# 1953 in Canada

Events from the year 1953 in Canada.

## Incumbents
### Crown

* Monarch – Elizabeth II

### Federal government

* Governor General – Vincent Massey
* Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent
* Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec)
* Parliament – 21st (until 13 June) then 22nd (from 12 November)

### Provincial governments
#### Lieutenant governors

* Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John J. Bowlen
* Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Clarence Wallace
* Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams (until August 1) then John Stewart McDiarmid
* Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
* Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Leonard Outerbridge
* Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Alistair Fraser
* Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Louis Orville Breithaupt
* Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Thomas William Lemuel Prowse
* Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Gaspard Fauteux
* Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

#### Premiers

* Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
* Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
* Premier of Manitoba – Douglas Campbell
* Premier of New Brunswick – Hugh John Flemming
* Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
* Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
* Premier of Ontario – Leslie Frost
* Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones (until May 25) then Alex Matheson
* Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
* Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

### Territorial governments
#### Commissioners

* Commissioner of Yukon – Wilfred George Brown
* Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Andrew Young (until November 15) then Robert Gordon Robertson

## Events

* January 1 – The National Library of Canada is founded.
* January 9 – Marguerite Pitre becomes the thirteenth, and last, woman hanged in Canada when she is executed in Montréal.
* January 27 – The Canadian Dental Association approves the use of fluoride in drinking water
* May 25 – Alex Matheson becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing J. Walter Jones
* June 2 – Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of Canada. In Korea the Canadian Army celebrates the coronation by firing red, white, and blue smoke shells at the enemy.
* July 13 – The Stratford Festival of Canada opens
* July 27 – The Korean War ends. In total 314 Canadians were killed and 1211 wounded.
* August 10 – Federal election: Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals win a fifth consecutive majority.
* October 12 – Wilfrid Laurier Memorial unveiled
* October 15 – The Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline is completed
* October 25 – Canada's first privately owned television station, CKSO, broadcasts in Sudbury.
* The federal Immigration Act is amended to prohibit homosexuals entry into Canada. This amendment was repealed in 1977.

## Arts and literature
### Awards

* See 1953 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
* Stephen Leacock Award: Lawrence Earl, The Battle of Baltinglass

## Sport

* April 16 – The Montreal Canadiens win their seventh Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum
* May 6 – The Ontario Hockey Association's Barrie Flyers win their second Memorial Cup by defeating the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's St. Boniface Canadiens 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at Wheat City Arena in Brandon, Manitoba
* November 28 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their first Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 12–6 in the 41st Grey Cup played at Toronto's Varsity Stadium

## Births
### January to June

* January 7
** Dionne Brand, poet, novelist and non-fiction writer
** Morris Titanic, ice hockey player and coach
* January 19 – Richard Legendre, tennis player and politician
* January 29 – Pierre Jacob, politician
* February 5 – Eric Robinson, politician
* February 15
** David Chomiak, politician
** Gerald Keddy, politician
* February 16 – Lanny McDonald, ice hockey player
* February 17 – Borys Chambul, discus thrower
* February 18 – Robbie Bachman, drummer (d. 2023)
* February 20 – Gaëtan Dugas, early AIDS patient, the alleged and debunked Patient Zero for AIDS (d.1984)
* March 10 – Debbie Brill, high jumper
* March 13 – Stephanie Berto, track and field athlete
* March 17 – Lewis Camden, politician
* April 2 – Janet Nutter, diver
* April 17 – Dany Laferrière, novelist and journalist
* April 18 – Rick Moranis, comedian, actor and musician
* May 11 – Celine Lomez, actress and singer
* May 14 – Tom Cochrane, singer-songwriter and musician
* May 21 - Kathleen Wynne, 25th premier of Ontario
* June 23 – Raymonde April, photographer
* June 23 – Albina Guarnieri, politician and Minister

### July to September

* July 3 – Dave Lewis, ice hockey player and coach
* July 9 – Margie Gillis, dancer and choreographer
* July 15 – Richard Margison, operatic tenor
* July 15 – Mila Mulroney, wife of the 18th Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney
* July 22 – Paul Quarrington, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and musician
* July 25 – Barbara Haworth-Attard, children's author
* July 29 – Geddy Lee, singer, bassist and keyboardist
* August 11 – Greg Duhaime, middle-distance runner
* August 17 – Robert Thirsk, engineer and astronaut
* August 27 – Alex Lifeson, guitarist
* September 16 – Nancy Huston, novelist and essayist
* September 29 - Jean-Claude Lauzon, Quebec filmmaker (d. 1997)
* September 30 – S. M. Stirling, science fiction and fantasy author

### October to December

* October 7 – Linda Griffiths, actress and playwright (d.2014)
* October 12 – Daniel Louis, film producer
* October 24
** Charles Colbourn, computer scientist and mathematician
** Jim Pettie, ice hockey player (d.2019)
* October 29 – Denis Potvin, ice hockey player
* November 7 – Lynne Naylor, designer, animator, director, and producer
* November 26 – Pam Barrett, politician (d.2008)
* November 28 – John Majhor, radio and television host (d.2007)
* December 7 – Carmen Rinke, boxer
* December 13 – Bob Gainey, ice hockey player and coach
* December 18 – Daniel Poliquin, novelist and translator
* December 23 – Holly Dale, film and television director and film producer

### Full date unknown

* Patrick LaForge, president and CEO of the Edmonton Oilers

## Deaths

* January 2 – Gordon Daniel Conant, lawyer, politician and 12th Premier of Ontario (b.1885)
* January 5 – Mitchell Hepburn, politician and 11th Premier of Ontario (b.1896)
* February 16 – Norman Hipel, politician and Minister (b.1890)
* March 20 – John Livingstone Brown, politician (b.1867)
* May 4 – James Tompkins, priest and educator (b.1870)
* September 19 – Gordon Graydon, politician (b.1897)
* November 29 – Sam De Grasse, actor (b.1875)
* December 26 – David Milne, painter, printmaker and writer (b.1882)