canadian women in wwi

CANADIAN WOMEN IN WWI

HOW THE WAR AFFECTED THEIR POSITION IN

CANADIAN SOCIETY

Adapted from

www.scheuernet.com/mod/resource/view.php?id=98

Women = too frail, emotional, should stay at home,

support from the home front, be nurses + ambulance

drivers.

Aboriginal peoples, Chinese, Japanese, East Indian,

Blacks = not real Canadians, racist attitudes, yet did

not prevent them from serving their nation!

Enemy aliens = Germans, Italian, Austrian-

Hungarians.

DO NOT ENTER

This did not prevent them from

serving Canada.

WE WILL SERVE! ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!

Over 1,000 Canadian women were

employed by the Royal Air Force (RAF)

as truck drivers, mechanics and

ambulance drivers.

Over 2,000 women enlisted in the

Canadian Armed Forces as nurses.

CANADIAN WOMEN

OVERSEAS

CANADIAN WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION

ON THE HOME FRONT

In 1915, with men fighting overseas,

there was a shortage of labour/workers.

So 30,000 women gained employment in

machine shops, metal factories, and

shipyards.• They worked in factories making guns, bullets,

bombs uniforms, ships, tanks and planes; they were also employed as welders, fitters, machinists, riveters and numerous other jobs that, before the war, were considered men's jobs.

WE CAN DO IT!

Women working proved that they could

indeed do a “man’s job.”

There was much opposition of women

moving into the public sphere of work

especially from the labour unions = they

were against hiring women.• If they did employ women they were paid 50% of a man’s

wage.

On top of being involved in the world

of paid employment, women also held

positions in:• Social work• Journalism• Public health

WOMEN’S PAID INVOLVEMENT

There were many successes

including:• The Alberta’s Married Women Relief Act (Emily Murphy) which permitted widows to a portion of her deceased husband’s estate.• Unions were organized to improve working conditions in the factories (Helena Gutteridge)

WOMEN’S SUCCESSES

Women also volunteered for the Red

Cross and organized committees to send

food and letters overseas.

Thousands of Canadian women spent

their time raising money for the war effort

(concerts, tag days, teas, card parties, lectures,

and bazaars).

TIME WELL SPENT

The women who couldn't work in

factories or other jobs spent much of their

time knitting heavy scarves, balaclavas and

socks to be sent to the soldiers who were

fighting overseas.

They also made pillows, sheets, and

flannel shirts for the soldiers.

TIME WELL SPENT

On September 20, 1917, women whose

husbands, sons and brothers served in the

war were given the right to vote = Military

Service Act/War-time Elections Act.

All women in Canada, thanks to the

Suffragists, received enfranchisement (the

right to vote) federally in 1918.

THE VOTE!

Women on the home front were as valuable

to the war

effort as soldiers because they kept the

Canadian economy going and took over men's

jobs so the men could enlist to fight.

INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION

S