Women's Suffrage In Canada Essay

Women’s suffrage in Canada has always been a tough and very important historical event. They have experienced many cruel things from their political rights, the workforce, their education, and in their everyday activities. To begin, before the wars, women had to face unfair battles before WWI. Firstly, Canadian women’s rights to vote were extremely limited, restricted education options, restricted workforce options, and also had to fight social expectations. Women in Canada were not allowed to vote at all. They were seen as a housewife to their husbands, and only had to focus on their children and husband. Secondly, since women were seen as less, their education was limited. Yes, they were able to learn the basics, but when it came to more

Next, women’s options in the workforce were also restricted because of this society’s view. Canadian women either had low paying jobs, or were housewives. Lastly, women had to meet the expectations of society. Always looking perfect for anyone who might have dropped by, or had to meet the “perfect wife” standards. These standards included always being dressed up, neat and clean, with a clean house, and polite. After the wars, the women's suffrage movement became much more supported by the public. Women started gaining more and more rights to voting in three different stages. The first stage occurred in 1917 when the Military Voters Act was released to the public. This allowed women who were part of the armed services and nursing had the option to vote. The second stage was the Wartime Election Act. This act extended the voting policy to women who either had a husband, had a son, or their father was serving overseas. Finally, after WWI ended, all women over the age of 21 were allowed to vote in the federal election on January 1st, 1919. But the political inequality also extremely impacted the ways they were treated in the

This led to more jobs and options that opened up to women. These jobs included working in factories, on airfields, and on farms. For example, more women were able to provide for their children and help the government by funding things to support the soldiers in the war. Women also got the chance to work in regular civilian jobs as well as taking over for their husbands. Out of the 11 million Canadians, only 600 000 Canadian women actually had permanent jobs in the beginning of WWII. Later on, around 1 200 000 Canadian women had permanent jobs. This adds up to around 10.91% of workers in Canada were women. Many women who used to have many sons and a husband to look after their land or farm now had to take care of their land themselves no matter how big the job was. Women also did charitable work supporting the soldiers. They would knit clothing, or prepare packages to be sent to the camps overseas. In 1941-1942, women who wanted to serve in the war were finally able to. Military organizations were created specifically for women leading to more than 50 000 women serving in WWII. Women not only worked in the war as nurses, but also worked in hospitals and factories. Before women gained more political rights, they were only expected to work until married then just become housewives. Now that the workforce has opened up for women they would work while also being housewives. During WWI, women