Conscription Crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 " ( French : Crise de la conscription de 1917 ) " was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I . Background . Canada entered World War I on 4 August 1914 . Colonel Sam Hughes was the Canadian Minister of Militia and on 10 August he was permitted to create a militia of 25 , 000 men . Before the end of August 1914 Hughes had already created a training camp at Valcartier , Quebec , which was capable of housing 32 , 000 men . The first contingent of 31 , 200 Canadians , dubbed " Canada ' s Answer " , arrived in Britain on October 14 for continued training . Hughes moved with incredible speed to create Canadian battalions which allowed Canadian troops to be kept together as units for the first time . Relatively few francophone s volunteered . The experience of the first contingent suggested that they could expect nothing but ill treatment as French - speaking Catholics in English - speaking battalions filled with what they perceived as mostly Protestant men and officers , unable to communicate with them and imbued with the spirit underlying Regulation 17 . Young French Canadians seeking to serve , chose , instead , the few traditional " French " regiments of the Canadian militia , such as " Les Fusiliers Mont - Royal " , where barracks life was in French and only the command language was in English . They had to be turned away , because the Minister of Militia and his subordinates were obstinate in their refusal to mobilize these traditionally French regiments or to create new ones . However , the government continued to raise its expectations for volunteers , aiming for 150 , 000 men by 1915 . English Canadians did not believe that French Canada was providing a fair share to the war effort . Sam Hughes , in June 1917 , informed the House of Commons that of the 432 , 000 Canadian volunteers fewer than 5 % came from French Canada , which made up 28 % of the Canadian population at that time . There have been many reasons proposed for the lack of volunteers from Quebec ; however , many prominent Canadian historians suggest that the Ontario government ' s move to disallow French language instruction in Regulation 17 as the main reason . Political pressure in Quebec , along with some public rallies , demanded the creation of French - speaking units to fight a war that was viewed as being right and necessary by many Quebecers , despite Regulation 17 in Ontario and the resistance in Quebec of those such as Henri Bourassa . Indeed , Montreal ' s " La Presse " editorialized that Quebec should create a contingent to fight as part of the French Army . When the government relented , the first new unit was the 22nd ( French Canadian ) Battalion , CEF . While a few other French - speaking units were also allowed to be created , mostly by Reserve officers , they were all disbanded to provide replacements for the 22nd , which suffered close to 4 , 000 wounded and killed in the course of the war . As the war dragged on , soldiers and politicians soon realized there would be no quick end . Eventually , people learned of the trench conditions and number of casualties in Europe , and men stopped volunteering . There were over 300 , 000 recruits by 1916 , but Prime Minister Robert Borden had promised 500 , 000 by the end of that year , despite the fact that Canada ' s population was only 8 million at the time . Conscription Crisis 1917 . After the Battle of the Somme , Canada was in desperate need to replenish its supply of soldiers ; however , there were very few volunteers to replace them . The recruiting effort in Quebec had failed , and Canada turned to its only unused option : conscription . Almost all French Canadians opposed conscription : they felt that they had no particular loyalty to either Britain or France . Led by Henri Bourassa , they felt their only loyalty was to Quebec . English Canadians generally supported the war effort as they felt stronger ties to the British Empire . The Conscription Crisis of 1917 caused a considerable rift along ethnic lines between Anglophones and Francophones . After visiting Britain for a meeting of First Ministers in May 1917 , Borden announced that he would introduce the Military Service Act On August 29 , 1917 . The Act was passed : allowing the government to conscript men across the country if the Prime Minister felt that it was necessary . The election of 1917 . To solidify support for conscription in the 1917 election , Borden extended the vote through the Military Voters Act to overseas soldiers , who were in favour of conscription to replace their depleted forces ( women serving as nurses were also given the right to vote ) . For Borden , these votes had another advantage , as they could be distributed in any riding , regardless of the soldier ' s regular place of residence . With the Wartime Elections Act , women who had close male relatives serving overseas were also granted the right to vote in this election , as they appeared to be more patriotic and more worthy of a public voice . On the other hand , conscientious objector s and recent immigrants from " enemy countries " were denied the right to vote . In the election , Borden was opposed not only by Bourassa , but also by Liberal Party leader Wilfrid Laurier , though he had been abandoned by much of his party . Laurier had opposed conscription from the beginning of the war , arguing that an intense campaign for volunteers would produce enough troops . He privately felt that if he joined the coalition government , Quebec would fall under what he perceived as a dangerous nationalism of Bourassa , which might ultimately lead to Quebec leaving the Canadian confederation . Borden ' s Unionist Party won the election with 153 seats ; Laurier ' s Liberals secured 82 seats , 62 from Quebec . Conscription in practice . After the Military Service Act was passed in 1917 tensions ran high throughout Canada . Not all Canadians were as enthusiastic about joining the war effort as the first Canadian volunteers had been . In fact many people objected to the idea of war completely . The conscientious objectors or unwilling soldiers sought exemption from combat . Instead , many joined the non - combatant corps , where they took on other roles . Their duties consisted of cleaning and other labour . They did not carry weapons but were expected to dress in uniform , and they practised regular army discipline . Often the conscientious objector was abused , deemed a coward , and stripped of basic rights . In the British House of Commons a resolution for the disenfranchisement of conscientious objectors was defeated by 141 to 71 . Lord Hugh Cecil , who was a well - known churchman and statesmen , said that he was “ entirely out of sympathy for conscientious objectors , but he could not force them to do what they thought was wrong or punish them for refusing to do something they thought was wrong . ” However , the government was making an effort to be sympathetic toward those who refused to take part in military service . Many communities set up local tribunals . If a man refused to serve he was put in front of a panel of two judges : one appointed by a board of selection named by Parliament , and the other by the senior county judge . The man was to plead his case , and if the panel was not convinced , the man asking for exemption was allowed to appeal . If the judges found that it was best if the person stayed at home , then he was not sent overseas . Many Canadians were unhappy with the conscientious objectors ' choice to refuse combat . Many people believed that if people were not willing to give service against the enemy , then the only choice for them was between civil or military prisons . Conscription posed a difficult question for the government . Conscription was unprecedented , and the problem proved to be that the government did not know who was best suited to become a soldier , a toolmaker or a farmer . The issue of manpower and insuring that the proper men were being relocated to the most appropriate roles overseas was an issue that lasted the duration of the war . Quebec Easter riots and the end of the war . On January 1 , 1918 , the Unionist government began to enforce the Military Service Act . The act caused 404 , 385 men to be liable for military service , from which 385 , 510 sought exemption , but it was vague and offered many exemptions , and almost all of these men were able to avoid service , even if they had supported conscription . The most violent opposition occurred in Quebec , where anti - war attitudes drawn from French - Canadian nationalism sparked a weekend of rioting between March 28 and April 1 , 1918 . The disturbances began on the Thursday when Dominion Police detained a French - Canadian man who had failed to present his draft exemption papers . Despite the man ’ s release , an angry mob of nearly 200 soon descended upon the St . Roch District Police Station where the man had been held . By the following Good Friday evening , an estimated 15 , 000 rioters had sacked the conscription registration office as well as two pro - conscription newspapers within Quebec City . This escalation of violence along with rumours of an alleged province - wide uprising prompted Quebec City Mayor Henri Edgar Lavigueur to contact Ottawa and request reinforcements . Alarmed by the two days of rioting , the Borden Government invoked the War Measures Act of 1914 , which gave the federal government the power to directly oversee the maintenance of law and order in Quebec City . By the following morning , 780 federal soldiers had been deployed in the city , with an additional 1 , 000 en route from Ontario and 3 , 000 from western provinces . Despite their imminent arrival , protracted violence continued into the night of March 30 , leading in to a precarious Sunday . The final and bloodiest conflict happened Easter Monday , when crowds once again organized against the military presence in the city , which by then had grown to 1 , 200 soldiers – all of which came from Ontario . Once armed rioters began to fire on troops from concealed positions , the soldiers were ordered to fire on the crowds , immediately causing them to disperse . Though the actual number of civilian casualties is debated , official reports from that day name five men killed by gunfire . Dozens more were injured . Among the soldiers are 32 recorded injuries that day , with no deaths . Monday , April 1 , marked the end of the Easter Riots , which totaled over 150 casualties and $ 300 , 000 in damage . The Easter Riots represent one of the most violent disturbances in Canadian history . This stemmed from pre - existing currents in French - Canadian nationalism , which became exacerbated during war time and ultimately erupted over conscription . Curiously , the event itself is rarely studied as anything other than a footnote to the larger political debate around conscription at the time . However , the severity and swiftness of Ottawa ’ s response serves to demonstrate their determination to impose conscription and prevent a national crisis . Moreover , the military crackdown which lasted in Quebec until the end of the war resulted in an increase in state power in the wake of growing French - Canadian nationalism . By the spring of 1918 , the government had amended the act so that there were no exemptions , which left many English Canadians opposed as well . Even without exemptions , only about 125 , 000 men were ever conscripted , and only 25 , 000 of these were sent to the front . Fortunately for Borden , the war ended within a few months , but the issue left Canadians divided and distrustful of their government . In 1920 , Borden retired , and his successor , Arthur Meighen , was defeated in the 1921 election . Conservatives were virtually shut out of Quebec for the next 50 years .