# 1939 in Canada

Events from the year 1939 in Canada.

## Incumbents
### Crown

* Monarch – George VI

### Federal government

* Governor General – John Buchan
* Prime Minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
* Chief Justice – Lyman Poore Duff (British Columbia)
* Parliament – 18th

### Provincial governments
#### Lieutenant governors

* Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
* Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Eric Hamber
* Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – William Johnston Tupper
* Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Murray MacLaren
* Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Robert Irwin
* Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Albert Edward Matthews
* Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – George DesBrisay DeBlois (until September 11) then Bradford William LePage
* Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Esioff-Léon Patenaude (until December 30) then Eugène Fiset
* Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Archibald Peter McNab

#### Premiers

* Premier of Alberta – William Aberhart
* Premier of British Columbia – Thomas Dufferin Pattullo
* Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken
* Premier of New Brunswick – Allison Dysart
* Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Lewis Macdonald
* Premier of Ontario – Mitchell Hepburn
* Premier of Prince Edward Island – Thane Campbell
* Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis (until November 9) then Adélard Godbout
* Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

### Territorial governments
#### Commissioners

* Controller of Yukon – George A. Jeckell
* Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Charles Camsell

## Events

* May 17 – King George VI and Queen Elizabeth begin their royal tour of Canada, eventually visiting every province and Newfoundland.
* September 3 – The Department of Labour establishes the Wartime Prices and Trade Board to control inflation.
* September 7 – Prime Minister Mackenzie King calls for a special session of Parliament, to discuss a declaration of war versus Nazi Germany. The session lasts until September 13.
* September 10 – World War II: Canada declares war on Germany, one week after the United Kingdom does so.
* September 11 – World War II: Canada establishes a High Commission of Canada in Australia. Australia reciprocates the next day.
* September 16 – World War II: The Royal Canadian Navy escorts the first of many transatlantic convoys.
* September 28 – World War II: Air training facilities are set up in Canada to train pilots from Britain and the rest of the Empire.
* October 25 – The Quebec election is won by the Liberals under Joseph-Adélard Godbout.
* December 17 – World War II: The 1st Canadian Infantry Division lands in Scotland en route to England. The division is accompanied by a team of announcers and technicians, who set up Radio Canada's overseas service.
* November 9 – Adélard Godbout becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Maurice Duplessis.

### Year-long

* Canada expands its international presence by establishing High Commissions in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.

## Sport

* February 12 – The Trail Smoke Eaters win the 1939 Ice Hockey World Championships for Canada.
* April 16 – The Boston Bruins win their second Stanley Cup (and last until 1970) by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 1.
* April 17 – The Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals win their first Memorial Cup by defeating the Edmonton Junior Hockey League's Edmonton Athletic Club Roamers 3 games to 1. The deciding Game 4 was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* December 9 – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers win their second Grey Cup by defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 8 to 7 in the 27th Grey Cup played in Lansdowne Park in Ottawa.

## Births
### January to March

* January 3 - Bobby Hull, ice hockey player (d. 2023)
* January 11 - Anne Heggtveit, alpine skier and Olympic gold medalist
* January 14 - Martha Gibson, actress
* January 19 - Grant Notley, politician (d. 1984)
* February 3 - Ovid Jackson, politician
* February 10 - Adrienne Clarkson, journalist and 26th Governor General of Canada
* March 1 - Marlene Catterall, politician
* March 5 - Peter Woodcock, serial killer and child rapist (d. 2010)
* March 8 - Lynn Seymour, ballerina (d. 2023)
* March 17 - Bill Graham, politician (d. 2022)
* March 20 - Brian Mulroney, politician and 18th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2024)
* March 26 - Patrick Lane, poet (d. 2019)

### April to June

* April 14 - Ian Binnie, jurist and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada
* April 20 - Wayson Choy, writer (d. 2019)
* April 24 - Dan Hays, politician
* April 24 - Ernst Zündel, German-born neo-Nazi, Holocaust denier and pamphleteer (d. 2017)
* May 7 - Sidney Altman, molecular biologist, joint 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate (d. 2022)
* May 11 - Ken Epp, politician (d. 2022)
* May 16 - Roger Soloman, politician (d. 2021)
* May 26 - Gerry McAlpine, politician
* June 5 - Joe Clark, journalist, politician, statesman, businessman, professor and 16th Prime Minister of Canada
* June 23 - Jack MacIsaac, politician

### July to September

* July 12 - David Bazay, television journalist (d. 2005)
* July 19 - Ray Turnbull, curler (d. 2017)
* July 25 - Catherine Callbeck, politician and 30th Premier of Prince Edward Island
* August 12 - Roy Romanow, politician and 12th Premier of Saskatchewan
* August 15 - Hardial Bains, founder and leader of Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) (d. 1997)
* August 21 - JoAnn Wilson, murder victim (d. 1983)
* August 23 - Isabel Bassett, broadcaster and politician
* August 31 - Dennis Lee, poet and children's writer
* September 1 - Jake Epp, politician
* September 2 - Henry Mintzberg, academic and author on business and management
* September 4 - Jim Penner, businessman and politician (d. 2004)
* September 10 – Jim Pappin, ice hockey player (d. 2022)
* September 11 – Lyse Richer, administrator and music teacher
* September 30 - Len Cariou, actor

### October to December

* October 5 - Marie-Claire Blais, novelist, poet and playwright (d. 2021)
* November 6 - Joyce Fairbairn, Senator and first woman to serve as Leader of the Government in the Senate (d. 2022)
* November 18 - Margaret Atwood, author, poet, critic, feminist and social campaigner
* November 23 - Bill Bissett, poet
* November 30 - Louis LeBel, jurist and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada
* December 2 - Francis Fox, politician, minister and senator
* December 21 - Lloyd Axworthy, politician and minister
* December 24 - James Bartleman, diplomat, author and 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

### Full date unknown

* Michael Estok, poet (d. 1989)
* Michael Overs, businessman, founder and owner of Pizza Pizza Limited (d. 2010)
* Tony Parsons, journalist and television news anchor
* Robin Spry, filmmaker and television producer (d. 2005)

## Deaths

* January 24 - Alfred Edmond Bourgeois, politician (b. 1872)
* March 7 - Sir Joseph Flavelle, businessman (b. 1858)
* March 8 - Henry Pellatt, financier and soldier (b. 1859)
* May 6 - Edward S. Rogers, Sr., inventor and radio pioneer (b. 1900)
* July 12 - Fernand Rinfret, politician (b. 1883)
* August 21 - Francis Patrick O'Connor, businessman, politician and philanthropist (b. 1885)
* November 12 - Norman Bethune, physician and medical innovator (b. 1890)
* November 28 - James Naismith, sports coach and innovator, inventor of basketball (b. 1861)
* December 22 - Herbert James Palmer, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1851)
* December 27 – Napoléon Turcot, politician (b. 1867)

### Full date unknown

* Constance Piers, journalist, poet and editor (b. 1866)