Gender inequality in Canada really started in the 1500s, which was when the colonization of Canada first began. The first nations, who lived in Canada from long before, did not have any problems with gender inequalities. After that, there were not any significant changes until 1791, when all people with property could vote, but unfortunately in 1849, all women regardless of race or religion were banned from voting. In the 1800s there were many important things that happened. In 1862 the Mount Allison University in New Brunswick allowed female students. In 1870 the first woman joined the federal services. In 1871 over half of the light manufacturing workforce were women and children. This included the manufacturing of shoes, tobacco and printing. In Canada, it took a very long time for women to get the right to vote, by 1917 5 provinces allowed women to vote. Over time many minorities were also given the right to vote and by 1960 all Canadians were given the right to vote, including all of the aboriginal people. One of the first big steps to gender equality in Canada was fair employment practices in Ontario. This along with the female employee fair remuneration act of Ontario aimed to reduce discrimination in the workforce and provide women with equal pay. After Ontario passed both of these acts, many of the other provinces in Canada also passed similar acts with the intent to reduce discrimination in the workforce. This led to the government passing 3 federal acts all of which were aimed to reduce gender inequality in the workforce. This is just a brief summary of some of the history of gender inequality in Canada, although currently, gender inequality is at an all-time low in Canada, it is not completely gone which is why I would like to spread awareness about the topic.
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