1963 in Canada

Events from the year 1963 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Elizabeth II

Federal government

Governor General – Georges Vanier
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
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

thumb|right|75px|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

thumb|right|75px|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

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
September 25 – Karin Larsen, synchronized swimmer and broadcaster
September 29 – Dave Andreychuk, ice hockey player

October to December

thumb|right|75px|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)
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)

Full date unknown

Murdoch Mackay, politician (b.1884)