Hi Jane,

I don't have an exhaustive list on hand, but will give you some off the top of my head and then see what I have later if you'd like more. These won't be in chronological order.

Louis Riel & Gabriel Dumont (plus, if you have time, the Canadian fur trade is cool)

James Douglas, first governor of BC is interesting--married an Okanagan woman (I'm 99 percent sure she was Okanagan, and was the daughter of an Okanagan woman and a fur trader. Although she's called Metis by today's terminology, she was actually called Country Born because her father was a HBC fur trader, not a French trader--the term has gone from meaning the descendents of French-Canadian fur traders & first peoples to meaning any mixed dc from first peoples & people from other continents). One of the things he did was to invite the first black Americans from CA to BC.

Nellie McClung (feminist)

Reginald Aubrey Fessendon Homeschooled until the age of 9, he invented a number of things and was the first to send voice over the air (not Marconi, who sent a spark). There are no kids' books on him, but his wife wrote a biography you might be able to get through your library (out of print) and if you google him you'll find him, particularly in reference to his invention of the fathometer. His life story is quite interesting if you can get past his wife's old-fashioned writing style (she wasn't a great writer).

Frederick Banting discovered insulin if you have kids interested in science. I watched a show on him once (was it on PBS? CBC? I can't remember--it was years ago) which might be on DVD or video. Plus books, etc. What struck me was his desire to help children with diabetes.

Laura Secord might be interesting--haven't read much about her so far.

I just found a site http://famouscanadianwomen.com. I remember studying a woman in Canada who posed as a man to become a doctor--her secret wasn't found out until after she died, and she'd even borne a child, but darned if I can remember her name. It does include foreign born & raised women, too.

Susanna Moodie wrote a book Roughing it in the Bush

Terry Fox

http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Canadian.htm has a list of Canadian inventors (Canadians have taken out over a million patents) & 2 out of 3 of the recommended inventors at the bottom I've already mentioned (I'm googling as I go here to help jog my memory and was just reminded of Wilbur Rounding Franks who invented the antigravity suit & James Naismith who invented basketball, but I don't know how interesting their life stories are).

Norman Bethune I googled & googled to find him, because I couldn't remember his name http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bethune He developed the first mobile blood transfusion unit, among other things. People today still dispute his motives for servng in Spain & China. His great grandfather was a fur trader for the NWC company, even though his great-great grandfather came from Scotland.

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but this is a start.

Karin