In mid May a general strike starts in Toronto in support of the Metal Trades Council’s demands for an eight-hour day and union recognition – a parallel action to the famous Winnipeg general strike that is taking off at the same time. Some 17,000 workers walk out for two weeks, but the metal workers are eventually defeated. Meanwhile, big strikes of garment workers, street railway workers, carpenters, and packinghouse workers had been more successful. The harsh and restrictive Immigration Act of 1919 is passed.