Glenn Gould’s Goldberg Variations is released
1956 In January 1956, Columbia Masterworks released Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations performed by Canadian concert...
First “numbered treaty” is signed
1871 Signed in 1871, Treaty 1 was negotiated between the new Government of Canada and the Anishinabe (Saulteaux) and Nehiyaw...
The Battle of Sainte-Foy
April 28, 1760 After a string of significant losses to the British, French forces regrouped in Montréal under the leadership of...
Anik satellite is launched
1972 Telesat Canada was created in 1969 to operate a domestic, commercial satellite system. It launched its first satellite, the...
Montréal Parliament burns down
1849 The Rebellion Losses Bill was designed to compensate those who had lost property during the 1837–1838 rebellions. Under...
St. Lawrence Seaway is completed
April 25, 1959 Heralded as an engineering marvel, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to commercial traffic on April 25, 1959. Its...
North West Company is formed
1779 Following the fall of New France in 1763, British and Anglo-American businessmen established numerous small independent...
Canada issues its first postage stamp
April 23, 1851 The “Three-Pence Beaver,” designed by Canadian engineer Sandford Fleming, was Canada’s first postage stamp....
Africville is closed
1969 Africville was a part of Halifax that had been settled in the late 1700s by Black Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution....
North West Mounted Police trek to Fort Whoop-Up to stop whisky trade
1874 Fort Whoop-Up (modern-day Lethbridge, Alberta) was the first destination of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP), which...
Canadian Peacekeepers go to Cyprus
1964 In 1964, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution placing a peacekeeping force on the island of Cyprus, as a...
Immigration reforms
1962 Prior to 1962, Canadian immigration polices promoted the entry of certain preferred classes of immigrants — mainly from...
Jackie Robinson makes his professional baseball debut with the Montréa...
April 18, 1946 On April 18, 1946, Jackie Robinson debuted for the Montreal Royals — the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Minor League...
The 1982 Constitution Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freed...
April 17, 1982 The creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was a key aspect of the constitutional reform agreed...
Inuit settlement
1953 to 1965 For centuries, the Inuit had lived in small seasonal camps and villages across the Canadian Arctic, from Labrador to...
Vincent Massey becomes first Canadian-born governor general
1952 In 1952, Vincent Massey became the first Canadian-born individual to represent the British Crown as governor general of...
First Ukrainian immigrants arrive in Alberta
1891 During the fall of 1891, the first Ukrainian immigrants arrived in Alberta (then still part of the Northwest Territories),...
Relief camps are established for the unemployed
1932 In the midst of the Great Depression, the Canadian government opened federal relief camps in rural areas of Canada. The...
Terry Fox and the Marathon of Hope
1980 Terrance Stanley Fox, who lost his right leg to cancer when he was 18 years old, decided to run across Canada, running a...
The Persons Case is resolved
1929 In 1928, five Alberta women, led by Emily Murphy and later known as the Famous Five, petitioned the Supreme Court of Canada...