Prior to 1916, apart from certain municipalities, which allowed women to vote, suffrage was reserved for male British subjects (this being before the Statute of Westminster, 1931) of 21 years of age.
The women's fight for the vote began in the 19th century with suffrage movements popping up around the world: in Britain, in the United States and in Canada. It is no doubt no surprise that the vote first appeared in the Prairies, the Canadian home of socialist change (seems ironic now, eh?) where left-leaning ideas such as the suffrage and Medicare were born.
Manitoba led the way for women's suffrage. In 1914 McClung and Manitoba's Political Equality League held a mock parliament which debated if women should be allowed to vote. Their request was turned down by "Premier" McClung. With the fall of the Tory government in Manitoba, women's suffrage was given a chance. Manitoba was the first to give women the right to vote and to stand in elections in 1916. The biggest obstacle for female suffrage, especially in the East, was strong conservatism and in Quebec, Catholicism.
The vote was soon awarded, that same year, to women in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Women there also have the right. In 1917 women on the federal level can vote for the first time. But it isn't every woman, only those who are related to men serving in the armed forces or who have themselves been employed by the armed forces. Ontario and British Colombia also gave women the vote, them fully. British Columbia also gave women the right to stand in elections.
Finally, 1918! The federal vote was extended to all women of legal age (21 at the time) across the country for federal purposes. It will take more time for certain provincial governments to grant women suffrage. Nova Scotia was the first province after the federal vote was granted to extend the vote to provincial elections, also in 1918. The next year, Ontarian women may stand in elections while both rights were handed to New Brunswickers. In 1920, the year American women could finally vote, women may stand in elections in Canada, a right that American women have had since their Constitution was written.
In 1922, Prince Edward Island awarded voting and representing rights to women, leaving Quebec the only Canadian province to lack female suffrage, but the anti-suffrage movement was strong in Quebec, where nearly 50,000 women signed a petition against the vote. In 1934, New Brunswicker women finally equaled their voting rights with representative rights: the right to stand in elections.
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