1953 in Canada

Events from the year 1953 in Canada.

Crown

 * Monarch – Elizabeth II

Federal government

 * Governor General – Vincent Massey
 * Prime Minister – Louis St. Laurent
 * Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec)
 * Parliament – 21st (until 13 June) then 22nd (from 12 November)

Lieutenant governors

 * Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John J. Bowlen
 * Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Clarence Wallace
 * Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams (until August 1) then John Stewart McDiarmid
 * Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
 * Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Leonard Outerbridge
 * Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Alistair Fraser
 * Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Louis Orville Breithaupt
 * Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Thomas William Lemuel Prowse
 * Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Gaspard Fauteux
 * Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

Premiers

 * Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
 * Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
 * Premier of Manitoba – Douglas Campbell
 * Premier of New Brunswick – Hugh John Flemming
 * Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
 * Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
 * Premier of Ontario – Leslie Frost
 * Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones (until May 25) then Alex Matheson
 * Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
 * Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

Commissioners

 * Commissioner of Yukon – Wilfred George Brown
 * Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Andrew Young (until November 15) then Robert Gordon Robertson

Events

 * January 1 – The National Library of Canada is founded.
 * January 9 – Marguerite Pitre becomes the thirteenth, and last, woman hanged in Canada when she is executed in Montréal.
 * January 27 – The Canadian Dental Association approves the use of fluoride in drinking water
 * May 25 – Alex Matheson becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing J. Walter Jones
 * June 2 – Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of Canada. In Korea the Canadian Army celebrates the coronation by firing red, white, and blue smoke shells at the enemy.
 * July 13 – The Stratford Festival of Canada opens
 * July 27 – The Korean War ends. In total 314 Canadians were killed and 1211 wounded.
 * August 10 – Federal election: Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals win a fifth consecutive majority.
 * October 12 – Wilfrid Laurier Memorial unveiled
 * October 15 – The Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline is completed
 * October 25 – Canada's first privately owned television station, CKSO, broadcasts in Sudbury.
 * The federal Immigration Act is amended to prohibit homosexuals entry into Canada. This amendment was repealed in 1977.

Awards

 * See 1953 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
 * Stephen Leacock Award: Lawrence Earl, The Battle of Baltinglass

Sport

 * April 16 - Montreal Canadiens won their Seventh Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at the Montreal Forum
 * May 6 - Ontario Hockey Association's Barrie Flyers won their Second Memorial Cup by defeating the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's St. Boniface Canadiens 4 games to 1. The deciding Game 5 was played at Wheat City Arena in Brandon, Manitoba
 * November 28 - Hamilton Tiger-Cats won their First Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 12–6 in the 41st Grey Cup played at Toronto's Varsity Stadium

January to June

 * January 7
 * Dionne Brand, poet, novelist and non-fiction writer
 * Morris Titanic, ice hockey player and coach
 * January 19 – Richard Legendre, tennis player and politician
 * January 29 – Pierre Jacob, politician
 * February 5 – Eric Robinson, politician
 * February 15
 * David Chomiak, politician
 * Gerald Keddy, politician
 * February 16 – Lanny McDonald, ice hockey player
 * February 17 – Borys Chambul, discus thrower
 * February 18 – Robbie Bachman, drummer (d. 2023)
 * February 20 – Gaëtan Dugas, early AIDS patient, the alleged and debunked Patient Zero for AIDS (d.1984)
 * March 10 – Debbie Brill, high jumper
 * March 13 – Stephanie Berto, track and field athlete
 * April 2 – Janet Nutter, diver
 * April 17 – Dany Laferrière, novelist and journalist
 * April 18 – Rick Moranis, comedian, actor and musician
 * May 11 – Celine Lomez, actress and singer
 * May 14 – Tom Cochrane, singer-songwriter and musician
 * May 21 - Kathleen Wynne, 25th premier of Ontario
 * June 23 – Raymonde April, photographer
 * June 23 – Albina Guarnieri, politician and Minister

July to September

 * July 3 – Dave Lewis, ice hockey player and coach
 * July 9 – Margie Gillis, dancer and choreographer
 * July 15 – Richard Margison, operatic tenor
 * July 15 – Mila Mulroney, wife of the 18th Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney
 * July 22 – Paul Quarrington, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and musician
 * July 25 – Barbara Haworth-Attard, children's author
 * July 29 – Geddy Lee, singer, bassist and keyboardist
 * August 11 – Greg Duhaime, middle-distance runner
 * August 17 – Robert Thirsk, engineer and astronaut
 * August 27 – Alex Lifeson, guitarist
 * September 16 – Nancy Huston, novelist and essayist
 * September 29 - Jean-Claude Lauzon, Quebec filmmaker (d. 1997)
 * September 30 – S. M. Stirling, science fiction and fantasy author

October to December

 * October 12 – Daniel Louis, film producer
 * October 24
 * Charles Colbourn, computer scientist and mathematician
 * Jim Pettie, ice hockey player (d.2019)
 * October 29 – Denis Potvin, ice hockey player
 * November 26 – Pam Barrett, politician (d.2008)
 * November 28 – John Majhor, radio and television host (d.2007)
 * December 7 – Carmen Rinke, boxer
 * December 13 – Bob Gainey, ice hockey player and coach
 * December 18 – Daniel Poliquin, novelist and translator
 * December 23 – Holly Dale, film and television director and film producer

Full date unknown

 * Patrick LaForge, president and CEO of the Edmonton Oilers

Deaths

 * January 2 – Gordon Daniel Conant, lawyer, politician and 12th Premier of Ontario (b.1885)
 * January 5 – Mitchell Hepburn, politician and 11th Premier of Ontario (b.1896)
 * February 16 – Norman Hipel, politician and Minister (b.1890)
 * March 20 – John Livingstone Brown, politician (b.1867)
 * May 4 – James Tompkins, priest and educator (b.1870)
 * September 19 – Gordon Graydon, politician (b.1897)
 * November 29 – Sam De Grasse, actor (b.1875)
 * December 26 – David Milne, painter, printmaker and writer (b.1882)