See also: 1995 in Canada, other events of 1996, 1997 in Canada and the list of 'years in Canada'.
Incumbents
See also: 1996 Canadian incumbents
Events
- January 14: a free trade agreement with Israel is announced
- January 15: the Corel Centre opens in Ottawa
- January 25: Jean Chrétien launches a major cabinet shuffle. Pierre Pettigrew and Stéphane Dion are brought in, despite not having seats in Parliament.
- January 26: Brian Tobin becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Clyde Wells
- January 29: Lucien Bouchard becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Jacques Parizeau
- February 7: Bob Rae, former premier of Ontario leaves politics
- February 14: Mr. Dressup does his last show
- February 15: Chrétien throttles a protester in Ottawa, launching a small controversy over the "Shawinigan Handshake"
- February 17: Michel Gauthier is elected new leader of the Bloc Québécois
- February 22: Glen Clark becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Michael Harcourt
- February 22: Brian Tobin leads the Newfoundland Liberal Party to victory in the 1996 Newfoundland election
- February 27: the Los Angeles Kings trade Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues
- March 6: the federal budget continues the assault on the deficit
- March 16: the Montreal Canadiens play their first game at the Molson Centre against the New York Rangers
- March 26: the Anik E-1 satellite malfunctions
- March 27: the Quebec budget proposes sweeping cuts to government funding
- April 3: all members of the Canadian Forces are ordered to spend the entire day searching for documents that may aid the Somalia inquiry
- April 5: Gunman Mark Chahal kills nine relatives in Vernon, British Columbia before killing himself
- April 11: the Ontario government announce a 15 per cent reduction in the civil service
- April 22: John Nunziata is expelled from the Liberal caucus for voting against the budget
- April 23: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland agree to replace their provincial sales taxes and the Goods and Services Tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax.
- May 7: the Ontario government cuts provincial income taxes by 30 per cent
- May 10: Member of Parliament Jan Brown resigns from the Reform Party of Canada
- May 19: Marc Garneau flies on a second space mission
- May 24: Conrad Black's Hollinger takes over the Southam newspaper chain
- May 28: The British Columbia New Democratic Party wins a surprise re-election
- May 29: Six Taiwanese sailors are charged with the murder of three Romanian stowaways aboard the Maersk Dubai
- June 10: the Quebec government reintroduces the "Language police"
- June 17: Sheila Copps, who had resigned over the GST, wins back her Hamilton–Wentworth seat in a by-election
- June 20: Robert Thirsk flies aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia
- June 24: a riot in Quebec City causes a million dollars in damage
- July 1: the Winnipeg Jets leave Canada and become the Phoenix Coyotes
- July 7–July 11: a major AIDS conference is held in Vancouver
- July 19: the Atlanta Olympics open, Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey wins the 100-metre dash
- July 20–July 21: floods in Quebec kill ten
- July 25: Coach House Press closes
- July 26: Gretzky signs with the New York Rangers
- August 8: former Prime Minister Kim Campbell is named consul general to Los Angeles
- August 8: Jean-Louis Roux appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec
- August 29: former B.C. Premier W.R. Bennett is found guilty of insider trading
- October 4: Defence Minister David Collenette resigns
- October 10: Keith Milligan becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Catherine Callbeck
- October 19: Piers McDonald becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing John Ostashek
- November: SaskTel becomes the first Canadian Internet Service Provider to roll out ADSL
- November 5: Jean-Louis Roux forced to resign as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec when pictures of him at Nazi rallies in the 1930s are published
- November 27: Pat Binns becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Keith Milligan
- December 16: Chrétien formally apologizes for lying about the GST
- Karen Kain becomes the first Canadian to win the Cartier Lifetime Achievement Award
- General Jean Boyle resigns over Somalia Affair controversy
- Dalton McGuinty is elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
- Canada sends over a thousand troops to take part in IFOR
Arts and literature
- New books
- Awards
- New music
Births
September 11: Thomas Fix
Deaths
- January 26: Sally Gribble, founder of MADD Canada
- January 26: Yvonne Housser, painter
- January 27: Brian Kelleher, journalist
- January 31: Beth Amos, actress
- February 2: Phyliss Marshall, actor
- February 7: Barbara Hamilton, actor
- February 7: Lucien Maynard, leader of Alberta francophones
- February 9: Henri Masson, painter
- February 19: Ernest C. Manning former Premier of Alberta
- February 21: Gordon Armstrong, playwright
- February 29: Robert O'Driscoll, scholar
- March 28: Edith Fowke, ethnologist
- April 13: Stewart McLean, Manitoba politician
- April 23: Jean Allard former Chief of the Defence Staff
- May 5: Salli Terri, musician
- May 11: Hilda Grant, author
- May 22: Robert Christie, actor
- June 10: George Hees, cabinet minister
- July 1: Harold Greenberg, businessman
- July 5: Fred Davis, moderator of Front Page Challenge
- July 5: Bob Southam, newspaper publisher
- July 17: Susan Cole, puppeteer
- July 18: Robert Needham, journalist
- July 20: Ronald Buick, scientist
- July 22: Carl Goldenberg, Senator
- August 1: Patrick O'Callaghan, newspaper publicist
- August 10: Walter MacNutt, organist
- August 21: Mary Earley, Aboriginal rights campaigner
- September 22: Ludmilla Chiriaeff, ballet dancer
- September 23: Joe Borowski, anti-abortion activist
- October 2: Robert Bourassa, former Premier of Quebec
- October 3: Winnifred Holden, actor
- October 9: Colleen Peterson, singer/songwriter
- October 11: Joe Morris, chairman of International Labour Organization and former president of the Canadian Labour Congress
- October 11: William Vickrey, nobel prize winner, professor
- October 17: Laura Sabia, feminist, women's rights activist
- October 19: James Bourque, Aboriginal activist
- October 21: Rejean Boily, horse racer
- October 22: Ed Kubin, AIDS activist for hemophiliacs
- October 22: Jan Verdun, designed 3 quart (2.8 L) milk jug, pioneered sale of milk in stores
- October 23
- October 27: Arthur Tremblay, senator
- October 28: Reuben Baetz, Ontario politician
- October 28: Jack Reitman, chairman of the board of Reitmans
- November 9: Joseph A. Ghiz, Premier of PEI
- November 18: John Josiah Robinette, courtroom lawyer
- December 1: Peter Bronfman, founded Edper Investments
- December 5: Wilf Carter, composer and singer
- December 13: Ear Walls, boxer
- December 17: Nancy Malloy, Red Cross nurse, murdered in Chechnya
- December 19: Austin Taylor, financier
- December 21: Douglas Fullerton, headed National Capital Commission
- December 21: Clarence Gosse, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia
- December 26: Al Adair, Alberta politician
- December 29: Dorothy Livesay, poet, journalist, peace activist, feminist
- Leo Landreville: politician and judge implicated in the Northern Ontario Natural Gas scandal
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