Women's Role in WWI
Women's lives were changed dramatically as a result of the First World War. Many women served overseas during the war, taking on jobs as nurses, ambulance drivers, workers in clubs and canteens, and personnel in army offices. The largest role they played during the war was replacing men who had gone overseas in essential jobs in factories, and on farms at home. Thousands worked in munitions factories building weapons for war, while others worked for the government or on farms. Women who had husbands in the war had taken on the role as head of household and were looked upon to provide all necessities for their family.
War and the Suffrage Movement
As a result of women working outside the home, they proved that they were capable of playing the role of men by taking on their jobs. This convinced them that they should have an equal share in making political decisions. World War I greatly influenced the struggle in women's suffrage - gaining the right to vote. In 1917, Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden passed the Wartime Elections Act, granting mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives of soldiers the right to vote in federal elections. By the end of the war many women were able to vote in federal and provincial elections, although Native and and Asian woman were not granted the vote yet. Once men returned home from the war, women were expected to go back to their traditional roles and give their jobs back to the men. Women had come far in their journey to earn equity and they were not going to let it slip away. Following the war, women became active in social work, teaching, and public health and even medicine, journalism and law. Their fight didn't stop their, as women continued to work for better working conditions, improved housing, and equal rights for women.