# 1949 in Canada

Events from the year 1949 in Canada.

## Incumbents
### Crown

* Monarch – George VI

### Federal government

* Governor General – the Viscount Alexander of Tunis
* Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent
* Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec)
* Parliament – 20th (until 30 April) then 21st (from 15 September)

### Provincial governments
#### Lieutenant governors

* Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
* Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Charles Arthur Banks
* Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
* Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
* Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Albert Walsh (until September 15) then Leonard Outerbridge
* Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy
* Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Ray Lawson
* Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Alphonsus Bernard
* Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset
* Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – John Michael Uhrich

#### Premiers

* Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
* Premier of British Columbia – Boss Johnson
* Premier of Manitoba – Douglas Campbell
* Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair
* Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
* Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
* Premier of Ontario – Thomas Laird Kennedy (until May 4) then Leslie Frost
* Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones
* Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
* Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

### Territorial governments
#### Commissioners

* Commissioner of Yukon – John Edward Gibben
* Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside

## Events

* March 31 - Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province at a fraction of a second from April 1
* April 1 - Joey Smallwood becomes the first premier of Newfoundland as a Canadian province
* April 4 - Canada joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
* May 4 - Leslie Frost becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Thomas Kennedy
* June 27 - Federal election: Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority
* August 22 - Queen Charlotte earthquake: Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake
* September 9 - Albert Guay affair: in-flight bombing of a Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 en route from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau
* September 14 - The Noronic, the largest Canadian passenger ship on the Great Lakes, is destroyed by a fire while docked in Toronto, killing 118

### Full date unknown

* Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are abolished, making the Supreme Court of Canada the country's top court
* British Columbia gives Asian-Canadians the vote
* Gustave Sherman establishes his custume jewellery business, Sherman & Company Ltd. in Montreal

## Arts and literature
### Awards

* See 1949 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
* Stephen Leacock Award: Angeline Hango, Truthfully Yours

## Sport

* April 16 – The Toronto Maple Leafs win their eighth (third consecutive) Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 0. The deciding Game 4 was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
* May 16 – The Quebec Junior Hockey League's Montreal Royals win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings 4 games to 3 (with 1 tie). The deciding game was played Shea's Amphitheatre in Winnipeg
* November 26 – The Montreal Alouettes win their first Grey Cup by defeating the Calgary Stampeders 28–15 in the 37th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto
* Date unknown – The Edmonton Eskimos join the Western Interprovincial Football Union

## Births
### January to March

* January 24 - Guy Charron, ice hockey player
* February 14 - Denis Rocan, politician
* February 23 - Marc Garneau, astronaut, engineer and politician
* March 3 - Elijah Harper, politician (d. 2013)
* March 16 - Victor Garber, actor and singer
* March 16 - Jane Haist, discus thrower and shot putter
* March 25 - Jean Potvin, ice hockey player (d. 2022)
* March 29 - Pauline Marois, social worker, civil servant and 30th premier of Quebec
* March 30 - Liza Frulla, politician

### April to June

* April 4 - Nava Starr, chess player and a Women's International Master
* April 6 - Réginald Bélair, politician
* April 8 - Claudette Bradshaw, politician
* April 14 - Percy Mockler, politician and Senator
* April 16 - Sandy Hawley, jockey
* April 18 - Jean-Paul Saint-Pierre, politician, Mayor of Russell, Ontario (since 2010) (d. 2014)
* April 26 - Ray Henault, general and Chief of Defence Staff
* May 6 - Diane Ablonczy, politician
* May 20 - Sheldon Oberman, children's writer (d. 2004)
* May 20 - Dave Thomas, comedian and actor
* June 7 - Christopher W. Morris, philosopher and academic
* June 21 - Jane Urquhart, writer
* June 22 - Wayne Easter, politician

### July to September

* July 3 - Jan Smithers, actress
* July 11 - Liona Boyd, classical guitarist
* July 12 - Ted Barris, writer, journalist, professor, and broadcaster
* August 4 - Danny Williams, politician and 9th Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
* August 13 - Bobby Clarke, ice hockey player
* August 21 - Larry Fisher, murderer (d. 2015)
* August 30 - Don Boudria, politician and Minister
* September 6 - Carole-Marie Allard, politician
* September 12 - Kevin Major, author
* September 26 - Marie Tifo, actress

### October to December

* October 10 - Michel Létourneau, politician (d. 2019)
* October 24 - Robert Pickton, serial killer and pig farmer (d. 2024)
* October 25 - Laurie Skreslet, mountaineer, first Canadian to reach the summit of Mount Everest
* October 27 - Garth Drabinsky, film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur
* November 27 - Nick Discepola, politician
* November 28 - Paul Shaffer, musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian and composer
* November 29 - Stan Rogers, folk musician and songwriter (d. 1983)
* December 13 - Denise Leblanc-Bantey, politician (d. 1999)
* December 19 - Larry Bagnell, politician
* December 21 - John Loewen, businessman and politician
* December 30 - Jim Flaherty, politician and Minister (d. 2014)

### Full date unknown

* Zahra Kazemi, photographer, died in Iranian custody (d. 2003)

## Deaths
### January to June

* January 9 - Tom Longboat, long-distance runner (b. 1887)
* January 11 - John Wesley Brien, physician and politician (b. 1864)
* February 12 - Pegi Nicol MacLeod, artist (b. 1904)
* May 22 - Sir Douglas Alexander, 1st Baronet, British-born Canadian industrialist (b. 1864)
* June 2 - François Blais, politician (b. 1875)

### July to December

* July 7 - Fred Wellington Bowen, politician (b. 1877)
* August 23 - Herbert Greenfield, politician and 4th Premier of Alberta (b. 1869)
* September 2 - Ian Alistair Mackenzie, politician and Minister (b. 1890)
* December 7 - Stanislas Blanchard, politician (b. 1871)
* December 16 - Albert Edward Matthews, 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b. 1873)
* December 16 - Sidney Olcott, film producer, director, actor and screenwriter (b. 1873)