1963 in Canada

← 1962 1961 1960 1963 in Canada → 1964 1965 1966
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	History of Canada Timeline of Canadian history List of years in Canada

Events from the year 1963 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II ^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – Georges Vanier ^[2]
• Prime Minister – John Diefenbaker (until April 22) then Lester B. Pearson
• Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin (Ontario) (until 2 February) then Robert Taschereau (Quebec)
• Parliament – 25th (until 6 February) then 26th (from 16 May)

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John Percy Page
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – George Pearkes
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Errick Willis
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Joseph Leonard O'Brien
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Campbell Leonard Macpherson (until March 1) then Fabian O'Dea
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Edward Chester Plow (until March 1) then Henry Poole MacKeen
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Keiller MacKay (until May 1) then William Earl Rowe
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Frederick Walter Hyndman (until August 1) then Willibald Joseph MacDonald
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Paul Comtois
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Frank Lindsay Bastedo (until March 1) then Robert Hanbidge

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
• Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba – Dufferin Roblin
• Premier of New Brunswick – Louis Robichaud
• Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Robert Stanfield
• Premier of Ontario – John Robarts
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Walter Shaw
• Premier of Quebec – Jean Lesage
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Woodrow Lloyd

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – Gordon Robertson Cameron
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Robert Gordon Robertson (until July 12) then Bent Gestur Sivertz

Events

• February 4: Defence Minister Douglas Harkness resigns after Prime Minister Diefenbaker refuses to accept nuclear weapons from the United States
• February 5: The Diefenbaker government collapses over the Bomarc Missile Crisis and an election is called
• March 1: Simon Fraser University is founded
• April 8: Federal election: Lester Pearson's Liberals win a minority, defeating John Diefenbaker's PCs
• April 9: Canadian Recording Industry Association is established
• April 20: The Front de libération du Québec sets off its first bombs in Quebec
• April 22: Lester Pearson becomes Prime Minister, replacing John Diefenbaker
• May 27: The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology opens
• June 17: 1963 Alberta general election: Ernest Manning's Alberta Social Credit Party wins an eighth consecutive majority
• July 22: The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is announced
• August 1: An explosion kills 8 people, including 5 children, in the town of Hanmer near Sudbury, Ontario ^[3]
• September 21: Place des Arts opens in Montreal
• September 25: 1963 Ontario general election: John Robarts's PCs win a sixth consecutive majority
• November 29: 118 are killed in the Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crash near Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec
• December 23: plans to build the National Arts Centre are approved

Arts and literature

New Works

• W.L. Morton: The Kingdom of Canada
• Milton Acorn: Jawbreakers
• Leonard Cohen: The Favorite Game
• Farley Mowat: Never Cry Wolf

Awards

• See 1963 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: Donald Jack, Three Cheers for Me
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Kerry Wood

Sport

• March 16 – The McMaster Marlins win the first University Cup by defeating the UBC Thunderbirds 3 to 2 at the Kingston Memorial Centre
• April 18 – The Toronto Maple Leafs win their 11th Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings. The deciding Game 5 is played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
• April 22 – Winnipeg awarded the 1967 Pan Am Games
• May 11 – The Central Alberta Hockey League's Edmonton Oil Kings win their First Memorial Cup by defeating Ontario Hockey Association's Niagara Falls Flyers 4 games to 2. All games were played at Edmonton Gardens.
• November 30 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their third Grey Cup by defeating the BC Lions 21–10 in the 51st Grey Cup played Empire Stadium in Vancouver.

Births

January to March

• January 1 – Cheryl Dick, netball player
• January 9 – Larry Cain, sprint canoer and Olympic gold medallist
• January 12 – Ken Fitzpatrick, swimmer
• January 19 – Steve Peters, politician and Minister
• January 25 – Paul Dewar, educator and politician (d. 2019)
• February 12 – Ron Schuler, politician
• February 21 – Lori Fung, rhythmic gymnast
• March 1 – Ron Francis, ice hockey player and coach
• March 17 – Lawrence Ytzhak Braithwaite, novelist, spoken word artist, dub poet, essayist and musician (d. 2008)
• March 26 – Roch Voisine, singer-songwriter, actor and radio and television host
• March 28 – Sharon Hambrook, synchronized swimmer
• March 30
  • Wayne Gordon, boxer
  • Carol Klimpel, swimmer

April to June

Eric McCormack in April 2012

• April 4
  • Vince Ditrich, rock musician
  • Dale Hawerchuk, ice hockey player
  • Jim Wilson, politician
• April 14 – John Kalbhenn, boxer
• April 17 – Penny & Vicky Vilagos, synchronized swimmers
• April 18 – Eric McCormack, actor, musician, writer and producer
• April 27 – Joe Peschisolido, politician and businessman
• April 27 – Cali Timmins, actress

Harper at the G8 summit, June 6, 2007

• April 28 – Lloyd Eisler, pair skater
• May 5
  • James LaBrie, vocalist (Dream Theater)
  • Susan Whelan, politician and minister
• May 9 – Joe Cirella, ice hockey player and coach
• May 11 – Roark Critchlow, actor
• May 17 – Michelle Conn, field hockey player
• May 18 – Nigel S. Wright, businessman and chief of staff to the prime minister (d. 2025)
• May 25 – Mike Myers, actor, comedian, screenwriter and film producer
• May 26 – Richard Crouse, film critic
• June – Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister Stephen Harper
• June 4 – Carey Nelson, long-distance runner
• June 6 – Bernard Drainville, Canadian journalist and politician
• June 17 – Sandra Greaves, judoka
• June 23 – Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper
• June 24 – Barbara Underhill, pairs figure skater and World Champion
• June 25 – Doug Gilmour, ice hockey player and coach
• June 25 – Yann Martel, author ^[4]

July to September

• July 11 – Al MacInnis, ice hockey player
• July 11 – Sandra Schmirler, curler, Olympic gold medallist and World Champion (d. 2000)
• July 12 – Andy Savoy, politician and engineer
• July 28 – Gregory Henriquez, architect
• July 30 – Albert Schultz, actor and director
• August 2 – Russell Smith, novelist and newspaper columnist
• August 8 – Stephen Walkom, ice hockey official and executive
• September 2 – Gerard Gallant, ice hockey player and coach
• September 7 – Karen Dianne Baldwin, Miss Universe 1982
• September 9 – Kathryn Johnson, field hockey player ^[5]
• September 25 – Karin Larsen, synchronized swimmer and broadcaster
• September 29 – Dave Andreychuk, ice hockey player

October to December

Julie Payette

• October 20 – Julie Payette, astronaut
• November 19 – Bill Dunlop, boxer
• November 22 – Benoît Sauvageau, politician (d. 2006)
• November 23 – Troy Hurtubise, inventor and conservationist (d. 2018)
• November 25 – Holly Cole, jazz singer
• December 4 – Robert Dawson, wrestler
• December 9 – Dave Hilton, Jr., boxer
• December 29 – Liisa Savijarvi, alpine skier
• December 30 – Michelle Douglas, human rights activist

Deaths

• January 2 – Jack Carson, actor (b. 1910) ^[6]
• March 27 – Gaspard Fauteux, politician, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada and Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (b. 1898)
• May 12 – Robert Kerr, sprinter and Olympic gold medallist (b.1882)
• June 23 – Herbert Alexander Bruce, surgeon and 15th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b.1868)
• August 19 – Kathleen Parlow, violinist (b.1890)
• September 8 – Leslie Gordon Bell, politician and lawyer (b. 1889)
• October 8 – Grace Darmond, Canadian-born actress (b. 1893) ^[7]

Full date unknown

• Murdoch Mackay, politician (b.1884)

See also

• 1963 in Canadian television
• List of Canadian films

References

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. 143. ISBN   978-1-134-26490-2.
3. "Blast Kills Eight". The Gazette . 1963-08-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
4. Bloom, Clive (2008). Bestsellers: popular fiction since 1900. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 322. ISBN   978-0-230-53688-3.
5. "Kathryn JOHNSON - Olympic Hockey | Canada". International Olympic Committee. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
6. "Jack Carson". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 26, 2016.
7. Darmond, Grace (1898–1963)