See also: 1970 in Canada, other events of 1971, 1972 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.
Incumbents
Hurricane Beth hit Nova Scotia in August
Events
- March 1: Bill Davis becomes premier of Ontario, replacing John Robarts
- March 4: Prime Minister Trudeau weds Margaret Sinclair
- March 31: FLQ terrorist Paul Rose is sentenced to life in prison
- April 5: The first CANDU reactor begins operation at Gentilly, Quebec
- April 14: a riot begins at Kingston Penitentiary. Prisoners seize control and a four-day siege ensues.
- May 4: A sinkhole destroys much of Saint-Jean-Vianney, Quebec, and kills 31
- May 22: Ontario Place opens in Toronto
- June 3: The controversial Spadina Expressway project is cancelled
- June 11: Jack Davis becomes Canada's first Minister of the Environment, heading the new department of Environment Canada
- June 14: The Victoria Charter proposing constitutional reforms is written by the first ministers. It was later rejected by Robert Bourassa.
- June 23: Saskatchewan election: Allan Blakeney's NDP wins a majority, defeating Ross Thatcher's Liberals
- June 30: Allan Blakeney becomes premier of Saskatchewan, replacing Ross Thatcher
- July 29: The Bluenose II is donated to the province of Nova Scotia
- August 15: The first Banff Festival of the Arts opens
- August 16: Hurricane Beth hits Nova Scotia
- August 28: Canada's first gay rights demonstration, organized by George Hislop, takes place on Parliament Hill
- August 30: Alberta election: Peter Lougheed's PCs win a majority, defeating Harry Strom's Social Credit Party, which had governed for 36 years
- September 10: Peter Lougheed becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Harry Strom
- October 4: Petroleum is found under Sable Island
- October 21: Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win an eighth consecutive majority
- November 1: The Toronto Sun begins publication
- November 1: The Body Politic, Canada's first significant gay magazine, publishes its first issue.
- November 2: Gerhard Herzberg wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- November 12: Paul Joseph Cini hijacks an Air Canada plane. He is later arrested without incident
- December 1: A moving Montreal Metro train crashes into a second, parked train, killing one person.
- December 26: An Air Canada plane is hijacked and flown to Cuba
- Ontario Universities Application Centre founded
- Harold Ballard gains full control of the Toronto Maple Leafs
- The first edition of The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide is published
- Conrad Black and David Radler buy the Sherbrooke Record
- Statistics Canada is formed to replace the Dominion Bureau of Statistics
- An animation studio, Nelvana Limited, is founded by animators Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert, and Clive A. Smith in Toronto. [1]
Arts and literature
- New works
- Awards
Births
- January 9: Sandra Oh, actor
- January 18: Seamus O'Regan, journalist
- January 27: Patrice Brisebois, ice hockey player
- March 8: Bob Boughner, ice hockey player
- March 20: Janis Kelly, volleyball player
- March 27: Nathan Fillion, actor
- April 2: Conrad Leinemann, beach volleyball player
- April 9: Jacques Villeneuve, automobile racing driver
- June 17: Bif Naked, singer
- June 26: Edward Parenti, swimmer
- July 2: Evelyn Lau, poet
- July 10: Adam Foote, ice hockey player
- July 17: Cory Doctorow, writer and activist
- June 26: Christine Nordhagen, wrestler
- July 30: Tom Green, actor
- September: Chris Klein-Beekman, aid worker
- September 6: Fiona Milne, rower
- October 21: Johanne Bégin, water polo player
- November 1: Glen Murray, ice hockey player
- November 24: Keith Primeau, ice hockey player
- December 9: Petr Nedvěd, Czechoslovakia-born ice hockey player
- December 14: Scott Koskie, volleyball player
- December 25: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister's son
- Carla Robinson, CBC journalist
Deaths
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