# 1938 in Canada

Events from the year 1938 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 Des Brisay de Blois
* Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Esioff-Léon Patenaude
* 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
* Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

### Territorial governments
#### Commissioners

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

## Events

* June 8 - Saskatchewan general election: William John Patterson's Liberals win a second consecutive majority

### Full date unknown

* Superman first appears in Action #1 (cover date June 1938), as a backup feature. The character is created by Joe Shuster (an artist for the Toronto Star) and American writer Jerry Siegel for National Comics.
* Vaccination for tuberculosis (the leading cause of death in young people) is introduced.

## Sport

* April 12 - The Chicago Black Hawks win their second Stanley Cup by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3 games to 1.
* April 18 - The Manitoba Junior Hockey League's St. Boniface Seals win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals 3 games to 2. The deciding Game 5 was played Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
* December 10 - In a repeat of the 25th Grey Cup, the Toronto Argonauts win their fifth Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 30 to 7 in the 26th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

## Births
### January to June

* January 9 - Claudette Boyer, politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Ottawa—Vanier (1999–2003) (d.2013)
* January 10 - Frank Mahovlich, ice hockey player and Senator
* January 13 - William B. Davis, actor
* January 16 - Lou Angotti, ice hockey player and coach (d. 2021)
* February 9 - Jovette Marchessault, writer and artist (d. 2012)
* February 17 - Martha Henry, actress
* February 22 - Pierre Vallières, journalist and writer (d. 1998)
* April 5 - David Helwig, poet, novelist, and essayist (d. 2018)
* April 8 - John Hamm, physician, politician and 32nd Premier of Nova Scotia
* April 12 - Roger Caron, author
* May 13 - Lucille Starr, singer, songwriter and yodeler
* May 16 - Jim Coutts, political advisor (d.2013)
* May 24 - Tommy Chong, comedian, actor and musician
* May 26 - Teresa Stratas, operatic soprano
* May 30 - Eugene Belliveau, Canadian football defensive lineman
* June 4 - John Harvard, journalist, politician and 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
* June 13 - John Newlove, poet (d.2013)
* June 19
** Jean-Claude Labrecque, director and cinematographer
** Beth Phinney, educator and politician
* June 26 - Ken Monteith, politician

### July to September

* July 12 - Matt Ravlich, ice hockey defenceman
* July 14 - Moshe Safdie, architect and urban designer
* July 18 - Helen Gardiner, philanthropist and co-founder of the Gardiner Museum (d.2008)
* July 29
** Peter Jennings, journalist and television news anchor (d.2005)
** Jean Rochon, politician (d. 2021)
* August 1 - Noble Villeneuve, politician (d. 2018)
* August 8 - Jacques Hétu, composer (d. 2010)
* August 9 - Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux, musician and composer (d.1985)
* August 25 - Colin Thatcher, politician and murderer
* August 28 - Paul Martin, politician and 21st Prime Minister of Canada

### October to December

* October 8 - Walter Gretzky, ice hockey player and coach (d.2021)
* October 14 - Ron Lancaster, Canadian football player and coach (d.2008)
* October 27 - Tim Ralfe, journalist (d.2000)
* October 28 - Gary Cowan, golfer
* November 3 - Yvon Cormier, wrestler (d.2009)
* November 4 - LeRoy Fjordbotten, politician (d. 2017)
* November 13 - Gérald Godin, poet and politician (d.1994)
* November 15 - Denis DeJordy, ice hockey player and coach
* November 17 - Gordon Lightfoot, singer and songwriter (d. 2023)
* November 18 – Annon Lee Silver, lyric soprano (d.1971)
* November 26 - Rich Little, impressionist and voice actor
* December 16 - John Allan Cameron, folk singer (d.2006)
* December 22 - Lucien Bouchard, lawyer, diplomat, politician and Minister

### Undated

* Roland Doré, educator, President of the Canadian Space Agency

## Deaths

* January 4 - George Halsey Perley, politician and diplomat (b.1857)
* January 8 - Aimé Bénard, politician (b.1873)
* January 28 - Hugh Graham, 1st Baron Atholstan, newspaper publisher (b.1848)
* February 20 - William Alves Boys, politician and barrister (b.1868)
* March 23 - Thomas Walter Scott, politician and first Premier of Saskatchewan (b.1867)
* April 13 - Grey Owl, writer and conservationist (b.1888)
* April 24 - John Wycliffe Lowes Forster, artist (b.1850)
* May 6 - Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, politician and 11th Governor General of Canada (b.1868)
* May 7 - Frederick Cronyn Betts, politician (b.1896)
* July 25 - Francis Haszard, jurist, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b.1849)
* December 26 - Pierre-Ernest Boivin, politician and businessman (b.1872)