# 1963 in Canada

Events from the year 1963 in Canada.

## Incumbents
### Crown

* Monarch – Elizabeth II

### Federal government

* Governor General – Georges Vanier
* Prime Minister – John Diefenbaker (until April 22) then Lester B. Pearson
* Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin (Ontario) (until 2 February) then Robert Taschereau (Quebec)
* Parliament – 25th (until 6 February) then 26th (from 16 May)

### Provincial governments
#### Lieutenant governors

* Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John Percy Page
* Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – George Pearkes
* Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Errick Willis
* Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Joseph Leonard O'Brien
* Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Campbell Leonard Macpherson (until March 1) then Fabian O'Dea
* Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Edward Chester Plow (until March 1) then Henry Poole MacKeen
* Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Keiller MacKay (until May 1) then William Earl Rowe
* Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Frederick Walter Hyndman (until August 1) then Willibald Joseph MacDonald
* Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Paul Comtois
* Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Frank Lindsay Bastedo (until March 1) then Robert Hanbidge

#### Premiers

* Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
* Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
* Premier of Manitoba – Dufferin Roblin
* Premier of New Brunswick – Louis Robichaud
* Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
* Premier of Nova Scotia – Robert Stanfield
* Premier of Ontario – John Robarts
* Premier of Prince Edward Island – Walter Shaw
* Premier of Quebec – Jean Lesage
* Premier of Saskatchewan – Woodrow Lloyd

### Territorial governments
#### Commissioners

* Commissioner of Yukon – Gordon Robertson Cameron
* Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Robert Gordon Robertson (until July 12) then Bent Gestur Sivertz

## Events

* February 4: Defence Minister Douglas Harkness resigns after Prime Minister Diefenbaker refuses to accept nuclear weapons from the United States
* February 5: The Diefenbaker government collapses over the Bomarc Missile Crisis and an election is called
* March 1: Simon Fraser University is founded
* April 8: Federal election: Lester Pearson's Liberals win a minority, defeating John Diefenbaker's PCs
* April 9: Canadian Recording Industry Association is established
* April 20: The Front de libération du Québec sets off its first bombs in Quebec
* April 22: Lester Pearson becomes Prime Minister, replacing John Diefenbaker
* May 27: The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology opens
* June 17: 1963 Alberta general election: Ernest Manning's Alberta Social Credit Party wins an eighth consecutive majority
* July 22: The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is announced
* September 21: Place des Arts opens in Montreal
* September 25: 1963 Ontario general election: John Robarts's PCs win a sixth consecutive majority
* November 29: 118 are killed in the Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crash near Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec
* December 23: plans to build the National Arts Centre are approved

## Arts and literature
### New Works

* W.L. Morton: The Kingdom of Canada
* Milton Acorn: Jawbreakers
* Leonard Cohen: The Favorite Game
* Farley Mowat: Never Cry Wolf

### Awards

* See 1963 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
* Stephen Leacock Award: Donald Jack, Three Cheers for Me
* Vicky Metcalf Award: Kerry Wood

## Sport

* March 16 – The McMaster Marlins win the first University Cup by defeating the UBC Thunderbirds 3 to 2 at the Kingston Memorial Centre
* April 18 – The Toronto Maple Leafs win their 11th Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings. The deciding Game 5 is played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
* April 22 – Winnipeg awarded the 1967 Pan Am Games
* May 11 – The Central Alberta Hockey League's Edmonton Oil Kings win their First Memorial Cup by defeating Ontario Hockey Association's Niagara Falls Flyers 4 games to 2. All games were played at Edmonton Gardens.
* November 30 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their third Grey Cup by defeating the BC Lions 21–10 in the 51st Grey Cup played Empire Stadium in Vancouver.

## Births
### January to March

* January 1 – Cheryl Dick, netball player
* January 9 – Larry Cain, sprint canoer and Olympic gold medallist
* January 12 – Ken Fitzpatrick, swimmer
* January 19 – Steve Peters, politician and Minister
* January 25 – Paul Dewar, educator and politician (d. 2019)
* February 12 – Ron Schuler, politician
* February 21 – Lori Fung, rhythmic gymnast
* March 1 – Ron Francis, ice hockey player and coach
* March 17 – Lawrence Ytzhak Braithwaite, novelist, spoken word artist, dub poet, essayist and musician (d. 2008)
* March 26 – Roch Voisine, singer-songwriter, actor and radio and television host
* March 28 – Sharon Hambrook, synchronized swimmer
* March 30
** Wayne Gordon, boxer
** Carol Klimpel, swimmer

### April to June

* April 4
** Vince Ditrich, rock musician
** Dale Hawerchuk, ice hockey player
** Jim Wilson, politician
* April 14 – John Kalbhenn, boxer
* April 17 – Penny & Vicky Vilagos, synchronized swimmers
* April 18 – Eric McCormack, actor, musician, writer and producer
* April 27 – Joe Peschisolido, politician and businessman
* April 27 – Cali Timmins, actress
* April 28 – Lloyd Eisler, pair skater
* May 5
** James LaBrie, vocalist (Dream Theater)
** Susan Whelan, politician and Minister
* May 9 – Joe Cirella, ice hockey player and coach
* May 11 – Roark Critchlow, actor
* May 17 – Michelle Conn, field hockey player
* May 25 – Mike Myers, actor, comedian, screenwriter and film producer
* May 26 – Richard Crouse, film critic
* June – Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister Stephen Harper
* June 4 – Carey Nelson, long-distance runner
* June 6 – Bernard Drainville, Canadian journalist and politician
* June 17 – Sandra Greaves, judoka
* June 23 – Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper
* June 24 – Barbara Underhill, pairs figure skater and World Champion
* June 25 – Doug Gilmour, ice hockey player and coach
* June 25 – Yann Martel, author

### July to September

* July 11 – Al MacInnis, ice hockey player
* July 11 – Sandra Schmirler, curler, Olympic gold medallist and World Champion (d. 2000)
* July 12 – Andy Savoy, politician and engineer
* July 28 – Gregory Henriquez, architect
* July 30 – Albert Schultz, actor and director
* August 2 – Russell Smith, novelist and newspaper columnist
* August 8 – Stephen Walkom, ice hockey official and executive
* September 2 – Gerard Gallant, ice hockey player and coach
* September 7 – Karen Dianne Baldwin, Miss Universe 1982
* September 9 – Kathryn Johnson, field hockey player
* September 25 – Karin Larsen, synchronized swimmer and broadcaster
* September 29 – Dave Andreychuk, ice hockey player

### October to December

* October 20 – Julie Payette, astronaut
* November 19 – Bill Dunlop, boxer
* November 22 – Benoît Sauvageau, politician (d. 2006)
* November 23 – Troy Hurtubise, inventor and conservationist (d. 2018)
* November 25 – Holly Cole, jazz singer
* December 4 – Robert Dawson, wrestler
* December 9 – Dave Hilton, Jr., boxer
* December 29 – Liisa Savijarvi, alpine skier
* December 30 – Michelle Douglas, human rights activist

## Deaths

* January 2 – Jack Carson, actor (b. 1910)
* March 27 – Gaspard Fauteux, politician, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada and Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (b. 1898)
* May 12 – Robert Kerr, sprinter and Olympic gold medallist (b.1882)
* June 23 – Herbert Alexander Bruce, surgeon and 15th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b.1868)
* August 19 – Kathleen Parlow, violinist (b.1890)
* September 8 – Leslie Gordon Bell, politician and lawyer (b. 1889)
* October 8 – Grace Darmond, Canadian-born actress (b. 1893)

### Full date unknown

* Murdoch Mackay, politician (b.1884)