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One Small Step: Women’s Rights and the Citizenship Act

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, 75 Years of the Canadian Citizenship Act Special Issue, 2022

By Lynn Greiner

The issue of gender equality in Canada isn’t new. Women have been fighting for their rights since well before Canada was a country. Although total equality still hasn’t been achieved, legislators have been dragged, often kicking and screaming, closer towards equal rights for well over a century. The seemingly simple matter of citizenship is a prime example of this struggle.

The Citizenship Act that came into effect on January 1, 1947, was a good news/bad news piece of legislation for Canadian women. Before that date, there was no legal status for any “Canadian citizen” (Canadians were, legally, British subjects), no matter their gender, but women who lived in Canada still had fewer rights at the time than men.

To get a sense of how much the 1947 Act affected women, we need to take a look at what they were—or more correctly, were not—before and after it was passed.

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Lynn Greiner is a freelance writer who has covered technology, history, business, and many other areas for more than 20 years.

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Lynn Greiner
Lynn Greiner
Lynn Greiner is a freelance writer who has covered technology, history, business, and many other areas for more than 20 years.

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