The 27-year-old Kennedy cleared a season's best 4.90 meters in a victory that was also redemption for the Tokyo Olympics in which injuries caused her to be eliminated in the preliminary round. Moon won gold in Tokyo.
Newman had to find her way back to the sport after taking a break due to a "brain health issue."
"There's mental health, and there's brain health," Newman said.
"It took a while. A lot of EMDR [eye movement desensitization and reprocessing] sessions. My neurologist came, so I was pretty excited to see him in the stands. That's something I will always believe in. My coaches believed in me. They wouldn't let me give up. That's what makes my heart beat so fast.
"Now I'm hungry for more. Bronze is cute, but silver and gold? I got to get up there."
Edward Archibald's bronze in the men's event at the 1908 London Games is the only other Olympic pole vault medal in Canadian history.
It's the third medal in athletics for Canada. Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, B.C., won gold in the men's hammer throw on Sunday, and Camryn Rogers of Richmond, B.C., claimed gold in the women's hammer throw on Tuesday.
With files from CBC Sports and
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