Military Service Act (1917)

On 24 July 1917 the Military Service Bill was adopted by a coalition of federal Conservatives and Liberal Unionists. From that time forward, any Canadian male aged 18 to 60 could be called up for military service. The act not only promised a solution to lagging military enlistment, but also split the opposition. Its implementation prompted hundreds of thousands of petitions across Canada for exemptions and resulted in Easter weekend riots in Quebec City in 1918. In due course just under 100,000 single men, aged 20 to 22, would be conscripted.