1957 in Canada

Decades:	1930s ; 1940s ; 1950s ; 1960s ; 1970s ;
See also:	History of Canada ; Timeline of Canadian history ; List of years in Canada ;

Last updated October 20, 2024

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Elizabeth II ^[1]

Federal government

Governor General – Vincent Massey ^[2]
Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent (until June 21) then John Diefenbaker
Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin (Ontario)
Parliament – 22nd (until 12 April) then 23rd (from 14 October)

Provincial governments

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Events

January 1 – The first Canadian peacekeepers arrive in Egypt after the Suez Crisis
January 17 – HMCS Bonaventure, Canada's third and last aircraft carrier, is commissioned
March 6 – Quebec's Padlock Law is ruled unconstitutional
March 20 – The seven-month-long Murdochville Strike begins
March 28 – The Canada Council is established
April 2 – Elvis Presley performs in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
April 3 – Elvis Presley performs in Ottawa.
April 15 - White Rock secedes from Surrey, British Columbia, following a referendum.
April 27 - The SS Moyie takes her final voyage.
June 10 – Federal election: John Diefenbaker's PCs win a minority, defeating Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals
June 21 – John Diefenbaker becomes prime minister, replacing Louis Saint Laurent
July 31 – The DEW Line begins operation
August 31 – Elvis Presley performs at Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
September 12 – Canada and the United States sign the NORAD agreement
October 4 – The first prototype Avro Arrow is presented to the media. The rollout is completely overshadowed by the flight of Sputnik I the same day.
October 12 – Foreign Minister Lester B. Pearson wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Suez Crisis
October 14:
- Elizabeth II opens the Canadian parliament, the first monarch to do so^[3]
- Thanksgiving is moved to its current date, the second Monday in October
Equalization payments are established.

Sport

April 16 – The Montreal Canadiens win their ninth Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum
May 6 – The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Flin Flon Bombers win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the independent Ottawa-Hull Canadiens 4 games to 3. The deciding Game 7 was played at the Regina Exhibition Stadium
June 14 – Édouard Carpentier (Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz) defeats Lou Thesz to become the 2nd Canadian NWA World Heavyweight Champion
November 30 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their 2nd Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 32–7 in the 45th Grey Cup at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

Arts and literature

New works

F. R. Scott – The Eye of the Needle: Satire, Sorties, Sundries
Mordecai Richler – A Choice of Enemies
W.L. Morton – Manitoba: The Birth of a Province
Farley Mowat – The Dog Who Wouldn't Be
Northrop Frye – Anatomy of Criticism

Awards

See 1957 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Stephen Leacock Award: Robert Thomas Allen The Grass Is Never Greener

Television

Front Page Challenge premiers on CBC

Births

January to June

January 8 - Wendy Mesley, broadcast journalist
January 22 – Mike Bossy, ice hockey player (d. 2022)
January 28 – Michael Baker, politician (d. 2009)
February 17 – Loreena McKennitt, singer, composer, harpist and pianist
March 10 – Shannon Tweed, actress
March 24 - Olivia Chow, politician and widow of Jack Layton
April 20 – Bryan Illerbrun, football player (d. 2013)
April 29 – Leona Dombrowsky, politician
May 4 – Kathy Kreiner, alpine skier and Olympic gold medallist
May 14 – Gilles Bisson, politician
May 17 – Todd Hardy, leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party from 2002 to 2009 (d. 2010)
June 12
- Mike Bullard, comedian and broadcaster (d. 2024)
- Benedict Campbell, actor
June 28 – Lance Nethery, ice hockey player

July to September

Bret Hart BretHartJuly242005.JPG — Bret Hart

July 2 – Bret Hart, wrestler and actor
July 6 – Ron Duguay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
July 9 – George Nagy, swimmer
July 15 – Craig Martin, soccer player and coach
July 22 - Michèle Dionne, wife of Jean Charest, 29th Prime Minister of Quebec
July 26 – Mark Paré, National Hockey League linesman
August 6 – Francesca Gagnon, singer
August 11 – Tony Valeri, politician
August 15 – David L. Anderson, politician
August 15 - Richard Ayres, Business owner, Mechanic, Carpenter, Great Father
August 16 – Mark Evans, rower and Olympic gold medallist
August 16 – J. Michael Evans, rower and Olympic gold medallist
August 20 – Cindy Nicholas, athlete and politician
August 23 – Georges Farrah, politician
August 26 – Rick Hansen, paraplegic athlete and activist for people with spinal cord injuries
September 10 – Darrell Dexter, politician and 27th Premier of Nova Scotia
September 23 – Sylvie Garant, model

October to December

October 9 – Art Boileau, long-distance runner
October 26 – Glen Murray, politician
October 30 – Joseph Cordiano, politician and Minister
November 12 – Andrée A. Michaud, writer
November 16 – Ferg Hawke, ultra-distance runner
November 18 – Kim Rudd, politician and businesswoman (d. 2024)
November 20 – Sophie Lorain, actress, director and producer
November 22 – Glen Clark, politician and 31st Premier of British Columbia
November 30 – Colin Mochrie, comedian and actor
December 4 – Rob Shick, ice hockey referee
December 5 – Paul Steele, rower and Olympic gold medallist
December 6 – Louis Jani, judoka
December 12 – Robert Lepage, playwright, actor and film director
December 31 – Sonya Biddle, actress and politician (d. 2022)

Full date unknown

Daniel J. Caron, national librarian of Library and Archives Canada
Robert Poulin, murderer responsible for the St. Pius X High School shooting (d. 1975)
Nancy Richler, novelist

Deaths

January 16 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874)
August 21 – Nels Stewart, ice hockey player (b. 1902)
August 26 – Joseph Tyrrell, geologist, cartographer and mining consultant (b. 1858)
October 21 – Arthur Puttee, politician (b. 1868)
October 31 – Martha Black, politician and the second woman elected to the House of Commons of Canada (b. 1866)
December 10 – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams, politician and Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba (b. 1874)
December 29 – Humphrey T. Walwyn, naval officer and Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1879)

References

↑ "Queen Elizabeth II | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
↑ Lentz, Harris M. (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.
↑ Long, Tania (15 October 1957). "Queen in Coronation Gown Opens Ottawa Parliament; Ermine and Television QUEEN IS RADIANT AT OTTAWA RITES Chamber Long Filled Duke in Uniform Heat Becomes Oppressive". The New York Times. Page 1, columns 2-5. Retrieved 29 May 2023.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Queen Elizabeth II | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2022.

[2] Lentz, Harris M. (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.

[3] Long, Tania (15 October 1957). "Queen in Coronation Gown Opens Ottawa Parliament; Ermine and Television QUEEN IS RADIANT AT OTTAWA RITES Chamber Long Filled Duke in Uniform Heat Becomes Oppressive". The New York Times. Page 1, columns 2-5. Retrieved 29 May 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e History of Canada
Year list (Timeline)	18000 BCE–1500 CE 1534–1763 1763–1867 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–present
Topics	Canadians - (Persons of significance) Constitutional Crown and Indigenous peoples Cultural Economic Etymology Events of significance Former colonies and territories Heritage Minutes Historic Sites Immigration Chinese immigration Military Operations Peacekeeping Monarchical Population history Sports Territorial evolution Women
Provinces and territories	Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Quebec Prince Edward Island Saskatchewan Yukon (Name etymologies)
Cities	Brampton Charlottetown Edmonton Fredericton Halifax Hamilton Lethbridge Markham Moncton Montreal Northwest Territories capital cities Ottawa Quebec City Saint John Regina Richmond Hill Saskatoon Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg (Name etymologies)
Research	Bibliography Historiography Historians Surveys
Category Canadaportal

v t e List of years in Canada
Pre-Confederation Prehistory–1866	Prehistory to 1 BC 1st millennium 1000s 1100s 1400s 1500s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866
Post-Confederation 1867–present	1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Quebec	1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1635
Canadian electoral calendars	2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Related	List of Canadian monarchs List of governors general of Canada List of prime ministers of Canada Population of Canada by year Timeline
Research	Bibliography Historiography
Category Canadaportal

v t e 1957 in North America
Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States
Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands