First Baldwin–La Fontaine ministry
1842 After the passing of the Act of Union, which united Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, an election was...
Refus Global (Total Refusal)
1948 On August 9, 1948, Refus global (Total Refusal) was released in Montréal. This manifesto was signed by 15 members of the...
Cupids, Newfoundland, is founded
1610 In 1610, Bristol merchant John Guy and a boatload of settlers established a colony on the north side of Conception Bay on...
NRX, Canada’s first reactor
1947 During the Second World War, Canada, in collaboration with the United States and Britain, was responsible for the production...
Death of Shawnadithit, last of the Beothuk
June 6, 1829 In April 1823, Newfoundland trappers in Badger Bay captured three Beothuk women — a mother and two daughters. The...
The Quebec Act
1774 With the conquest of New France, the British had to adapt their rules of law, which favoured the Protestant religion and...
Trans-Canada Highway opens
1962 On September 3, 1962, the long-envisioned Trans-Canada Highway was officially opened at Rogers Pass, British Columbia, by...
Report of the Massey Commission
1951 In April 1949, Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent appointed the Massey Commission to assess the state of arts and culture in...
The Rassemblement pour l’indépendance nationale is founded in Quebec...
1960 In the early 1960s, a number of organizations emerged in support of Quebec independence. The Rassemblement pour...
Métis “Famous Five”
1932 The Métis Association of Alberta aimed to improve socio-economic conditions and protect land rights for the Métis in...
Mikak returns to Labrador from Europe
1769 Mikak was one of the first Inuit to be recognized as a distinct individual. Taken from Labrador to London in 1768, she was...
Indigenous Confederacies
1450 to 1550 About 500 years ago, the various Iroquoian nations of the eastern Great Lakes–St. Lawrence region began to...
The Empress of Ireland sinks in the St. Lawrence
May 29, 1914 In the early morning of May 29, 1914, the Canadian Pacific ocean liner the Empress of Ireland, destined for...
The Provincial Freeman
1853 Mary Ann Shadd Cary became the first Black female publisher in North America and the first female publisher in Canada when...
Unity rally
1995 Days before the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty, the Quebec Business Council on the Environment called for a rally...
CBC makes its first television broadcast
1952 At 4 p.m. on September 6, 1952, the CBC launched its television service on CBFT, in Montréal, presenting the movie Aladdin...
Women win the right to vote in federal elections
May 24, 1918 On May 24, 1918, women were granted suffrage, or the right to vote, in federal elections. This historic step...
Conscription Crisis
1917 In the face of mass casualties on the Western Front, Sir Robert Borden’s government enacted the Military Service Act in...
Birth of the Canadian Jewish community
1759 to 1760 Jewish immigration was banned during the French regime, which allowed only Catholics to settle in the colony. The...
Emily Carr meets the Group of Seven
1927 Emily Carr had painted in near-isolation from the rest of Canada’s artistic community until 26 of her paintings were...