Joan Kennedy (born Joan Barbara Fensham; 1908–1956) was a Canadian soldier.
Born in Middlesex, Kennedy moved to Victoria, British Columbia as a teenager and later worked as an accountant. When the Second World War began she founded the British Columbia Women's Service Corp to train women in noncombatant roles.[1] She was "the founding and driving force behind the creation" of the Canadian Women's Army Corps in 1941.[2] Kennedy was appointed commander-in-chief of the corps at the rank of lieutenant colonel – the first woman to receive a commission in the Canadian Army.[3][1]
Kennedy left the army in 1946 and died in 1956.[1]