The National Council of Women of Canada is a Canadian advocacy organization based in Ottawa, Ontario, aimed at improving conditions for women, families, and communities. A federation of nationally-organized societies of men and women and local and provincial councils of women, it is the Canadian member of the International Council of Women (ICW). The Council has concerned itself in areas including women's suffrage, immigration, health care, education, mass media, the environment, and many others. Formed on October 27, 1893, in Toronto, Ontario, it is one of the oldest advocacy organizations in the country. Lady Aberdeen was elected the first president of the National Council of Women of Canada in 1893. Prominent Council leaders included Lady Gzowski, Dr. Augusta Stowe-Gullen, and Adelaide Hoodless.

Ishbel Maria Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, was a British writer, philanthropist, and an advocate of women's interests. As the wife of John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, she was viceregal consort of Canada from 1893 to 1898 and of Ireland from 1906 to 1915.