Women in Leadership - Office of Women and Gender Equality

100th Anniversary of Women Achieving the Right to Vote and Hold Public Office

One of the most significant moments in this province’s history was the long-fought battle for women’s suffrage, culminating with achieving the right to vote on April 3, 1925.

We owe this triumph to the courageous women who stood firm in the face of opposition. To those who wrote, who spoke, who organized – who refused to accept silence. Pioneers such as Armine Gosling, Fannie McNeil, Lady Jeannette Thorburn, Emma Peters, Myra Campbell and Agnes Ayre, who led the suffrage movement – often facing resistance, ridicule and countless barriers.

They believed that women deserved to stand as equals to their husbands, fathers and brothers, with the power to shape the future.

It is because of them that the voices of women are heard in our elections, in our boardrooms, community organizations and beyond – and their perspectives, our perspectives are helping guide and shape our laws, policies and economic future. No longer are we governed without consent – no longer are we treated as second-class citizens in a land we helped build, sustain and nurture.

The right to vote and hold public office is not just a privilege – it is a responsibility. It is a call to action. It is a reminder that democracy flourishes when all voices are included and when every individual has a seat at the table.