Women's first wartime contributions were as "nursing sisters", going abroad to care for the sick and wounded in times of conflict . However, it was during the First World War that women's role in warfare began to expand. Most Canadian women remained on the home front to join the land army, work in munitions factories, or support the war in their spare time. Canadian women contributed significantly to the war effort beyond just nursing. A great example of this includes, but is not limited to, their involvement in the agricultural sector. Women replaced men on farms to provide money for their families and food for men abroad. During the First World War, approximately 260,000 Canadian women volunteered to join the ranks of the Women's Land Army. They worked incredibly hard doing threshing, plowing and driving tractors. The farmers for whom the women worked took advantage of their desire to be part of the workforce. Most received about half the wages of men before the war. The farmers paid the women very little even though they worked long hours. Women were forced to work an average of 50 hours a week in the summer and 48 hours in the winter. Canadian women not only replaced men on farms, but also in factories. Many Canadian women remained on the home front to work in munitions factories. They were known as “munitionettes”. “Munitions in Canada and Great Britain produced 80% of the weapons and projectiles used by the Canadian and British armies.” The conditions in the factories were threatening because they were extremely unsafe. Women risked their lives every day working with poisonous substances and were not always provided with the required protective clothing and safety glasses...... middle of paper ......914-1918. Mishawaka: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1979. “Canada Remembers Women on the Home Front.” Veterans Affairs Canada. http://www.veterans.gc.ca (accessed 16 September 2013) Kelly, Nigel. The First World War. Ottawa: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1989.Martin, Sarah. “Women in the Workplace: Temporary Men.” http://www.firstworldwar.com (accessed September 24, 2013) McClelland, Stewart. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Ontario: The Canadian Publishers, 1999. Prendergast, Tom, Prendergast, Sara. Primary sources of the First World War. USA: UXL World Reference Library, 2001. “The Women's Land Army.” Site for learning history. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk (accessed 22 September 2013) “WW1 Canadian Letters”. The Canadian Letters and Pictures Project. http://canadianletters.ca/collections.php?warid=3 (accessed September 17 , 2013)