Canada's Nursing Sisters

The History of the Nursing Sisters of Canada

The Early Years

The history of the Canadian Nursing Sisters spans almost the entire history of Canada as a country. During the Crimean War and American Civil War, nurses had been extremely effective in providing treatment and comfort not only to battlefield casualties, but to the scores of individuals felled by accidents and infectious disease.

Miss Minnie Affleck, Nursing Sister (N/S), 1st Canadian Contingent, the South African War with wounded soldiers, circa 1900.

In the North-West Rebellion of 1885, Canadian nurses performed formal military service for the first time. In April of that year, orders were issued from Ottawa requesting that a medical and surgical department be organized for service in the Northwest.

At first, the nursing needs identified were for home duties such as making bandages and preparing medicinal and food supplies. Members of societies, such as the Red Cross, were advised to volunteer as nurses should the need arise. It soon became apparent that more direct participation by nurses was needed if the military was to provide effective medical field treatment. A total of seven nurses, under the direction of Reverend Mother Hanna Grier Coome, served in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Although their tour of duty lasted only four weeks, these women proved that nursing could, and should in the future, play a vital role in providing treatment to wounded soldiers.

Georgina Fane Pope. The first Canadian to receive the Royal Red Cross.

Elizabeth L. Smellie. The first female colonel in the Canadian army.

The early links between nursing and the military were not restricted to wartime situations. With the discovery of gold in the Yukon in 1898, a contingent of Royal Canadian Dragoons was sent to the Klondike to reinforce the Northwest Mounted Police. Included with this contingent were four members of the Victorian Order of Nurses. These nurses not only fulfilled their duties in the Klondike, but proved invaluable to the party as it encountered many incidents that required medical treatment.

Nurses at No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station, July 1916

Following the formation of the Canadian Army Medical Department in June of 1899, the Canadian Army Nursing Service was created and four Canadian nurses were dispatched along with the volunteer force of 1,000 other Canadians to South Africa. They were granted the relative rank, pay and allowances of an army lieutenant. Before the war was over on May 31, 1902, eight Canadian Nursing Sisters and 8,372 Canadian soldiers had served in South Africa. Along with the usual battlefield-inflicted injuries, the ravages of disease compounded the horrors of war. The hot climate and a lack of sanitary facilities or adequate antiseptic conditions led to outbreaks of disease and infection. The statistics tell the story; before the first significant Canadian battle at Paardeburg 10 per cent of Canada's soldiers were unable to fight because of disease brought on by heat and poor sanitation. In fact, out of the 20,000 total British Empire deaths attributed to the conflict, only 6,000 were actual battle-related casualties.