During the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of Canadians worked on the home front, producing materials needed for a nation at war. Women who worked in munitions factories risked their lives handling high explosives to fill ammunition.
After peace was restored, the vast majority of women resumed their domestic duties. Over 80 years have passed since women served their country during this unique and memorable time in history. It's time that we, as Canadians, remember the invaluable contribution they made for the freedom we enjoy today. The Bomb Girls Legacy Foundation was established to commemorate their courage, dedication, and grit in helping to win the war.
During the Second World War, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, women rolled up their sleeves to do their "bit" for King and Country and faithfully toiled in hundreds of factories. Unfortunately, after the war ended, the Canadian government ordered all records destroyed. In fact, a list of wartime factories in Canada doesn't exist. We need your help. If you know of a factory that operated during the war, please fill out the form below. Our goal is to populate the map with hundreds of pins, each representing a place where women (and men) prepared war materials, ultimately helping to restore peace in Canada.
Without argument, Canadian women contributed to the Axis’ decisive victory in Europe. Factories were established from across the nation, from Scarborough to Pickering, from Nobel to Peterborough, from Hamilton to Montreal, from Repentigny to Brownsburg, Quebec. The very essence of Canadian integrity and work ethic were seen in each war worker.
The Bomb Girls Legacy Foundation has many initiatives underway including a commemorative banner program, children's books, erecting heritage plaques, gaining heritage status of the GECO lands, establishing a museum in an original GECO building, updating school curriculum, erecting a national monument in Ottawa, and founding "Diamond Girls."
Since the publication of Bomb Girls: Trading Aprons for Ammo in 2015, several noteworthy projects have evolved to commemorate the lives of courageous women who, with their tenacity and dedication, helped bring an end to the Second World War.
"It is through such efforts as (these bomb girls) that we shall eventually win this war. The wonderful job (they) have been doing is now showing results on many of the fronts where the United Nations are in action." -- R.M.P. HAMILTON, GECO PRESIDENT"
“The detonator was the size of a man’s collar button. We’d put less than an eighth of a teaspoon of tetryl into the detonators. We’d pull the lever down for fifteen seconds. We were told, ‘you can laugh, sing, or talk, but watch that clock!’”
“I worked on the high explosives side, on an assembly line with electric drills. I also painted the fuses to waterproof the screws. My hands got very yellow.”
“During the Great Depression everyone cared for one another, even the grocer. You could run up a high bill. Everything was personal, not business.”
“We were all young people. When we took that job, we got paid sixty cents an hour; that’s about five dollars a day. I made more than my dad did.”
“One building was the drop zone, a tall building where they’d drop the bombs from a great height to detonate. I was not allowed to watch the explosions.”
"It is through such efforts as (these bomb girls) that we shall eventually win this war. The wonderful job (they) have been doing is now showing results on many of the fronts where the United Nations are in action.”
“As we have emphasized before, freedom is not free. Those of us who recall the 50,000 Canadians who never returned from the great crusade in Flanders a quarter century ago, know that freedom then was bought at a high price. There has been nothing so far in this war to warrant hopes that the price of victory this time will be cheap.”
Support Our Brave War Girls – Honoring Canada's Unsung Heroines.
Throughout history, countless young Canadian women have stepped forward during times of war—not only as nurses and volunteers but also as codebreakers, resistance fighters, and unwavering pillars of support on the home front. These courageous women, often overlooked, carried the weight of war with resilience and grace. Today, we invite you to help preserve their legacy.
DonateBy 1942, over 800,000 Canadians worked in war-related occupations to support the Allied war effort, each with a unique story to tell. Here are just a handful of these patriotic stories.
