Women in Canadian history and the right to vote

Women have helped shape Canada, from the War of 1812 to the Olympic podium. On the citizenship test, questions about women usually ask for a name or a year: who started the suffrage movement, which province gave women the vote first, or who was the first woman elected to Parliament. This guide puts those facts in one place. It also explains what equality of women and men means in Canada today, and it ends with a timeline and the mix-ups that cost people points.

Equality of women and men today

In Canada, women and men are equal under the law. This is the same in every province and territory, and no family custom or cultural tradition can change it. Discover Canada presents this equality as one of the basic values that every citizen is expected to respect.

The study guide is also very clear about what Canada does not accept. Canada is an open and diverse country, but that openness does not include:

• spousal abuse (violence against a husband or wife);
• so-called “honour killings”;
• female genital mutilation;
• forced marriage;
• any other gender-based violence.

These acts are crimes under Canadian law, and people found guilty are severely punished. Multiculturalism does not protect them. On the test, a statement such as “Canada accepts forced marriage when it is part of a family tradition” is false. You can read more in the Rights and Responsibilities chapter.

Two early pioneers

Laura Secord and the War of 1812

During the War of 1812, the United States invaded Canada. In 1813 Laura Secord walked about 30 km (19 miles) to warn a British officer, Lieutenant James FitzGibbon, that the Americans were planning an attack. Her warning helped the British win the battle at Beaver Dams. She is remembered as a heroine of the war, but she did not fight. Her contribution was the long walk and the warning.

Mary Ann Shadd Cary, the first woman publisher

Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an activist who worked against slavery. In 1853 she helped found and edit a weekly newspaper, The Provincial Freeman. This made her the first woman publisher in Canada. Her story links to another part of Canadian history: Upper Canada moved to abolish slavery in 1793, and slavery was abolished across the British Empire in 1833.

The long road to the vote

When Canada was created at Confederation in 1867, very few people could vote. The vote was limited to adult white men who owned property. Women, and many other Canadians, won this right later, step by step.

Dr. Emily Stowe and the suffrage movement

Suffrage is a formal word for the right to vote. Dr. Emily Stowe was the first Canadian woman to practise medicine in Canada, and she founded the women’s suffrage movement. The movement she started pushed governments to give women a voice in elections.

Manitoba leads the way, 1916

Manitoba was the first province to give women the right to vote, in 1916.

The federal vote, 1917 and 1918

During the First World War, the government of Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden began to give women the federal vote in 1917, starting with military nurses. In 1918, most Canadian women aged 21 and over won the right to vote in federal elections.

Agnes Macphail, the first woman MP, 1921

In 1921, Agnes Macphail, a farmer and teacher, became the first woman elected to the House of Commons. Note the difference: Emily Stowe started the movement for the vote, while Agnes Macphail was the first woman to win a seat in Parliament.

Quebec, 1940

Women in Quebec won the right to vote in provincial elections in 1940, thanks to the work of Thérèse Casgrain and others. Quebec was one of the last places in Canada where women gained the vote.

Every citizen 18 and over

Some groups waited even longer. Japanese Canadians, the last Canadians of Asian descent to gain the vote, won it in 1948. Aboriginal people gained the vote in 1960. Today every Canadian citizen aged 18 or older may vote, and voting is both a right and a responsibility of citizenship.

Timeline

Dr. Emily Stowe is not in the table because the test asks what she did, not a year. For dates from every chapter, see our key dates guide.

Women in the arts, sport and public life

Discover Canada also names women who made Canadians proud in culture and sport. A question may give the name and ask for the field, or describe the achievement and ask for the name.

Royal women appear in test questions too. Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital in 1857. The province of Alberta and Lake Louise are named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, her fourth daughter. And the explorer Martin Frobisher sailed to the Arctic for Queen Elizabeth I in 1576.

For every person in the study guide, grouped by topic, see People to know for the citizenship test.

Common mix-ups

• 1916 vs 1918 vs 1940. 1916: Manitoba, the first province. 1918: most women, in federal elections. 1940: Quebec, provincial elections. Think “first province, whole country, last province”.
• 1917 vs 1918. In 1917 the federal vote began to reach women, starting with military nurses. If a question says “most women aged 21 and over”, the answer is 1918.
• 1921 is not a voting-rights year. It is the year Agnes Macphail was elected to the House of Commons.
• Stowe vs Macphail vs Casgrain. Stowe started the suffrage movement and was a doctor. Macphail was the first woman Member of Parliament. Casgrain campaigned for the vote in Quebec.
• Secord vs Shadd Cary. Secord is the War of 1812: a 30 km walk and a warning in 1813. Shadd Cary is a newspaper and the fight against slavery, in 1853.
• Emily Stowe vs Emily Carr. Two Emilys. Stowe was a doctor and a voting-rights pioneer. Carr was a painter of the West Coast.
• Le May Doan vs Petitclerc. Le May Doan won speed skating gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Petitclerc is a wheelchair racer. The 1996 sprint world record belongs to Donovan Bailey, a man.
• 1948 and 1960 are not about women. They are the years Japanese Canadians and Aboriginal people gained the vote.
• Equality has no exceptions. A cultural or family tradition never excuses forced marriage or other gender-based violence.

Ready to practise? Review the story in the Canada’s History chapter, then try Practice Test 1.