Women Get the Vote

At the time of Confederation, the vote was limited to property-owning adult white males. This was common in most democratic countries at the time. The effort by women to achieve the right to vote is known as the women's suffrage movement. Its founder in Canada was Dr. Emily Stowe, the first Canadian woman to practise medicine in Canada. In 1916, Manitoba became the first province to grant voting rights to women.

In 1917, thanks to the leadership of women such as Dr. Stowe and other suffragettes, the federal government of Sir Robert Borden gave women the right to vote in federal elections -- first to nurses at the battle front, then to women who were related to men in active wartime service. In 1918, most Canadian female citizens over 21 were granted the right to vote in federal elections. Due to the work of Thérèse Casgrain and others, Quebec granted women the vote in 1940.