 25 students, under the direction of four physicians from Edinburgh. Five years later, the school became the medical faculty of McGill University.

August 10, 1841

Indigenous History  People 

Birth of Oronhyatekha

Medical doctor Oronhyatekha (a.k.a. Peter Martin) was born on the Six Nations Reserve, Canada West. Thought to be the first Aboriginal person accredited as a medical doctor in Canada, it has since been learned that Kahkewaquonaby holds the distinction.

July 27, 1857

People  Women and Health 

Birth of Ann Stowe-Gullen

Physician Ann Stowe-Gullen, who was the first woman to gain a medical degree in Canada, was born at Mount Pleasant, Canada W.

March 18, 1869

People  Women and Health 

Birth of Maude Abbott

Maude Abbott, who graduated from McGill but was barred from medicine because of her sex, was born at St Andrews East, Que.

November 30, 1872

People 

Birth of John McCrae

Poet John McCrae, who wrote the famous poem "In Flanders Fields," was born at Guelph, Ont.

October 18, 1881

People  Women and Health 

Birth of Elizabeth Bagshaw

Elizabeth Catherine Bagshaw, physician, was born near Cannington, ON. Bagshaw had a successful 60-year medical practice after graduating from University of Toronto (MB) in 1905, but is best known for her 30 years as medical director of the Hamilton Birth Control Clinic.

March 03, 1890

People 

Birth of Norman Bethune

Surgeon and political activist Norman Bethune was born at Gravenhurst, Ont.

November 14, 1891

People 

Birth of Frederick Banting

Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin, was born at Alliston, Ont.

January 09, 1893

People 

Birth of Edwin A. Baker

Edwin A. Baker was blinded as a soldier during the First World War. He co-founded the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) in 1918. Since its foundation, the CNIB has provided services and programs for Canadians who are blind or partially sighted.

January 29, 1897

Organizations 

Victorian Order of Nurses

The Victorian Order of Nurses was founded in Ottawa with the aid of Lady Aberdeen, wife of the governor general.

February 27, 1899

People 

Birth of Charles Best

Physiologist Charles Best, co-discoverer of insulin, was born at West Pembroke, Maine.

June 07, 1900

Indigenous History  People  Women and Health 

First Woman Doctor (Que)

Irma Levasseur became the first woman doctor, and the first woman pediatrician, in Québec. She helped found the Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus in Québec City and the Hôpital Sainte-Justine in Montréal. She devoted her life to helping handicapped children; she opened her own clinic for handicapped children in the faubourg of Saint-Jean-Baptiste as well as a school for the young disabled, which later became École Cardinal-Villeneuve.

October 20, 1904

People 

Birth of Tommy Douglas

Premier of Saskatchewan Tommy Douglas, who led the first socialist government elected in Canada and is recognized as the father of socialized medicine, was born at Falkirk, Scotland.

November 26, 1904

People 

Birth of Armand Frappier

Microbiologist Armand Frappier, who was one of the first North Americans to confirm the safety and efficacy of BCG vaccine for tuberculosis, was born at Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que.

January 26, 1907

People 

Birth of Hans Selye

Hans Selye, world-famous pioneer of research on biological stress was born at Vienna, Austria.

March 30, 1918

Organizations 

The CNIB is Incorporated

The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) was founded in response to rising blindness rates caused by the Halifax Explosion and the number of wounded First World War veterans. Since its foundation, the CNIB has provided services and programs for Canadians who are blind or partially sighted.

May 21, 1919

People 

Birth of Inventor and Research Scientist John A. Hopps

Trained as an electrical engineer, John A. Hopps was recruited to design a cardiac pacemaker with a team of scientists at the Banting Institute in Toronto while he was working on another project at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). This resulted in the invention of a portable artificial external pacemaker. The device marked a significant medical milestone and laid the groundwork for implantable pacemakers.

December 25, 1919

People 

Birth of Paul David

Cardiologist Paul David, who was founder of the Montreal Institute of Cardiology which carried out the first heart transplant in Canada, was born at Montreal.

January 11, 1922

Innovations 

First Treatment with Insulin

Leonard Thompson became the first person to be successfully treated with insulin, at Toronto General Hospital.

January 30, 1929

People 

Birth of Lucille Teasdale

Lucille Teasdale was one of Canada’s first female surgeons. She began practicing medicine in Uganda in 1961. In 1985, Teasdale learned that she was HIV positive. She continued to care for patients and during her lifetime performed more than 13,000 operations. Teasdale was widely recognized for her humanitarian efforts.

June 29, 1938

People  Women and Health 

Birth of Biochemist Annette Herscovics

Annette Herscovics was born in Paris, France, and immigrated to Canada following the Second World War. She later studied at McGill University and worked there for several years before moving to Harvard Medical School. She returned to McGill as a full professor in 1981 and became known for her pioneering work on glycoproteins. She discovered where and how these modifications occur in our cells — a key development in the field of glycobiology.

February 21, 1941

People 

Death of Frederick Banting

Sir Frederick Banting died in a plane crash on his way to England.

December 04, 1945

People 

Birth of Roberta Bondar

Astronaut Roberta Bondar, who was the first Canadian female astronaut in space, was born at Sault Ste Marie, Ont.

October 27, 1951

Innovations 

Cobalt Therapy

Doctors at London, Ont, gave the first treatment for cancer using cobalt therapy in the world.

December 15, 1956

Innovations 

Reports of Canada’s First Blue-Baby Operation

On 15 December 1956, the Edmonton Journal reported on a rare heart operation. An 18-month-old baby, Sherry Anderson, suffered from blue-baby syndrome, a condition that causes skin to look bluish due to a shortage of oxygen in the blood. Dr. John Carter Callaghan and his team performed an operation to fix this condition for the first time in Canada.

July 28, 1958

People 

Birth of Terry Fox

"Marathon of Hope" runner Terry Fox, who inspired millions of people around the world and drew nationwide attention in his fund raising efforts for cancer research, was born at Winnipeg.

September 13, 1981

People 

First Terry Fox Run

The first Terry Fox Run was held, in more than 800 Canadian towns and cities. Today, millions of participants in dozens of countries take part in the run to raise money for cancer research, honouring the young Canadian who started it all with his Marathon of Hope in 1980.

January 05, 1982

People 

Death of Elizabeth Bagshaw

Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw, a tireless champion of women’s health and a family medicine pioneer, died at age 100 in Hamilton, ON. Entering the medical field when women were not welcome, Bagshaw was involved in the country’s first birth control clinic in the 1930s, providing education and services. The clinic became legal in 1969, after years of pressure on the government. Bagshaw retired at age 95 as the oldest practising doctor in Canada.

August 01, 1996

People 

Death of Lucille Teasdale

Lucille Teasdale was one of Canada’s first female surgeons. She began practicing medicine in Uganda in 1961. In 1985, Teasdale learned that she was HIV positive. She continued to care for patients and during her lifetime performed more than 13,000 operations. She was buried on the grounds of St. Mary's Lacor Hospital.

July 24, 1914

People  Women and Health 

Birth of Frances Kelsey

Frances Kelsey, the Canadian doctor hailed as a hero for withholding approval of the drug thalidomide in the United States, was born in Cobble Hill, BC. While employed at the US Food and Drug Administration in the early 1960s, Kelsey likely saved thousands of American children from severe deformities and disabilities by refusing to approve the drug for sale, despite the fact that it was already being prescribed in Europe and Canada. Her suspicions were confirmed in 1961, when reports emerged of birth defects among children born to women who had taken thalidomide during pregnancy.

July 27, 1921

People  Innovations 

Banting and Best Isolate Insulin

Frederick Banting and Charles Best at the University of Toronto first isolated insulin. The first diabetes patient was treated on 11 January 1922. Banting and J.J.R. Macleod received the Nobel Prize for their achievement.

February 16, 1922

People  Innovations 

Birth of Roland Galarneau

Roland Galarneau was born with only 2 per cent of his vision. In the late 1960s, Galarneau invented the Converto-Braille, a computerized printer that transcribed text into Braille.

October 25, 1923

People 

Banting and Macleod Win Nobel

The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded jointly to Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod for the discovery of insulin.

March 15, 1925

People 

Birth of Bernard Belleau

Bernard Belleau was a biochemist and medical chemist (see Biochemistry). In the 1980s, he discovered and synthesized the drug 3TC. Also known as lamivudine or Epivir, 3TC is used as an anti-viral for HIV/AIDS.

January 01, 1936

Innovations 

Maude Abbott’s Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease Is Published

Published by the American Heart Association in 1936, Maude Abbott’s Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease was a groundbreaking text in cardiac research. The life-saving publication helped doctors to better understand and diagnose heart defects and to develop new ways to treat them.

October 23, 1950

Innovations 

Bigelow, Callaghan and Hopps Unveil the Portable Artificial External Pacemaker

Cardiac surgeon Dr. Wilfred Bigelow, research fellow Dr. John Carter Callaghan, and Dr. John A. Hopps of the National Research Council of Canada delivered their findings on their newly invented portable artificial external pacemaker to the American College of Surgeons in Boston. The device was designed to send electric pulses to the heart, causing the heart to contract and pump blood to the body. It marked a significant medical milestone and laid the groundwork for implantable pacemakers.

November 08, 1951

Innovations 

Cobalt-60 Cancer Therapy

Harold Elford Johns is recognized for his research and work developing cobalt-60 therapy units at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1951, he and his team used cobalt-60 radiation therapy to treat a cancer patient. The treatment would be adopted and used to treat cancer patients worldwide. (See also Canadian Contributions to Medicine; Sylvia Olga Fedoruk.)

September 15, 1956

Innovations 

Reports of Canada’s First Successful Open-Heart Surgery

Dr. John Carter Callaghan performed Canada’s first successful open-heart surgery on 10-year-old Susan Beattie, who had a hole in her heart. On 15 November 1956, the Edmonton Journal described the event as “the greatest single advance in heart surgery in recent years.” Callaghan was also known for co-developing the portable artificial pacemaker.

September 07, 1988

People 

Sylvia Olga Fedoruk Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan

Sylvia Olga Fedoruk was a medical physicist who contributed to the development of the cobalt-60 therapy unit, which was used to treat cancer. (See also Harold Elford Johns; Canadian Contributions to Medicine.)   She was the first woman to be appointed lieutenant-governor of Saskatchewan. She served as lieutenant-governor until 1994.

October 29, 2007

Organizations 

Terry Fox Research Institute Established

The institute, located in Vancouver, “invests in world-class, collaborative cancer research teams and partnerships.”

March 22, 2012

Organizations 

Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Induction

Terry Fox becomes the youngest person ever inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. He is inducted in the Builder category for his efforts in raising money for cancer research.

November 28, 2014

People 

Terry Fox Day Declared in BC

The government of British Columbia declares the second Sunday after Labour Day every year to be Terry Fox Day. In 2015, the same day is declared Terry Fox Day in Ontario, while Manitoba begins recognizing it on the first Monday in August.

November 18, 2018

Organizations 

University of New Brunswick Hires World’s First Research Chair in Cannabis Health

Plant biochemist Yang Qu, a specialist in developing anti-cancer medications, was named Canada’s first academic research chair in cannabis health by the University of New Brunswick. The position will straddle the departments of chemistry and chemical engineering and is believed to be the first of its kind in the world.

August 1989

People 

Discovery of Gene Responsible for Cystic Fibrosis

Geneticist Lap-Chee Tsui and his research team announce that they isolated the gene that causes cystic fibrosis. Approximately one in 25 Canadians carry the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis (See also Cystic Fibrosis Canada.)

August 07, 2013

People 

Death of Tony Pawson

World-renowned researcher, Tony Pawson, whose discovery about how cells communicate and interact with each other transformed scientists' fundamental understanding of cancer and many other diseases, died in Toronto.

August 07, 2015

People  Women and Health 

Death of Frances Kelsey

Frances Kelsey, the Canadian doctor hailed as a hero for withholding approval of the drug thalidomide in the United States, died in London, ON, at age 101. While employed at the US Food and Drug Administration in the early 1960s, Kelsey likely saved thousands of American children from severe deformities and disabilities by refusing to approve the drug for sale, despite the fact that it was already being prescribed in Europe and Canada. Her suspicions were confirmed in 1961, when reports emerged of birth defects among children born to women who had taken thalidomide during pregnancy.

May 18, 2017

People 

Death of Michael Bliss

Historian Michael Bliss died in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada’s leading historians, Bliss wrote numerous prize-winning books on Canadian and medical history, including The Discovery of Insulin and William Osler: A Life in Medicine. He received many career honours, including the Order of Canada, honorary degrees from six universities and honorary fellowship in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. For many years he was in demand as a lecturer, speaker and public intellectual in North America and Europe.