From Stadacona to the REM · Drawing 20 of 36
The Right to Vote
1940
In 1940, a law gave women the vote in Québec provincial elections. Indigenous people living on reserves, women and men alike, only gained this right in 1969.
Look together
Where is the woman putting her ballot?
An idea to try
Hold a small vote on a light topic, such as the next book to read. Each person draws or writes their choice on a folded slip of paper and puts it in a box. Open the box together, count the slips and talk about how it feels to have a say.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Some women who owned property voted in Lower Canada after 1791, before a formal ban in 1849. Rules also differed by type of election. After years of campaigning, including by Idola Saint-Jean and Thérèse Casgrain, the law of April 25, 1940 allowed women to vote and stand in Québec provincial elections. Some Québec women first voted in two by-elections on November 19, 1940; women across the province then voted in the general election of August 8, 1944. This advance did not end every exclusion: Indigenous people living on reserves, women and men alike, had to wait until 1969.
With a young child, talk about being able to make your voice heard and take part in a shared choice. The woman drawn is imaginary; she stands for voting after the law, without showing an election held that day.
Sources and illustration notes (2)
A fictional woman representing voting after the 1940 law; no election on the day the law received assent is depicted.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Élections Québec — Right of Québec women to vote and to stand for officeAct assented to on April 25, 1940; Indigenous women living on reserves got the right to vote in provincial elections in 1969.
- Bibliothèque de l’Assemblée nationale — 1940 à aujourd’hui: les femmes au parlement (in French)The 1940 Act; Québec women first voted in the by-elections of November 19, 1940 (Mégantic and Terrebonne), then in the general election of August 8, 1944; Marie-Claire Kirkland elected on December 14, 1961.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Québec’s Great Moments to Colour
Tax calculated at checkout. Terms of sale