First World War Effects On Canada Essay

The First World War brought profound changes to Canada, positive and negative. It changed the way we saw ourselves as a country and nation, despite the huge costs that it came with, and it helped address topics that probably would never have ever been acknowledged.

To start off, Canadian troops fought well as a combined force and their victories, mainly at Vimy and Passchendaele renowned them as well-organized and heroic fighters. The need for war supplies had stimulated the economy, bringing about major growth in Canadian industry. Women attained the right to vote for the first time which a few years ago, was thought to be absurd. Canada gained international status with its participation at the Paris Peace Conference, and Canadians began

Firstly, women were put to work in military positions. 2000 of them became nurses and tended to injured soldiers, and another 6000 became staff officers. So once could easily say, that finding a job during the war was very easy. Another positive impact was that now women were able to work in factories since the men were at war. Also, women were now able to do jobs that they never would have dreamed of. For example, a street car conductor was a job traditionally meant for men, but now women could be easily see doing this job and it would be nothing out of the ordinary. An additional positive impact would be, after coming back home from war, the returning men had no jobs which would not right away be a positive but the outcome would be. In 1919, there was a giant strike in Winnipeg known as “The Winnipeg General Strike” for soldiers who came back to a country with no job availability as well as unjust working circumstances. The soldiers felt more like they needed to stand up for their own rights and in the long run, they received everything they fought for and established a Union. All this was an indirect effect of what the War caused and one could certainly say that World War One helped to make a better life for the people of

There was a lot of bitterness between the French and English due to issues surrounding conscription. Those who spoke against conscription were labeled as unpatriotic and cowardly. Immigrants who came from Europe were discriminated against highly as well and this can be seen in the War Measures Act. The War Measures Act was an act that allowed the government emergency powers under wartime allowing them to detain people and intervene in the economy as well as censoring mail and other such things. This meant that anyone considered an “enemy alien” (immigrant whose homeland was at war with Canada) could be deported or imprisoned. Not only could they be arrested and deported, but they could be thrown into internment camps. Over 8500 people were held here in isolation and all of these policies brought a large amount of nationalism and prejudice in Canadian society. Finally, another negative was that the First World War was very expensive. Canada spent millions of dollars’ worth of materials overseas to support their troops which resulted in a huge debt that would take decades to pay off which eventually also had a part in the great