Agnes Macphail, 1890-1954

Agnes Macphail WWP

Photo credit - Yousuf Karsh, Library and Archives of Canada @ Wikipedia

A Canadian politician. The first woman elected to the House of Commons of Canada.



Agnes Campbell MacPhail was born in Proton Township, Ontario, Canada, to a family of farmers. At 14, she wanted to attend high school, but her parents wanted her help on the farm. After receiving permission to further her education, MacPhail went to study at the Owen Sound Collegiate School for a year before transferring to Stratford Normal School, graduating with a teaching certificate. While teaching at several schools in Ontario and Alberta, she became active in the Ontario agricultural co-operative movement, joining the political and social organization United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) and the United Farm Women of Ontario. She also began to publish a column in the Farmer’s Sun newspaper.

Following the amendments to the Elections Act that passed two years earlier, Canadian women could vote in national elections for the first time in 1921. Macphail decided to represent the farmers in her region and ran as a member of the Progressive Party of Canada, representing the district of South-East Grey. When elected, she became the first woman Member of Parliament (MP) in Canada and served for 19 years.

In 1924, Macphail felt that the Progressive Party did not protect and promote the interests of farmers and industrial workers, and she co-founded the Ginger Group. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the group allied with various agrarian, labor, and socialist groups to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), with Macphail serving as its first president. The organization lobbied for the nationalization of key industries and called for the formation of a welfare state to provide universal health insurance, pensions, and unemployment insurance.

Throughout her tenure as MP, Macphail promoted various social issues, advocating farmers’ rights and also women, immigrants, miners, prisoners, and other marginalized groups. In 1936, she contributed to the formation of the investigative Archambault Commission, which concluded with overall prison reform; in 1939, she founded the Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada, which assisted women and gender diverse people in the justice system.

In 1940, at the age of 50, she lost her seat in the House of Commons, and for the next three years, she wrote for various newspapers, lectured throughout Canada and the US, and worked for the CCF.

In 1943, she returned to politics and won the provincial election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Alongside Rae Luckock, Macphail became one of the first two women members of the Ontario Legislature and was the first woman sworn in as an Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP). She lost her seat in the 1945 elections but won it back three years later. In 1951, her final year in this role, she worked for the passage of the Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act, the first equal pay legislation in Ontario. Shortly after, she lost her seat.

She continued to promote issues she believed in, mainly women’s status and social rights. In 1954, she was offered an appointment to the Senate by Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent, but she died before receiving the position. She was 63 years old.

Telling Times - Agnes Macphail

On December 6, 1921, Agnes Macphail became Canada’s first female member of Parliament. Although she faced opposition from traditionalists and her own party, she remained in office until 1940, focusing on issues concerning farming, labour, and penitentiary reform.

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“Most women think politics aren't lady-like. Well, I'm no lady. I'm a human being.”

“Most women think politics aren't lady-like. Well, I'm no lady. I'm a human being.”

Fun Facts

  • She never married nor had children.
  • She was the first Canadian woman delegate to the League of Nations in Switzerland.
  • A memorial plaque in her honor stands in Hopeville, Ontario.
  • Several highway signs with the inscription "You are now entering Agnes Macphail Country" are located in Grey County, Ontario.
  • In 2005, she won the title of the Greatest Ontario Woman.
  • March 24, her birthday, is Agnes Macphail Day in East York.
  • Several schools, buildings, and streets in Canada were named after her.
  • The East York's Agnes Macphail Award is given in her honor.
  • A bust in her likeliness, by Felix Weihs de Weldon, resides in the House of Commons.

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Telling Times - Agnes Macphail

On December 6, 1921, Agnes Macphail became Canada’s first female member of Parliament. Although she faced opposition from traditionalists and her own party, she remained in office until 1940, focusing on issues concerning farming, labour, and penitentiary reform.
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