# 1950 in Canada

Events from the year 1950 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 – 21st

### Provincial governments
#### Lieutenant governors

* Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen (until February 1) then John J. Bowlen
* Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Charles Arthur Banks (until October 1) then Clarence Wallace
* Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
* Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
* Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – 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 (until October 4) then Thomas William Lemuel Prowse
* Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset (until October 3) then Gaspard Fauteux
* Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – John Michael Uhrich

#### Premiers

* Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
* Premier of British Columbia – Byron 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 – 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 (until August 15) then Andrew Harold Gibson
* Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside (until November 14) then Hugh Andrew Young

## Events

* January 14 - The first non-stop trans-Canada flight is made
* February 14 - Nancy Hodges of British Columbia becomes the first woman in the Commonwealth elected speaker of a legislature
* Early May - The Winnipeg Flood along the Red River causes immense damage and one death in Winnipeg
* May 29 - The St. Roch becomes the first vessel to circumnavigate North America
* August 7 - Canada joins a United Nations force to fight in Korean War
* August 22 – August 30 - Rail workers strike shuts down much of the Canadian economy
* October 31 - The oil pipeline linking Edmonton to Sarnia is completed
* November 28 - Canada joins onto the Colombo Plan
* December 18 - Korean War: First Canadian troops arrive in Korea.

### Full date unknown

* Cité libre magazine is first published
* British Columbia Provincial Police are disestablished.

## Arts and literature
### Awards

* See 1950 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and nominees for those awards.
* Stephen Leacock Award: Earle Birney, Turvey

## Sport

* April 23 - The Detroit Red Wings win their fourth Stanley Cup by defeating the New York Rangers 4 games to 3. Due to scheduling conflicts at Madison Square Garden, all of the Rangers' home games were played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
* May 6 - The Quebec Junior Hockey League's Montreal Junior Canadiens win their first Memorial Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Regina Pats 4 games to 1. All games were held at Montreal Forum.
* November 25 - The Toronto Argonauts win their ninth Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 13–0 in the 38th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

## Births
### January to March

* January 5
** Tom Benner, sculptor (d. 2022)
** John Manley, lawyer, businessman and politician, Deputy Prime Minister
* January 13 - Joe Fontana, politician
* January 17 - Jean Poirier, politician
* January 18 - Gilles Villeneuve, motor racing driver (d. 1982)
* February 8 - Keith Milligan, politician
* February 9 - Tom Wappel, politician
* February 12 - Michael Ironside, actor, voice actor, producer, film director and screenwriter
* March 6 - Bruce Simpson, pole vaulter
* March 17 - Jackson Davies, actor
* March 23 - Jerry Storie, politician
* March 23 - Ralph Eichler, politician
* March 26 - Martin Short, comedian, actor, writer, singer and producer

### April to June

* April 1 - Daniel Paillé, leader of the Bloc Québécois
* April 16 - Robert Dutil, Canadian businessman and politician
* April 19 - Gérard Asselin, politician and MP for Charlevoix and Manicouagan (1993-2011) (d. 2013)
* May 2 - Jose Kusugak, Inuk politician (d. 2011)
* May 10 – Dale Wilson, voice actor
* May 12 - Louise Portal, actress, singer, and director
* May 27 - Brent St. Denis, politician
* June 1 - Perrin Beatty, corporate executive and politician
* June 7 - John Wood, Olympic canoeist (d. 2013)
* June 12 - David Onley, broadcaster and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (d. 2023)
* June 19 - Rosie Shuster, comedy writer and actress
* June 21 - Anne Carson, poet, essayist, translator and professor of Classics and comparative literature
* June 25 – Barbara Gowdy, novelist
* June 27 - Rick Cluff, radio journalist (d. 2024)

### July to September

* July 2 - Lee Maracle, writer and academic (d. 2021)
* July 5 - Deepak Obhrai, politician (d. 2019)
* July 6 - Hélène Scherrer, politician and Minister
* July 7 - Leon Benoit, politician
* July 18 - Jack Layton, politician, leader of New Democratic Party of Canada (2003-2011) and Leader of the Official Opposition (2011) (d. 2011)
* July 20 - Lucille Lemay, archer
* August 2 - Sue Rodriguez, advocate for assisted suicide (d. 1994)
* August 6 - Carole Pope, rock singer-songwriter
* August 15 - Ron Lemieux, ice hockey player and politician
* August 16 - Stockwell Day, politician
* August 31 - Anne McLellan, academic, politician, Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
* September 8 - Richard Henry Bain, criminal who is charged with the September 4, 2012, Montreal, Quebec, shooting that killed Denis Blanchette.
* September 9 - Janis Babson (d. 1961)
* September 16 - Sheila Fraser, Auditor General of Canada
* September 18 - Darryl Sittler, ice hockey player

### October to December

* October 17 – Val Ross, writer and journalist (d. 2008)
* October 31 - John Candy, comedian and actor (d. 1994)
* November 2 - Wendy Lill, playwright and politician
* November 2 - Daryl Reid, politician
* November 5 - Susan Nattrass, sport shooter
* November 8 - Dennis Fentie, politician and 7th Premier of the Yukon
* November 14 - Colleen Peterson, singer (d. 1996)
* December 18 - Martha Johnson, pop singer and songwriter
* December 20 - Carolyn Bennett, politician
* December 21 - Lap-Chee Tsui, geneticist

### Full date unknown

* David Barr, Commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command
* Denis Simpson, singer and actor (d. 2010)

## Deaths
### January to June

* February 7 - Thomas Langton Church, politician and Mayor of Toronto (b. 1870)
* April 7 - Walter Huston, actor (b. 1884)
* May 15 - Hervé-Edgar Brunelle, politician and lawyer (b. 1891)
* June 28 - James Allison Glen, politician, Minister and Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (b. 1877)

### July to December

* July 22 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, lawyer, economist, university professor, civil servant, journalist, politician and 10th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1874)
* July 25 - Gleason Belzile, politician (b. 1898)
* August 1 - Humphrey Mitchell, politician and trade unionist (b. 1894)
* August 2 - Pierre-François Casgrain, politician and Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (b. 1886)
* October 19 - Charles Ballantyne, politician, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (b. 1867)
* November 11 - John Knox Blair, politician, physician and teacher (b. 1873)

### Full date unknown

* William Sanford Evans, politician (b. 1869)