1963 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II

  Federal government

• Governor general – Georges Vanier
• Prime minister – John Diefenbaker then Lester B. Pearson
• Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin then Robert Taschereau
• Parliament – 25th then 26th

  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 then Fabian O'Dea
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Edward Chester Plow then Henry Poole MacKeen
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Keiller MacKay then William Earl Rowe
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Frederick Walter Hyndman then Willibald Joseph MacDonald
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Paul Comtois
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Frank Lindsay Bastedo 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 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 missile issue 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

• 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
• April 28 – Lloyd Eisler, pair skater
• May 5 – Susan Whelan, politician and Minister
• May 9 – Joe Cirella, ice hockey player and coach
• May 17 – Michelle Conn, field hockey player
• 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 24 – Barbara Underhill, pairs figure skater and World Champion
• June 25 – Doug Gilmour, ice hockey player and coach
• June 25 – Yann Martel, author

  July to September

• July 11 – Al MacInnis, ice hockey player
• July 11 – Sandra Schmirler, curler, Olympic gold medallist and World Champion
• July 12 – Andy Savoy, politician and engineer
• July 28 – Gregory Henriquez, architect
• August 2 – Russell Smith, novelist and newspaper columnist
• September 2 – Gerard Gallant, ice hockey player and coach
• September 9 – Kathryn Johnson, field hockey player
• September 29 – Dave Andreychuk, ice hockey player

  October to December

• October 17 – Norm Macdonald, comedian, actor and poker player
• October 20 – Julie Payette, astronaut
• November 19 – Bill Dunlop, boxer
• November 22 – Benoît Sauvageau, politician
• November 25 – Holly Cole, jazz singer
• December 4 – Robert Dawson, wrestler
• December 9 – Dave Hilton, Jr., boxer
• December 29 – Liisa Savijarvi, alpine skier

  Full date unknown

• Michelle Douglas, human rights activist

  Deaths

• March 27 – Gaspard Fauteux, politician, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada and Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec
• May 12 – Robert Kerr, sprinter and Olympic gold medallist
• June 23 – Herbert Alexander Bruce, surgeon and 15th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• August 19 – Kathleen Parlow, violinist
• September 8 – Leslie Gordon Bell, politician and lawyer

  Full date unknown

• Murdoch Mackay, politician