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.
This biographical article related to the military of Canada is a stub.