Québec feminist movement

This section contains material on the struggles of feminist activists in Québec in both the French and English communities. The women’s movement in Québec emerged within the context of the Quiet Revolution as well as the rise of Québec nationalist and separatist movements. This period of significant economic, social, and political change shaped a distinct feminist activism that was often interwoven with other radical organizing in Québec in this period.

More about Québec feminist movement

Key themes include:

  • Challenging traditional roles of women and the family in Québec society and nationwide
  • Organizing for reproductive rights, labor rights, access to education, and against violence against women
  • Intersection with labour, social, and nationalist movements and other forms of political organizing in Québec

Archival Materials

Buttons
aujourd’hui une maison, ce soir la rue

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
A 1982 button from Montreal with an image showing a woman's face embedded in a map of the world.
Montréal Femme (1982)

  • Year created:

    1982

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French

Documents
A Women’s Bureau

  • Year created:

    1971

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Birth Control Handbook: 4th edition (revised)

  • Year created:

    1970

  • Author(s):

    Donna Cherniak, Allan Feingold

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English
Canadian Feminist Periodicals / Périodiques Féministe Canadien (May 1986) – Agenda

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English and French
Canadian Feminist Periodicals / Périodiques Féministe Canadien (May 1986) – The Politics of Editing

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Author(s):

    Carla-Krystin Androtte, Michele Paulse

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
thumbnail of Celebrating Our Survival – 10th Anniversary of Montreal Regional Committee (1984)
Celebrating Our Survival – 10th Anniversary of Montreal Regional Committee (1984)

  • Year created:

    1984

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English and French
Feminist Periodicals Conference/Colloque sur les périodiques féministes (June 1985) – Letter to Participants

  • Year created:

    1985

  • Author(s):

    Susan De Rosa

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Feminist Periodicals Conference/Colloque sur les périodiques féministes (June 1985) – Letter to Pat Daley

  • Year created:

    1985

  • Author(s):

    Susan De Rosa

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Feminist Periodicals Conference/Colloque sur les périodiques féministes (June 1985) – Notes on Facilitating

  • Year created:

    1985

  • Author(s):

    Connie Clement

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Feminist Symposium / Le Symposium Féministe Brochure (French and English)

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English and French
Feminist Symposium Féministe – List of Panelists

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Feminist Symposium Féministe Brochure (English)

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Feminist Symposium Féministe: Community Announcement

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Feminist Symposium Féministe: Press Release

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Feminist Symposium Flyer (English)

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Letter – Montreal Conference (1975)

  • Year created:

    1975

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Louisette Hinton: A woman dedicated to the labour movement

  • Year created:

    1988

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English and French
Rehire the Three Pratt Women

  • Year created:

    1980

  • Author(s):

    Pratt Three Defence Committee

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
Symposium Féministe Flyer (French)

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
The Montreal Women’s Network – Information Pamphlet

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English and French
Third International Feminist Book Fair – Press Release 1987

  • Year created:

    1987

  • Author(s):

    Diana Bronson, Ariane Brunet, Odette Desormeaux

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English
VD Handbook

  • Year created:

    1972

  • Author(s):

    Donna Cherniak, Allan Feingold

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English

Ephemera
Dykes on Mykes T-shirt (front/back)

  • Year created:

    --

  • Creator:

    Deborah VanSlet

  • Region:

    Ontario

Films

Still from the film "Firewords" featuring Louky Bersianik, a middle-aged white woman with light brown hair wearing a teal blouse, writing at her desk.
Firewords: Louky Bersianik, Jovette Marchessault, Nicole Brossard

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Dorothy Todd Hénaut

  • Language:

    English and French

  • Region:

    Quebec
Film still from 'J’me marie, j’me marie pas' of a woman sitting at a desk turned to the camera smiling with her hand towards her chin. There are two flower vases on the desk with one holding a pink flower. The woman is also sitting in front of a book cart.
J’me marie, j’me marie pas

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Mireille Dansereau

  • Language:

    French

  • Region:

    Quebec
Still from the film "Souris, tu m'inquiètes" featuring a white woman with short brown hair holding a cigarette in her mouth.
Souris, tu m’inquiètes

  • Year created:

    1973

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Aimée Danis

  • Language:

    French

  • Region:

    Quebec
Still from the film "They Called Us 'Les Filles du Roy'" featuring an intergenerational group of Québecois women sitting at a table and looking at old photographs.
They Called Us ‘Les Filles du Roy’

  • Year created:

    1974

  • Filmmaker(s):

    Anne Claire Poirier

  • Language:

    English

  • Region:

    Quebec

Periodicals

Marie-Géographie

Marie-Géographie – automne 1985 – vol. 1, no. 4

  • Year created:

    1985

  • Publisher:

    La collective Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
Marie-Géographie – automne 1986 – no. 7

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Publisher:

    La collective Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
Marie-Géographie – automne 1987 – no. 10

  • Year created:

    1987

  • Publisher:

    La collective Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
Marie-Géographie – été 1987 – no. 9

  • Year created:

    1987

  • Publisher:

    La collective Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
Marie-Géographie – février 1985 – vol. 1, no. 2

  • Year created:

    1985

  • Publisher:

    La collective Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
Marie-Géographie – hiver 1986 – vol.1, no.5

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Publisher:

    La collective de Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
Marie-Géographie – hiver 1987 – no. 8

  • Year created:

    1987

  • Publisher:

    La collective Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
Marie-Géographie – printemps/été 1985 – vol. 1, no. 3

  • Year created:

    1985

  • Publisher:

    La collective Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French
Marie-Géographie – septembre 1984 – vol. 1

  • Year created:

    1984

  • Publisher:

    La collective Marie-Géographie

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French

Montreal Women’s Liberation Newsletter

Montreal Women’s Liberation – No. 1 – March 1970

  • Year created:

    1970

  • Publisher:

    Montreal Women’s Liberation

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    English

Photos

A school bus arrives from Montreal for the Ottawa demonstration on May 9th. The corner of the Abortion Caravan van can be seen on the right.
Abortion Caravan (1970) – Bus from Montreal

  • Year created:

    1970

  • Photographer:

    Charlotte Bedard

  • Region:

    Ontario
Montreal Women's Liberation marches as part of the May 9th demonstration for abortion rights that was held in Ottawa as the Abortion Caravan completed its trip from Vancouver.
Abortion Caravan (1970) – Montreal Women’s Liberation

  • Year created:

    1970

  • Photographer:

    Charlotte Bedard

  • Region:

    Ontario
Interview with Léa Roback: 3rd International Feminist Book Fair (1988)

  • Year created:

    1988

  • Photographer:

    Judith Lermer Crawley

  • Region:

    Quebec
This photo of the members of Montreal Health Press appeared on the back cover of the French language handbook "Le Contrôle des Naissances" in 1986. Credit Judith Lermer Crawley.
Members of the Montreal Health Press in 1986

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Photographer:

    Judith Lermer Crawley

  • Region:

    Quebec
The photo is of the Montreal Health Press at a conference booth table, Toronto, 1992. Photo taken by Judith Lermer Crawley.
Montreal Health Press Booth at 1992 Toronto Conference

  • Year created:

    1992

  • Photographer:

    Judith Lermer Crawley

  • Region:

    Ontario
This 1981 photo was taken by Judith Lermer Crawley at the Montreal Health Press (MHP) office.
Montreal Health Press Office (1981)

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Photographer:

    Judith Lermer Crawley

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)
Photo showing several of the banners representing different Québec and francophone women's groups in front of the Parliament Building in Ottawa. They were part of the Banner Project which asked groups across Canada to produce a protest banner that would become part of a huge banner in Ottawa. The goal was to show the strength and solidarity of women during the Third Commonwealth meeting of Ministers Responsible for Women’s Affairs in October 1990.
The Banner Project (1990): Parliament Hill

  • Year created:

    1990

  • Photographer:

    Amy Gottlieb

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

Posters

Poster for the 1988 3e Foire Internationale du livre féministe - 3rd International Feminist Book Fair held in Montreal.
3e Foire Internationale du livre féministe – 3rd International Feminist Book Fair

  • Year created:

    1988

  • Visual Artist:

    Danielle Blouin

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English and French
A Vision in the Darkness

  • Year created:

    1991

  • Region:

    Ontario, Quebec

  • Language:

    English and French
Dykes on Mykes: 10th Anniversary Poster (1997)

  • Year created:

    1997

  • Region:

    Quebec

  • Language:

    French