20th century Year Date Event Ref. 1903 The United Kingdom and the United States settle the Alaska boundary dispute on the border with British Columbia. Canadians are disappointed by the lack of a sea-water port to connect to the Yukon. 1905 1 September Alberta and Saskatchewan are partitioned out of the Northwest Territories to become the eighth and ninth provinces of Canada. 6 November Treaty 9 is signed by the Anishinaabe (Algonquin and Ojibway) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Crown, surrendering land in Northern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec to James Bay 1906 28 August Treaty 10 is signed between several First Nations, including the Cree and Chipewyan, and the Crown, surrendering in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta. Additional nations signed on later in 1906 and 1907. 1910 4 May Royal Canadian Navy is established. 1914 4 August Great Britain declares war on Germany, bringing Canada into the First World War. 1917 9–12 April The four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fight together for the first time in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which becomes celebrated as a national symbol of achievement and sacrifice and a formative milestone in the development of Canada's national identity. 6 December An explosion caused by an accidental collision between two merchant ships, one filled with explosives for the war, occurs in Halifax Harbour, resulting in 2000 people dead and 9000 injured. Janet F. Kitz, Shattered city: the Halifax explosion & the road to recovery (Nimbus, 2008.) 1918 1 April Prohibition in Canada enacted federally by an Order in Council. 24 May Women gain the right to vote in federal elections. 19 September Canadian Air Force (after 1920, Royal Canadian Air Force) is established. 1919 Canada sends a delegation to the Paris Peace Talks, the conference resolving war issues. Canada signs the Versailles treaty as part of the British Empire, with parliament's approval. Prohibition in Canada ends federally. 1920 Canada is admitted as a full member of the League of Nations, independently of Britain. It joins the League Council (governing board) in 1927. Canada plays a minor role and opposes sanctions or military action by the League. The League is virtually defunct by 1939. 1921 27 June 1921 until 22 August 1921 Treaty 11, the last of the Numbered Treaties, is signed by the Slavey, Dogrib, Loucheux, Hare First Nations and the Canadian Crown. It covers a region within the Northwest Territories. 1926 25 June – 14 September A constitutional crisis, known as the King-Byng Affair, is precipitated when Governor General Byng refused Prime Minister King's request to dissolve parliament and call an election, instead asking opposition leader Meighen to form a government, which in turn was quickly defeated. King framed the dispute as one of Britain, represented by the Governor General, interfering with Canadian affairs. Consequently, the affair played a role in the Balfour Declaration of 1926, in which each Dominion of the British Empire was declared to be of equal status with Britain. 1927 25 November Canada appoints Vincent Massey as its first fully accredited envoy to a foreign capital. 1929 1929 - 1939 Great Depression in Canada begins, resulting in widespread poverty and unemployment for the next decade.1931 11 December The Statute of Westminster 1931 is enacted in Britain, officially ending the power of the British parliament to pass and nullify laws in a Dominion without the Dominion's request and consent. The statute formally recognized the de facto independence attained by Canada following the First World War. 193910 September Canada, with its parliament's support, enters the Second World War by declaring war on Germany. The Dominion of Newfoundland had entered the war as a British colony upon the United Kingdom's declaration of war one week earlier.Jack L. Granatstein, and Robert Bothwell, "‘A self-evident national duty’: Canadian foreign policy, 1935–1939." The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 3#2 (1975): 212-233.19391939 - 1945 During the war, the government mobilizes Canadian money, supplies, and volunteers to support Britain while boosting the economy and maintaining home front morale. Canada plays a military role protecting convoys against German submarines and fighting the German Army in Western Europe, while helping to liberate the Netherlands. Canada expands its small navy into the third largest in the world, after the U.S. and U.K. It had 363 ships and 100,000 sailors (of whom 6700 were women.)Tim Cook, Warlords: Borden Mackenzie King And Canada's World Wars (2012)Jeffrey A. Keshen, Saints, Sinners, and Soldiers: Canada's Second World War (2004)J.L. Granatstein, The last good war: An illustrated history of Canada in the Second World War, 1939-1945 (2005)19459 November Canada joins the United Nations, seeking to play a world role as a "middle power", with interest in the UN Charter and in relief agencies.Adam Chapnick, The middle power project: Canada and the founding of the United Nations (UBC Press, 2007) 1947 1 January The Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946 comes into force creating a new, separate, Canadian legal citizenship for all British subjects born, raised, or resident in Canada and automatic citizenship for all those born in Canada after this date. 1949 31 March Newfoundland, the last British colony in North America, enters Confederation as the tenth province following a pair of contentious referenda on whether the island should remain a British Crown Colony, become fully independent, or join Canada. 1959 27 June The Saint Lawrence Seaway, a joint project between Canada and the United States, is officially opened. 19601 JulyFirst Nations people are granted the right to vote in federal elections without having to give up their status and treaty rights. 1967 Canada celebrates its centennial. 27 April Expo 67 opens in Montreal and goes on to be considered most successful World's Fair of the 20th century and a landmark moment in Canadian history. 1970 5 October The government invokes the War Measures Act to apprehend the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), a separatist paramilitary group in Quebec that was responsible for over 160 violent incidents that killed eight people and in October 1970 had kidnapped a British official (later released) and Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte, who they killed. The FLQ collapses. H. D. Munroe, "The October Crisis revisited: Counterterrorism as strategic choice, political result, and organizational practice." Terrorism and Political Violence 21.2 (2009): 288-305.197331 January The Supreme Court of Canada rules in the Calder v British Columbia (AG) case that aboriginal title existed prior to the existence of the colonial government and was not a matter of Canadian law alone. The case recognized Nisga'a Nation aboriginal title. The ruling would lead the Government of Canada to update its land claims negotiation process. 15 November The Quebec Superior Court blocks the James Bay Hydroelectric Project by ruling that the Indigenous peoples of the region had not extinguished their aboriginal title to the lands and that Quebec and Canada must negotiate for such title in order to build the project. The final accord is signed 11 November 1975 by Canada, Quebec, Hydro-Quebec and the Cree of Quebec. The treaty becomes enshrined in the 1982 Canadian Constitution. 1980 20 May A referendum on Quebec independence is held, resulting in a majority (59.56\%) of the province voting to remain in Canada. 1981Workers in British Columbia Telephone take over all of the provinces telephone exchanges for five days and run them under workers' control. 1982 17 April The enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, by royal proclamation. Canada achieves total independence from Great Britain through Patriation of its Constitution. The Constitution includes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guaranteeing individual human rights. The Act also guarantees all treaty rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The Government of Quebec refuses to sign the deal and attempts to veto the Act; the Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec's assent is not required. 1989 January 1 The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement comes into force. Under the agreement, the countries start to reduce or eliminate trade barriers between the two countries.199011 July – 26 SeptemberThe Oka Crisis occurs as Indigenous Mohawk activists protest the construction of a golf course on a burial ground, barricading roads and the Mercier Bridge. In August, after a series of violent standoffs between protesters and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ, Quebec's provincial police) which led to the death of one officer, Premier Robert Bourassa requests aid from the Canadian Armed Forces. In September, facing military invasion of their community, the protesters surrender and many leaders are arrested. Construction of the golf course is later cancelled . 1993 11 December The Delgamuukw v British Columbia decision is rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada, determining that aboriginal title had not been distinguished in British Columbia. This ended the decades-long refusal of the BC government to participate in land claims to settle with First Nations, claiming that aboriginal title had been extinguished. 1994 January 1The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into force, creating a free trade zone between Canada, Mexico and the United States, superceding the 1988 Canada-US Agreement. NAFTA Secretariat . Nafta-sec-alena.org (June 9, 2010). Retrieved on July 12, 2013. 1995 30 October Another referendum on Quebec independence is held. A majority (50.58\%) of the province votes to remain in Canada.19954 SeptemberMembers of an Indigenous Ojibwe band occupy Camp Ipperwash in southwestern Ontario, on land which had been expropriated from the band for a military base during World War II under the War Measures Act, setting off the Ipperwash Crisis. Two days later, unarmed Ojibwe protester Dudley George is shot and killed by an Ontario Provincial Police officer. The land is transferred to the Ojibwe, but agreements to remove ordinance on the site is not reached, leaving the site only partially habitable .199518 August - 17 SeptemberIndigenous Shuswap and non-Indigenous supporters exchange fire with Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers after a British Columbia rancher attempts to evict them from land being used for a traditional ceremony, beginning the Gustafsen Lake standoff. After the largest and costliest paramilitary operation in the province's history, the Ts'peten Defenders surrender to police . 1999 1 April Nunavut is partitioned from the Northwest Territories to become Canada's third territory, following a series of plebiscites in 1982 and 1992, and establishment of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement in 1993.
20th century Year Date Event Ref. 1903 The United Kingdom and the United States settle the Alaska boundary dispute on the border with British Columbia. Canadians are disappointed by the lack of a sea-water port to connect to the Yukon. 1905 1 September Alberta and Saskatchewan are partitioned out of the Northwest Territories to become the eighth and ninth provinces of Canada. 6 November Treaty 9 is signed by the Anishinaabe (Algonquin and Ojibway) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Crown, surrendering land in Northern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec to James Bay 1906 28 August Treaty 10 is signed between several First Nations, including the Cree and Chipewyan, and the Crown, surrendering in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta. Additional nations signed on later in 1906 and 1907. 1910 4 May Royal Canadian Navy is established. 1914 4 August Great Britain declares war on Germany, bringing Canada into the First World War. 1917 9–12 April The four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fight together for the first time in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which becomes celebrated as a national symbol of achievement and sacrifice and a formative milestone in the development of Canada's national identity. 6 December An explosion caused by an accidental collision between two merchant ships, one filled with explosives for the war, occurs in Halifax Harbour, resulting in 2000 people dead and 9000 injured. Janet F. Kitz, Shattered city: the Halifax explosion & the road to recovery (Nimbus, 2008.) 1918 1 April Prohibition in Canada enacted federally by an Order in Council. 24 May Women gain the right to vote in federal elections. 19 September Canadian Air Force (after 1920, Royal Canadian Air Force) is established. 1919 Canada sends a delegation to the Paris Peace Talks, the conference resolving war issues. Canada signs the Versailles treaty as part of the British Empire, with parliament's approval. Prohibition in Canada ends federally. 1920 Canada is admitted as a full member of the League of Nations, independently of Britain. It joins the League Council (governing board) in 1927. Canada plays a minor role and opposes sanctions or military action by the League. The League is virtually defunct by 1939. 1921 27 June 1921 until 22 August 1921 Treaty 11, the last of the Numbered Treaties, is signed by the Slavey, Dogrib, Loucheux, Hare First Nations and the Canadian Crown. It covers a region within the Northwest Territories. 1926 25 June – 14 September A constitutional crisis, known as the King-Byng Affair, is precipitated when Governor General Byng refused Prime Minister King's request to dissolve parliament and call an election, instead asking opposition leader Meighen to form a government, which in turn was quickly defeated. King framed the dispute as one of Britain, represented by the Governor General, interfering with Canadian affairs. Consequently, the affair played a role in the Balfour Declaration of 1926, in which each Dominion of the British Empire was declared to be of equal status with Britain. 1927 25 November Canada appoints Vincent Massey as its first fully accredited envoy to a foreign capital. 1929 1929 - 1939 Great Depression in Canada begins, resulting in widespread poverty and unemployment for the next decade.1931 11 December The Statute of Westminster 1931 is enacted in Britain, officially ending the power of the British parliament to pass and nullify laws in a Dominion without the Dominion's request and consent. The statute formally recognized the de facto independence attained by Canada following the First World War. 193910 September Canada, with its parliament's support, enters the Second World War by declaring war on Germany. The Dominion of Newfoundland had entered the war as a British colony upon the United Kingdom's declaration of war one week earlier.Jack L. Granatstein, and Robert Bothwell, "‘A self-evident national duty’: Canadian foreign policy, 1935–1939." The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 3#2 (1975): 212-233.19391939 - 1945 During the war, the government mobilizes Canadian money, supplies, and volunteers to support Britain while boosting the economy and maintaining home front morale. Canada plays a military role protecting convoys against German submarines and fighting the German Army in Western Europe, while helping to liberate the Netherlands. Canada expands its small navy into the third largest in the world, after the U.S. and U.K. It had 363 ships and 100,000 sailors (of whom 6700 were women.)Tim Cook, Warlords: Borden Mackenzie King And Canada's World Wars (2012)Jeffrey A. Keshen, Saints, Sinners, and Soldiers: Canada's Second World War (2004)J.L. Granatstein, The last good war: An illustrated history of Canada in the Second World War, 1939-1945 (2005)19459 November Canada joins the United Nations, seeking to play a world role as a "middle power", with interest in the UN Charter and in relief agencies.Adam Chapnick, The middle power project: Canada and the founding of the United Nations (UBC Press, 2007) 1947 1 January The Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946 comes into force creating a new, separate, Canadian legal citizenship for all British subjects born, raised, or resident in Canada and automatic citizenship for all those born in Canada after this date. 1949 31 March Newfoundland, the last British colony in North America, enters Confederation as the tenth province following a pair of contentious referenda on whether the island should remain a British Crown Colony, become fully independent, or join Canada. 1959 27 June The Saint Lawrence Seaway, a joint project between Canada and the United States, is officially opened. 19601 JulyFirst Nations people are granted the right to vote in federal elections without having to give up their status and treaty rights. 1967 Canada celebrates its centennial. 27 April Expo 67 opens in Montreal and goes on to be considered most successful World's Fair of the 20th century and a landmark moment in Canadian history. 1970 5 October The government invokes the War Measures Act to apprehend the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), a separatist paramilitary group in Quebec that was responsible for over 160 violent incidents that killed eight people and in October 1970 had kidnapped a British official (later released) and Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte, who they killed. The FLQ collapses. H. D. Munroe, "The October Crisis revisited: Counterterrorism as strategic choice, political result, and organizational practice." Terrorism and Political Violence 21.2 (2009): 288-305.197331 January The Supreme Court of Canada rules in the Calder v British Columbia (AG) case that aboriginal title existed prior to the existence of the colonial government and was not a matter of Canadian law alone. The case recognized Nisga'a Nation aboriginal title. The ruling would lead the Government of Canada to update its land claims negotiation process. 15 November The Quebec Superior Court blocks the James Bay Hydroelectric Project by ruling that the Indigenous peoples of the region had not extinguished their aboriginal title to the lands and that Quebec and Canada must negotiate for such title in order to build the project. The final accord is signed 11 November 1975 by Canada, Quebec, Hydro-Quebec and the Cree of Quebec. The treaty becomes enshrined in the 1982 Canadian Constitution. 1980 20 May A referendum on Quebec independence is held, resulting in a majority (59.56\%) of the province voting to remain in Canada. 1981Workers in British Columbia Telephone take over all of the provinces telephone exchanges for five days and run them under workers' control. 1982 17 April The enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, by royal proclamation. Canada achieves total independence from Great Britain through Patriation of its Constitution. The Constitution includes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guaranteeing individual human rights. The Act also guarantees all treaty rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The Government of Quebec refuses to sign the deal and attempts to veto the Act; the Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec's assent is not required. 1989 January 1 The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement comes into force. Under the agreement, the countries start to reduce or eliminate trade barriers between the two countries.199011 July – 26 SeptemberThe Oka Crisis occurs as Indigenous Mohawk activists protest the construction of a golf course on a burial ground, barricading roads and the Mercier Bridge. In August, after a series of violent standoffs between protesters and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ, Quebec's provincial police) which led to the death of one officer, Premier Robert Bourassa requests aid from the Canadian Armed Forces. In September, facing military invasion of their community, the protesters surrender and many leaders are arrested. Construction of the golf course is later cancelled .1994 January 1The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into force, creating a free trade zone between Canada, Mexico and the United States, superceding the 1988 Canada-US Agreement. NAFTA Secretariat . Nafta-sec-alena.org (June 9, 2010). Retrieved on July 12, 2013. 1995 18 August - 17 SeptemberIndigenous Shuswap and non-Indigenous supporters exchange fire with Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers after a British Columbia rancher attempts to evict them from land being used for a traditional ceremony, beginning the Gustafsen Lake standoff. After the largest and costliest paramilitary operation in the province's history, the Ts'peten Defenders surrender to police.4 SeptemberMembers of an Indigenous Ojibwe band occupy Camp Ipperwash in southwestern Ontario, on land which had been expropriated from the band for a military base during World War II under the War Measures Act, setting off the Ipperwash Crisis. Two days later, unarmed Ojibwe protester Dudley George is shot and killed by an Ontario Provincial Police officer. The land is transferred to the Ojibwe, but agreements to remove ordinance on the site is not reached, leaving the site only partially habitable . 30 October Another referendum on Quebec independence is held. A majority (50.58\%) of the province votes to remain in Canada. 1997 11 December The Delgamuukw v British Columbia decision is rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada, determining that aboriginal title had not been distinguished in British Columbia. This ended the decades-long refusal of the BC government to participate in land claims to settle with First Nations, claiming that aboriginal title had been extinguished . 1999 1 April Nunavut is partitioned from the Northwest Territories to become Canada's third territory, following a series of plebiscites in 1982 and 1992, and establishment of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement in 1993.
R
. 1993 11 December The Delgamuukw v British Columbia decision is rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada, determining that aboriginal title had not been distinguished in British Columbia. This ended the decades-long refusal of the BC government to participate in land claims to settle with First Nations, claiming that aboriginal title had been extinguished. 1994
.1994
R
30 October Another referendum on Quebec independence is held. A majority (50.58\%) of the province votes to remain in Canada.19954
18 August - 17 SeptemberIndigenous Shuswap and non-Indigenous supporters exchange fire with Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers after a British Columbia rancher attempts to evict them from land being used for a traditional ceremony, beginning the Gustafsen Lake standoff. After the largest and costliest paramilitary operation in the province's history, the Ts'peten Defenders surrender to police.4
R
.199518 August - 17 SeptemberIndigenous Shuswap and non-Indigenous supporters exchange fire with Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers after a British Columbia rancher attempts to evict them from land being used for a traditional ceremony, beginning the Gustafsen Lake standoff. After the largest and costliest paramilitary operation in the province's history, the Ts'peten Defenders surrender to police
. 30 October Another referendum on Quebec independence is held. A majority (50.58\%) of the province votes to remain in Canada. 1997 11 December The Delgamuukw v British Columbia decision is rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada, determining that aboriginal title had not been distinguished in British Columbia. This ended the decades-long refusal of the BC government to participate in land claims to settle with First Nations, claiming that aboriginal title had been extinguished