Godbout returned to power in 1939. He is remembered for passing laws that granted women the right to vote, and that enforced compulsory school attendance until the age of 14. His government also nationalised electric companies in Montreal to create Hydro-Québec, the public institution that would be greatly expanded by René Lévesque during the Quiet Revolution. In 1944, he was once again defeated by Maurice Duplessis. In 1949, Godbout was appointed to the Canadian Senate by Louis St. Laurent in which he remained until his death.