1940 in Canada
Events from the year 1940 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown
- Monarch – George VI
Federal government
- Governor general – John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir then Earl of Athlone
- Prime minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
- Chief Justice – Lyman Poore Duff
- Parliament – 18th then 19th
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
- Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
- Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Eric Hamber
- Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – William Johnston Tupper then Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Murray MacLaren then William George Clark
- Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Robert Irwin then Frederick Francis Mathers
- Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Albert Edward Matthews
- Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Bradford William LePage
- Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset
- Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Archibald Peter McNab
Premiers
- Premier of Alberta – William Aberhart
- Premier of British Columbia – Thomas Dufferin Pattullo
- Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken
- Premier of New Brunswick – Allison Dysart then John McNair
- Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Lewis Macdonald then A.S. MacMillan
- Premier of Ontario – Mitchell Hepburn
- Premier of Prince Edward Island – Thane Campbell
- Premier of Quebec – Adélard Godbout
- Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson
Territorial governments
Commissioners
- Controller of Yukon – George A. Jeckell
- Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Charles Camsell
Events
January to June
- March 13 – John McNair becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Allison Dysart
- March 21 – Alberta election: William Aberhart's Social Credit Party wins a second consecutive majority
- March 26 – Federal election: Mackenzie King's Liberals win a second consecutive majority
- April 3 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone is appointed Governor General of Canada replacing the late John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir
- April 25 – Quebec women get the vote in provincial elections
- May 28–June 30 – World War II: The Canadian navy stations seven destroyers in the English Channel; these play an important role in evacuating Allied troops from France
- June – World War II: Canadian troops are some of a small number of forces defending Britain
- June 5 – Nazi, fascist, and communist groups are declared illegal in Canada and leaders and members are jailed
- June 10 – World War II: Canada declares war against Italy
- June 13–18 – World War II: A small number of Canadian troops land in Brest, France but are forced to evacuate soon after
- June 21 – The National Resources Mobilization Act is passed; conscription is introduced, but only for homeland defence
July to December
- July 10: Alexander MacMillan becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Angus Macdonald
- August 1 – September 17: World War II: 80 Canadian pilots participate in the Battle of Britain
- August 5: Camillien Houde, the mayor of Montreal is arrested for sedition due to his anti-conscription rhetoric
- August 7: Unemployment insurance is introduced
- August 13: The Canadian Armoured Corps is established
- August 18: The Odgensburg Agreement on continental defence is signed with the United States
- September 5: United Kingdom trades most of its North American military bases to the United States in exchange for 50 destroyers
- November 7: The Permanent Active Militia is renamed the Canadian Army and the Non-Permanent Active Militia is renamed the Canadian Army.
Full date unknown
- The Icefields Parkway in the Canadian Rockies is completed.
- The Rowell-Sirois Commission report on federal-provincial relations is released
- Wilbur Franks invents the g-suit at the University of Toronto
Arts and literature
New Works
- Morley Callaghan – Just ask George
Awards
- See the 1940 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Sport
- April 13 – New York Rangers win their Third Stanley Cup by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 2. The deciding Game Six was played at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
- April 22 – Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals won their Second Memorial Cup by defeating Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Kenora Thistles 3 games to 1. The deciding Game 4 was played at Shea's Amphitheatre in Winnipeg
- November 30 – Ottawa Rough Riders win their Second Grey Cup by defeating the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers 20 to 7 in the 28th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto
Births
January to March
- January 1 - Clifford Olson, serial killer
- January 10 - Guy Chevrette, politician
- January 28 - Valery Fabrikant, professor of mechanical engineering and murderer responsible for the Concordia University massacre on August 24, 1992
- February 4 - Michelle Rossignol, Canadian actress
- February 16 - Don Bertoia, middle-distance runner
- March 4 - Nellie Cournoyea, former politician and 6th Premier of the Northwest Territories and the first female premier of a Canadian territory
- March 6 - Ken Danby, artist
- March 22 - Dave Keon, ice hockey player
April to June
- April 18 - Robert N. Kucey, author
- May 4 - Paul Thompson, playwright and theatre director
- May 8 - Irwin Cotler, politician and Minister
- May 10 - Peter Liba, journalist and Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba
- May 20 - Otto Jelinek, figure skater, businessman and politician
- June 6 - Brian Ransom, politician
- June 14 - Mark Assad, politician
- June 25 - Louise Dacquay, politician
July to September
- July 4 - Pat Stapleton, ice hockey player
- July 11 - Yvon Charbonneau, politician
- July 15 - Glen Findlay, politician
- July 22 - Alex Trebek, television personality and game show host
- July 27 - Harvie Andre, engineer, businessman, politician and Minister
- July 28 - Mario Sergio, politician
- August 7 - Sally McCallum, track and field athlete
- September 6 - Brian Smith, ice hockey player and sportscaster
- September 9 - Larry Lund, ice hockey player
- September 11 - Gerry Phillips, politician
- September 20 - Doug Young, politician and Minister
- September 30
- * Harry Jerome, track and field runner
- * Dewey Martin, rock drummer
October to December
- October 11 - David McFadden, poet, fiction writer and travel writer
- October 19 - Bill Gairdner, track and field athlete
- October 29 - Galen Weston, businessman
- November 13 - Daniel Pilon, Canadian actor
- November 20 - George Swede, poet and children's writer
- November 29 - Denny Doherty, singer and songwriter
- December 20 - Ed Helwer, politician
- December 29 - George Puce, discus thrower
Full date unknown
- Christine Demeter, murder victim
- Stan Hagen, politician
- Dave Nichol, Loblaws products marketer
Deaths
January to June
- February 11 - John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, novelist, politician and 15th Governor General of Canada
- March 3 - Joseph Ovide Brouillard, politician and businessman
- March 26 - Richard Squires, politician and Prime Minister of Newfoundland
- April 25 - John Hampden Burnham, politician and lawyer
- May 2 - James Bowman, politician
- June 10 - Norman McLeod Rogers, lawyer, politician and Minister
July to December
- September 2 - Maude Abbott, physician
- September 7 - Laura Borden, wife of Robert Borden, 8th Prime Minister of Canada
- October 9 - Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary
- October 10 - Berton Churchill, actor
- December 5 - Wilfred Lucas, actor, film director and screenwriter
Historical Documents
Training facilities across Canada will be set up to turn out 35,000 Commonwealth pilots, air gunners and observers annually
Infantry training at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition grounds to supply reinforcements for units now in England
Limit to "complete equality for women" is on North Atlantic as female reporters tour Canadian destroyer at sea
Controversy erupts in Ontario Liberal Party over Premier Hepburn's "personal grudge" censure of King war policy
King George walks five miles and stops to chat 50 times as he inspects Canadian First Division in England
First loan drive brings in more than $136 million from cities, towns and hamlets
Nazi-linked German nationals and suspect German-Canadians to be interned as possibly dangerous to Canada
"No place for excitement in the hearts of people" regarding federal election issues, but deep concern over world affairs in Ottawa
Hours before its capitulation to Germans, Canadian, British and U.S. governments pledge help to imperilled France
Following fall of France, Quebec editorials call on English and French Canadian men to heed call to Canada's defence
Montreal mayor interned as "prejudicial to the public safety" after he "blasted" wartime compulsory training order
Editorials point out importance of U.S.A. to Allies' struggle, and its people's recognition of that
Canada shifting main war partnership from Britain to U.S.A.; public wants greater war effort
U.S. ambassador reports Canadian public demanding "some form of joint defence understanding with the United States"
U.S.A. and Canada set up Permanent Joint Board on Defence to protect North America
Leslie Gilbert Illingworth political cartoon of U.S.-Canada defence pact has Wild West setting
"Such a sudden and swift offensive" - Ukrainian-Canadian leftists are arrested in wide police sweep in Winnipeg
With government "forcing conscription of unemployed and needy youth," Canadian Youth Congress wants training and jobs
Liberal Party federal election leaflet identifies CCF as socialist
German Jewish refugee Frederick Mendel turns Saskatoon meatpacking plant into thriving business
Anarchist Emma Goldman feels "gagged and paralyzed" in wartime Canada as she collects money for refugees