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This institution was established in 1876 as the Toronto Women's Literary Club to disguise their suffrage actions, and officially became the Canadian Women's Suffrage Association in 1883. Shortly afterwards in 1884, widowed and unmarried women got the right to vote in Ontario municipal elections.
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Since most of the men of Canada left for combat during World War I, women took up heavy work like working in/managing factories, giving them the chance to prove that they were just as capable as men when it came to working. They also contributed to the war effort as part of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, which included 3141 women throughout the Great War. While no legislation was made straight away, this was perhaps the biggest step towards women getting equal rights to men.
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The efforts of women suffrage and their work in the war allowed Canada to pass the Military Voters Act in 1917, which allowed women with relatives in the armed forces to vote in federal elections on behalf of men. In 1919, this right was extended to all women, and all provinces followed Ontario promptly besides Quebec, which withheld women's voting rights and rights to office until 1940.
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In 1927, five Canadian suffragists, Emily Murphy, Irene Marryat Parlby, Nellie Mooney McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards, demanded that women be legally considered persons so they could be appointed to the Senate. In 1928 the Supreme Court declared women were not "persons", which resulted in the Persons Case. The British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overturned the Supreme Court's ruling. In 1930, Cairine Wilson became the first woman elected to the Senate.
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Because all the men left again for war, women took up industrial tasks and other professional jobs in finance, communication and construction. Over one million women worked full-time paid in Canada's workforce. The federal government also financed provincial child care in the form of nurseries. While demands for legal change in 1943 amounted to little, women slowly began pouring into the workforce. Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess Elizabeth, worked as a mechanic herself in the war.
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Women were being paid less for the same work as men and demanded a change, which resulted in the Ontario government passing the Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act in 1951. All other provinces followed suit throughout the 50s besides Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador. Politicians were inclined to agree with feminists because it was slowly becoming apparent that households often needed an extra hand in order to support themselves.
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Women were given the chance to speak to a group of commissioners about women's rights from 1967 to 1970. When this amounted to nothing, women began forming political parties as part of the National Action Committee. They possessed 350 members by 1986, and in 1984 there was even a televised debate surrounding feminist issues during the federal election.
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Though equal wages were promised to both sexes, full-time female employees continued to earn much less for the same work than their male counterparts. Their protestation and movements resulted in Trudeau passing a "Canadian Human Rights Act" which gave basic rights to all people, promising no discrimination and equal pay for work of equal value. While this practice was not truly enforced for years, it was a major step for legislation in securing women's rights.
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Trudeau intended to redesign the Canadian Constitution with a new Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1980. The NAC took the chance to push women's rights, but were faced by ignorance and sexism, even by Senators like Harry Hays. As a result, 1300 women went into parliament to debate a certain section of the charter about equal rights between men and women, which resulted in an amendment to Section 15. Consequently, rights and freedoms were to be equal between men and women.
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The final major movement that feminists pushed in Canada was an agreement among countries all around the world. Many countries, such as Australia and the United States, signed alongside Canada on the 17th of July, 1980. By December 10, 1981, the demands listed in the treaty were officially put into place. Unfortunately, even today many countries have not signed the UN agreement and many, including Canada, often fail to live up to its standards.
