Canada has had many wars throughout its history. World War I had a tremendous impact on Canada and several economic, political and cultural changes occurred as a result of World War One. These changes initially affected Canada in a negative way but then became catalysts for change when the war ended. Canada emerged from World War One stronger politically and economically. Politically, Canada established its independence as a nation internally and externally. This independence was shown with the Treaty of Versailles. The battle of Vimy Ridge also brought the nation together as a whole because it showed that they did not need to rely on Britain's help. .
During WWI, many people in Canada had good jobs and were working in the factories providing munitions for the war. The economy improved since the war first began. Canada faced some cultural challenges during the war that they had to deal with after the war. At the beginning of World War One, Prime Minister Borden, promised that he wouldn't bring conscription into the war. This was thought because the war was originally thought to be a short war. The French originally were okay with the war and promoted Canada's decision, but when conscription was brought up the French became unhappy and didn't promote the war. The French weren't happy with the whole military organization because they thought it revolved around the English and they weren't concerned about the French Canadians thoughts. Canada still had a strong connection with Britain so the English dominant government supported the war. There were 500,000 volunteers, and there were only 13,000 who were French. There was a desperate need for more soldiers. In the first six months 40,928 people enlisted and during this same period of time there were 46,672 casualties. This is why Borden's government felt they needed to start conscripting in the war. On August 29, 1917, Parliament passed the Military Service Act.
