By Teigan Goldsmith Hitsman

In a ceremony in November, the City of Ottawa will unveil a new road named for Lillian Bilsky Freiman z”l, a figure long celebrated for her wartime philanthropy, civic leadership, and tireless advocacy on behalf of veterans and the Jewish community. 

The naming will be attended by city councillors, members of the Royal Canadian Legion, local Jewish organizations, and descendants of Freiman as a public recognition of a woman whose work left a lasting mark on Ottawa and the nation. 

Born in Mattawa, Ont., in 1885 to Moses and Pauline Bilsky, Freiman moved to Ottawa as a young woman and quickly became a central organizer in the city’s social and charitable life. She eventually married department store magnate A. J. Freiman z”l and used her social position to coordinate relief efforts during the First World War. 

Freiman is perhaps best known as Canada’s “Poppy Lady.” In 1921, she organized the first “Poppy Day,” and it is believed that she produced the first Canadian remembrance poppies in her home on Somerset Street. 

Lillian would go on to lead Ottawa’s annual poppy campaign for the remainder of her life, helping to make the emblem a national symbol of remembrance and veterans’ care. In 1934, her leadership was recognized nationally as she became one of the first Jewish Canadians to be awarded the Order of the British Empire.

Though her life came to an early end in 1940, the breadth of her work left a clear institutional legacy, with her funeral having been attended by senior political and military figures. 

Today, her name is associated with the early adoption of the poppy in Canada, the development of veterans’ support programs, and the civic infrastructure that helped integrate immigrants and support the vulnerable.

The road which is being named after Freiman is in a new development in Barrhaven, constructed by Mattamy Homes. Her name was selected from a list of potential honourees. Dan Mackay, former honorary colonel of the Cameron Highlanders, has been a key voice in ensuring Freiman's part in Canadian history is recognized and advocated for her inclusion in an honour of this kind.

The private ceremony for the name unveiling will be held at City Hall where attendees will have the opportunity to celebrate and learn about Freiman’s life. 

In addition to the road naming, the Ottawa Jewish Archives is marking the occasion by installing a display at City Hall. Consisting of two bilingual banners, the display will showcase Freiman’s life and legacy and feature her work with veterans and the poppy campaign, making her story more accessible to Ottawa’s community. The banners, which will be displayed on the main floor at City Hall, will be on display during the week leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11.  

For many in Ottawa’s Jewish community, the new street name is not only about honouring an individual, but also an act of public memory that connects present-day residents to the city’s multi-layered past. 

Freiman’s story is also the story of a community that helped build the capital’s social fabric. With the road bearing her name, a daily reminder will stand for residents and visitors alike that civic life is often shaped by the quiet, persistent labour of volunteers and organizers and that those contributions deserve a visible place in the public landscape. 

-- Teigan Goldsmith Hitsman is the Archivist at the Ottawa Jewish Archives