1985 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II

  Federal government

• Governor general – Jeanne Sauvé
• Prime minister – Brian Mulroney
• Chief Justice – Brian Dickson
• Parliament – 33rd

  Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Francis Charles Lynch-Staunton then Helen Hunley
• 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 – Alan Abraham
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Black Aird then Lincoln Alexander
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Aubin Doiron then Lloyd MacPhail
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Gilles Lamontagne
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Frederick Johnson

  Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Peter Lougheed then Don Getty
• 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 then Frank Miller then David Peterson
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – James Lee
• Premier of Quebec – René Lévesque then Pierre-Marc Johnson then Robert Bourassa
• 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 – Richard Nerysoo then Nick Sibbeston
• Premier of Yukon – Chris Pearson then Willard Phelps then Tony Penikett

  Events

January to March

• January 26 – Frank Miller elected leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party replacing Bill Davis.
• January 30 – The federal government relaxes laws requiring businesses to use the metric system.
• February 8 – Frank Miller becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Bill Davis after the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership election.
• February 11 – The federal and Newfoundland governments sign the Atlantic Accord paving the way for joint development of Newfoundland's offshore oil and gas reserves.
• February 12 – Minister of National Defence Robert Coates resigns after it is revealed that he visited a strip-club while on government business in Germany.
• February 13 – Denis Lortie is found guilty of murder for his attack at the Quebec Parliament Building that killed three.
• February 28 – Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel is found guilty of publishing false news and fomenting racial intolerance.
• March – Willard Phelps becomes premier of Yukon, replacing Chris Pearson.
• March – At the so-called Shamrock Summit between Prime Minister Mulroney and US President Ronald Reagan the two agree on cooperation on missile defence and free trade.
• March 12 – Heavily armed Armenian militants storm the Turkish embassy in Ottawa. They kill a security guard and hold a dozen people hostage for four hours.
• March 21 – Rick Hansen launches his Man in Motion world tour to raise money for spinal cord research.
• March 29 – 10 are killed after two military planes collide near CFB Edmonton.

  April to June

• April 24 - The Supreme Court of Canada rules the Lord's Day Act violates Canadians' freedom of religion.
• May - Tony Penikett becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing Willard Phelps.
• May 2 - Ontario election: Frank Miller's PCs win a minority, but David Peterson's Liberals will form a coalition with the NDP, forcing Miller to resign.
• May 9 - The Supreme Court rules that Orders in Council are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• May 31 - A tornado in Barrie, Ontario kills twelve as part of the 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak.
• June 23 - Air India Flight 182 explodes en route from Montreal to London; Sikh terrorists are blamed.
• June 26 - David Peterson becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Frank Miller.

  July to December

• July 1 - The first cell phone call is made in Canada, between Toronto mayor Art Eggleton and Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau.
• September 1 - The wreck of the RMS Titanic is found off the coast of Newfoundland.
• September 6 - The Canadian Encyclopedia is launched.
• September 17 - The tunagate scandal erupts.
• September 20 - Lincoln Alexander becomes the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, the first Black person to hold a vice regal position in Canadian history.
• September 25 - The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology opens in Drumheller, Alberta.
• October 3 - Pierre-Marc Johnson becomes premier of Quebec, replacing René Lévesque.
• November 1 - Don Getty becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Peter Lougheed.
• November 5 - Nick Sibbeston becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Richard Nerysoo.
• December 2 - In the Quebec election, Robert Bourassa's Liberals gain a majority, defeating the Parti Québécois.
• December 12 - Robert Bourassa becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Pierre-Marc Johnson.
• December 12 - The worst airplane accident in Canadian history occurs when Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes on take-off from Gander International Airport; 256 people are killed.
• December 23 - Nahanni earthquake, largest of a number earthquakes occurs in Nahanni region of NWT.
• Corel is founded in Ottawa.

  Unknown

• The Mulroney government establishes the Court Challenges Program.

  Arts and literature

New books

• Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale
• Colin Thatcher: Backrooms: A Story of Politics
• Brian Moore: Black Robe
• Erin Mouré: Domestic Fuel
• Farley Mowat: My Discovery of America

  Awards

• See 1985 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: G. Ursell, Perdue, or How the West Was Lost
• Gerald Lampert Award: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation
• Pat Lowther Award: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation
• Stephen Leacock Award: Ted Allan, Love Is a Long Shot
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Edith Fowke

  Television

• The last episode of The Friendly Giant on CBC Television
• The first episode of the children's series The Raccoons on CBC Television

  Music

• February 10 - A supergroup of Canadian musicians, Northern Lights, gathers to record the charity single Tears Are Not Enough for famine relief in Ethiopia.

  Sport

• May 18 – Prince Albert Raiders win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Shawinigan Cataractes 6 to 2. The final game was played at the Cataractes' Shawinigan Municipal Auditorium in Shawinigan, Quebec.
• May 30 – Edmonton Oilers win their second Stanley Cup by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Brantford, Ontario's Wayne Gretzky is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
• November 24 – BC Lions win their second Grey Cup by defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37 to 24 in the 73rd Grey Cup played at Olympic Stadium in Montreal
• November 30 – Calgary Dinos win their second Vanier Cup by defeating the Western Ontario Mustangs 25 to 6 in the 21st Vanier Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

  Births

• January 1 – Jeff Carter, ice hockey player
• January 4 –
• *Danielle Campo, swimmer
• *Robbie Dixon, skier
• January 6 – Nathan McIver, ice hockey player
• January 14 – Katie Thorlakson, soccer player
• January 27 – Eric Radford, pair skater
• February 7 - Tegan Moss, actress
• February 28 – Fefe Dobson, singer and songwriter
• April 23 – Rachel Skarsten, actress
• June 22 – Douglas Smith, actor
• June 23 – Holly Lincoln, football player
• June 24 – Isabelle Rampling, synchronized swimmer
• July 6 – Diamond Rings, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• July 12 – Theo Tams, singer-songwriter, pianist & keyboardist
• July 16 – Vanessa Meloche, artistic gymnast
• July 21 – Vanessa Lengies, actress, dancer, and singer
• July 23 – Tessa Bonhomme, hockey player
• July 28 – Dustin Milligan, actor
• August 26 – Sean Denison, basketball player
• September 8 – Justin Bradley, actor
• September 10 – Elyse Levesque, actress
• September 22 – Tatiana Maslany, actress
• September 24 – Jessica Lucas, actress and singer
• September 27 – Massimo Bertocchi, decathlete
• October 22 – Mitch MacDonald, singer & guitarist
• November 11 – Kalan Porter, singer-songwriter
• November 21 - Carly Rae Jepsen, singer and songwriter
• December 8 – Meagan Duhamel, pair skater

  Deaths

January to June

• January 30 - F. R. Scott, poet, intellectual and constitutional expert
• February 2 - Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux, musician and composer
• February 5 - Georges-Émile Lapalme, politician
• February 16 - Marian Engel, novelist
• March 17 - Athole Shearer, actress
• April 17 - Walter Weir, politician and 15th Premier of Manitoba
• April 21 - Foster Hewitt, radio pioneer
• April 22 - Jacques Ferron, physician and author, founder of the Parti Rhinocéros

  July to December

• July 3 - Frank J. Selke, ice hockey manager
• August 20 - Donald O. Hebb, psychologist
• September 6 - Isabel Meighen, wife of Arthur Meighen, 9th Prime Minister of Canada
• October 28 - Eric Coy, discus thrower and shot putter

  Full date unknown

• Wilfrid Eggleston, journalist and chief censor for Canada from 1942 until 1944