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← 1960 1959 1958 1961 in Canada → 1962 1963 1964
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	History of Canada Timeline of Canadian history List of years in Canada

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Events from the year1961 in Canada.

• Monarch –Elizabeth II^[1]

• Governor General –Georges Vanier^[2]
• Prime Minister –John Diefenbaker
• Chief Justice –Patrick Kerwin (Ontario)
• Parliament –24th

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• 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
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia –Edward Chester Plow
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario –John Keiller MacKay
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island –Frederick Walter Hyndman
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec –Onésime Gagnon (until October 12) thenPaul Comtois
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan –Frank Lindsay Bastedo

• 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 –Leslie Frost (until November 8) thenJohn Robarts
• Premier of Prince Edward Island –Walter Shaw
• Premier of Quebec –Jean Lesage
• Premier of Saskatchewan –Tommy Douglas (until November 7) thenWoodrow Lloyd

• Commissioner of Yukon –Frederick Howard Collins
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories –Robert Gordon Robertson

• June 1
  • TheCanadian Bank of Commerce and theImperial Bank of Canada merge to form theCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.^[3]
  • Census Day for the 1961 Census of Canada, which finds Canada has a population of 18,238,247.
• June 6 –CUSO is formed
• June 13 – TheNCC study ofOttawa's newGreen Belt is completed
• June 14 –James Elliott Coyne, the Governor of theBank of Canada resigns due to disagreements with the federal government's fiscal policies

• August 3 –Tommy Douglas is elected leader of the newly formedNew Democratic Party
• August 14 – 15 – The Premiers meet inCharlottetown
• August 26 – The new home for theHockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto, at theCanadian National Exhibition.
• October 1 –CTV, Canada's second majortelevision network, begins broadcasting
• November 7 –Woodrow Lloyd becomes premier ofSaskatchewan, replacingTommy Douglas
• November 8 –John Robarts becomes premier ofOntario, replacingLeslie Frost
• November 17 –Saskatchewan passes a bill creating Canada's first government run health system
• December 28 – Canada's firstBOMARC Missile squadron is formed

• TheCo-operative Commonwealth Federation becomes theNew Democratic Party
• TheMassey Lectures are created
• Thetransatlantic telephone system is officially launched with a call fromElizabeth II toPrime MinisterJohn Diefenbaker.
• TheCanadian Conference of the Arts is established.

• March 12 – TheTrail Smoke Eaters win the1961 Ice Hockey World Championships for Canada.
• May 5 – TheOntario Hockey Association'sToronto St. Michael's Majors win their fourth (and final)Memorial Cup by defeating theCentral Alberta Hockey League'sEdmonton Oil Kings 4 games to 2. The deciding Game 6 was played atEdmonton Gardens.
• July 11 –Gene Kiniski becomes the first Canadian to win theAWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeatingVerne Gagne
• December 2 – TheWinnipeg Blue Bombers win their 6thGrey Cup by defeating theHamilton Tiger-Cats 21–14 in the49th Grey Cup atCNE Stadium inToronto.

• Morley Callaghan:A Passion in Rome
• Max Aitken:Courage
• Margaret Atwood:Double Persephone
• Farley Mowat:Owls in the Family

• See1961 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award:Norman Ward,Mice in the Beer

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• January 11 –Graham Welbourn, swimmer
• January 15 -Yves Pelletier, film director and actor
• January 18 –Mark Messier, ice hockey player
• January 26 –Wayne Gretzky, ice hockey player and coach
• January 27 –Tony Clement, politician and Minister
• January 28 –Normand Rochefort, ice hockey player and coach
• February 4 –Connor O'Brien, Canadian skier
• February 10 –Steve Pagendam, boxer
• February 21 –Paul Edwards, politician and lawyer
• February 23 –Silvia Ruegger, long-distance runner (died2019)
• February 27 –Ann Peel, race walker
• February 28 -René Simard, singer
• March 16 –Todd McFarlane, cartoonist, comic book artist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur
• March 24 –Pat Turner, rower and Olympic gold medallist

• April 6 –Gene Eugene, actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musician (died2000)
• April 10 –Barb Tarbox, anti-smoking activist (died2003)
• April 22 –Scott D. Sampson, paleontologist, science communicator and television presenter
• May 1 –Clint Malarchuk, ice hockey player
• May 8 –Greg Thomey, comedian
• May 9 –Darren Praznik, politician
• May 10 –Randy Cunneyworth, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• June 1 –Paul Coffey, ice hockey player
• June 9 –Michael J. Fox, actor, author and voice over artist

• July 1 –Michelle Wright, singer-songwriter
• July 8 –Kelly Kryczka, synchronized swimmer
• July 12 –Camilla Scott, actress and television host
• July 17 –Blair Horn, rower and Olympic gold medallist
• July 23
  • André Ducharme, author, comedian and humorist
  • Richard Martineau, journalist
  • Rob Stewart, actor
• July 24 –Brian McMahon, coxswain and Olympic gold medallist
• July 26 –Alan Lowe, politician
• August 12 –Peter Szmidt, swimmer
• August 20 –Lizanne Bussières, long-distance runner
• August 23 –François Lapointe, racewalker
• August 25 –Dave Tippett, ice hockey player and coach
• September 12 –Mylène Farmer, singer, songwriter, actress and author
• September 16 – Jen Tolley, actress, voice actress and singer
• September 18 –Denis Lambert, boxer
• September 24
  • Nancy Garapick, swimmer and Olympic bronze medallist
  • Luc Picard, actor
• September 25 –Tracy Wilson, ice dancer
• September 27 –Randy Vancourt, composer and entertainer
• September 30 –Erica Ehm, video jockey, songwriter and actress

• October 16 -Pierre Karl Péladeau, president andCEO ofQuebecor Inc.,Quebecor Media Inc. andSun Media Corporation
• October 25 –Alison Webb, judoka
• November 2 –k.d. lang, singer-songwriter
• November 23 –Floyd Roland, politician and 11thPremier of the Northwest Territories
• December 8 –André Bachand, politician
• December 10 –Mark McKoy, hurdler and Olympic gold medallist
• December 11 -Michel Courtemanche, actor
• December 13 –Ranza Clark, middle-distance runner
• December 18 –Brian Orser, figure skater, double Olympic silver medallist and World Champion
• December 30
  • Douglas Coupland, novelist
  • Ben Johnson, Jamaica-born sprinter, double Olympic bronze medallist, Olympic gold medal rescinded as disqualified for doping

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• May 12 -Janis Babson (born1950)
• May 14 –Albert Sévigny, politician (born1881)
• May 28 –Frank Boyes, politician (born1874)
• May 29 –Gilbert Layton, businessman and politician (born1899)
• May 31 –Walter Little, politician (born1877)
• June 6 –William Anderson, politician and businessman (born1905)
• June 19 –Richard Turner, soldier and recipient of theVictoria Cross (born1871)

• July 12 –Mazo de la Roche, author (born1879)
• July 15 –John Edward Brownlee, politician and 5thPremier of Alberta (born1884)
• September 12 –Joseph-Arthur Bradette, politician (born1886)
• September 16 –Percy Chapman Black, politician (born1878)
• September 21 –William Duncan Herridge, politician and diplomat (born1888)
• September 30 -Onésime Gagnon, politician and the20thLieutenant Governor of Quebec (born1888)
• October 15 –Peter Dickinson, architect (born1925)
• October 22 –Harry Nixon, politician and 13thPremier of Ontario (born1891)

• Anne Wilkinson, poet (born1910)

• 1961 in Canadian television
• List of Canadian films

• 1961 in Canada
• Years of the 20th century in Canada

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