1984 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II

  Federal government

• Governor general – Edward Schreyer then Jeanne Sauvé
• Prime minister – Pierre Trudeau then John Turner then Brian Mulroney
• Chief Justice – Bora Laskin then Brian Dickson
• Parliament – 32nd then 33rd

  Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Francis Charles Lynch-Staunton
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Robert Gordon Rogers
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Pearl McGonigal
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – George Stanley
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – William Anthony Paddon
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Elvin Shaffner then Alan Abraham
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Black Aird
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Aubin Doiron
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Jean-Pierre Côté then Gilles Lamontagne
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Frederick Johnson

  Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Peter Lougheed
• Premier of British Columbia – Bill Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba – Howard Pawley
• Premier of New Brunswick – Richard Hatfield
• Premier of Newfoundland – Brian Peckford
• Premier of Nova Scotia – John Buchanan
• Premier of Ontario – Bill Davis
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – James Lee
• Premier of Quebec – René Lévesque
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Grant Devine

  Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – Douglas Bell
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – John Havelock Parker

  Premiers

• Premier of the Northwest Territories – George Braden then Richard Nerysoo
• Premier of Yukon – Chris Pearson

  Events

January to June

• January 12 - Richard Nerysoo becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing George Braden.
• February 29 - Pierre Trudeau announces he will retire as soon as the Liberal Party of Canada can elect another leader.
• April 5 - A fire races through Number 26 Colliery located in Glace Bay on Cape Breton Island killing one miner. This effectively closes the mine permanently, ending years of coal mining in Glace Bay.
• May 8 - Cpl. Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing 3 and wounding 13. René Jalbert, sergeant-at-arms of the assembly, succeeds in calming him, for which he will later receive the Cross of Valour.
• June 30 - John Turner becomes Canada's seventeenth prime minister replacing the retiring Pierre Trudeau.

  July to December

• July 18 - Quebec actress Denise Morelle is found murdered in a house she had gone to visit Sanguinet Street in Montreal. Autopsies show that she was raped and brutally beaten to death. The murderer, 49-year-old Gaetan Bissonnette, will not be discovered until 2007.
• August 31 - MuchMusic first airs.
• September 1 - The Sports Network first airs.
• September 3 - In protest of the upcoming Papal visit, Thomas Bernard Brigham, a retired American armed forces officer, bombs Montreal's Central Station, killing 3 people and wounding more than 30.
• September 4 - In the 1984 federal election, the incumbent government of the Liberal Party of Canada is defeated as the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, led by Brian Mulroney, wins the largest parliamentary majority in Canadian history.
• September 9–20 - Pope John Paul II tours Canada.
• September 17 - Brian Mulroney is sworn in as Canada's eighteenth prime minister.
• September 25 - The Premier of New Brunswick Richard Bennett Hatfield is accused of drug possession during the official visit of Queen Elizabeth II in the province. He was finally acquitted.
• October 5 - Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
• November 6
• * Saskatchewan MLA Colin Thatcher is convicted of the murder of his ex-wife Joanne.
• * Nova Scotia election: John Buchanan's Progressive Conservatives win a third consecutive majority.
• November 23 - The Fredericton City Hall is designated a National Historic Site.

  Full date unknown

• Labatt introduces the first twist-off cap on a reusable beer bottle.
• Telelatino Network signs on in October.

  Arts and literature

New books

• Neuromancer: William Gibson
• La Détresse et l'enchantement: Gabrielle Roy
• Dinner Along the Amazon: Timothy Findley
• The Summer Tree: Guy Gavriel Kay

  Awards

• See 1984 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Heather Robertson, Willie
• Gerald Lampert Award: Sandra Birdsell, Night Travellers and Jean McKay, Gone to Grass
• Pat Lowther Award: Bronwen Wallace, Signs of the Former Tenant
• Stephen Leacock Award: Gary Lautens, No Sex Please...We're Married
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Bill Freeman

  Film

• James Cameron's The Terminator propels the Canadian director to international fame

  Television

• Jeopardy! is relaunched with Canadian Alex Trebek as host
• Second City Television ends its run on Canadian television

  Sport

• May 19 – Edmonton Oilers win their first Stanley Cup defeating the New York Islanders 5 to 2. The deciding Game 5 was played at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Edmonton's own Mark Messier was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
• May 19 – Ottawa 67's win their first Memorial Cup by defeating the Kitchener Rangers 7 to 2. The final game was played at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario
• August 12 – At the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles Canada has its best performance ever, mostly due to the boycott of the games by the Eastern Bloc countries.
• October 3 – Chicago Sting win their second Soccer Bowl by defeating the Toronto Blizzard 2 games to 0. The deciding game was played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. This would be the final game played in the original North American Soccer League
• November 18 – Winnipeg Blue Bombers win their eighth Grey Cup by defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 47 to 17 in the 72nd Grey Cup played at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. Edmonton's own Sean Kehoe is awarded the game's Most Valuable Canadian
• November 24 – Guelph Gryphons win their first Vanier Cup by defeating the Mount Allison Mounties 22 to 13 in the 20th Vanier Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.

  Births

• February 10 - Chris Pellini, canoeist
• February 15 - Mark de Jonge, canoeist
• March 13 - Noel Fisher, actor
• April 25 - Dallas Soonias, volleyball player
• April 27 - Pierre-Marc Bouchard, ice hockey player
• May 29 - James Steacy, hammer thrower
• June 13 - Chanelle Charron-Watson, swimmer
• June 16 - Rick Nash, ice hockey player
• June 27 - Kate Richardson, gymnast
• July 11 - Melanie Papalia, actress
• July 20 - Nicholas Tritton, judoka
• August 4 - Scott Dickens, swimmer
• September 5 - Marina Radu, water polo player
• September 22 - Laura Vandervoort, actress
• September 27 - Avril Lavigne, singer-songwriter, fashion designer and actress
• October 1 - Rosanna Tomiuk, water polo player
• October 4 - Sheray Thomas, basketball player
• October 11 - Martha MacIsaac, actress
• October 24 - Sultana Frizell, hammer thrower
• October 26 - Dominique Perreault, water polo player
• November 26 - Shannon Rempel, speed skater
• November 28 - Marc-André Fleury, ice hockey player
• December 21 - Sarah Mutch, model and actress

  Deaths

January to June

• February 7 - James Sinclair, politician, businessman and father of Margaret Sinclair, one-time wife of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and grandfather of Justin Trudeau
• February 9 - William Earl Rowe, politician and 20th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• March 22 - Stanley Fox, politician
• March 26 - Bora Laskin, jurist and 14th Chief Justice of Canada
• March 30 - Gaëtan Dugas, early AIDS patient, the alleged and debunked Patient Zero for AIDS
• April 11 - Adhémar Raynault, politician and Mayor of Montreal
• May 17 - Gordon Sinclair, journalist, writer and commentator
• May 19 - Russell Paulley, politician
• May 30 - George Pearkes, politician, soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross

  July to December

• July 17 - Denise Morelle, actress and murder victim
• August 12 - Lenny Breau, guitarist
• September 25 - Walter Pidgeon, actor
• October 2 - Harry Strom, politician and 9th Premier of Alberta
• October 19 - Grant Notley, politician
• December 31 - Chester Ronning, diplomat and politician