1963 in Canada

Events from the year 1963 in Canada.

Crown

 * Monarch – Elizabeth II

Federal government

 * Governor General – Georges Vanier
 * Prime Minister – John Diefenbaker (until April 22) then Lester B. Pearson
 * Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin (Ontario) (until 2 February) then Robert Taschereau (Quebec)
 * Parliament – 25th (until 6 February) then 26th (from 16 May)

Lieutenant governors

 * 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 (until March 1) then Fabian O'Dea
 * Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Edward Chester Plow (until March 1) then Henry Poole MacKeen
 * Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Keiller MacKay (until May 1) then William Earl Rowe
 * Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Frederick Walter Hyndman (until August 1) then Willibald Joseph MacDonald
 * Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Paul Comtois
 * Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Frank Lindsay Bastedo (until March 1) then Robert Hanbidge

Premiers

 * 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 – John Robarts
 * Premier of Prince Edward Island – Walter Shaw
 * Premier of Quebec – Jean Lesage
 * Premier of Saskatchewan – Woodrow Lloyd

Commissioners

 * Commissioner of Yukon – Gordon Robertson Cameron
 * Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Robert Gordon Robertson (until July 12) then Bent Gestur Sivertz

Events

 * February 4: Defence Minister Douglas Harkness resigns after Prime Minister Diefenbaker refuses to accept nuclear weapons from the United States
 * February 5: The Diefenbaker government collapses over the Bomarc Missile Crisis and an election is called
 * March 1: Simon Fraser University is founded
 * April 8: Federal election: Lester Pearson's Liberals win a minority, defeating John Diefenbaker's PCs
 * April 9: Canadian Recording Industry Association is established
 * April 20: The Front de libération du Québec sets off its first bombs in Quebec
 * April 22: Lester Pearson becomes Prime Minister, replacing John Diefenbaker
 * May 27: The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology opens
 * June 17: 1963 Alberta general election: Ernest Manning's Alberta Social Credit Party wins an eighth consecutive majority
 * July 22: The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is announced
 * September 21: Place des Arts opens in Montreal
 * September 25: 1963 Ontario general election: John Robarts's PCs win a sixth consecutive majority
 * November 29: 118 are killed in the Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crash near Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec
 * December 23: plans to build the National Arts Centre are approved

New Works

 * W.L. Morton: The Kingdom of Canada
 * Milton Acorn: Jawbreakers
 * Leonard Cohen: The Favorite Game
 * Farley Mowat: Never Cry Wolf

Awards

 * See 1963 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
 * Stephen Leacock Award: Donald Jack, Three Cheers for Me
 * Vicky Metcalf Award: Kerry Wood

Sport

 * March 16 – The McMaster Marlins win the first University Cup by defeating the UBC Thunderbirds 3 to 2 at the Kingston Memorial Centre
 * April 18 – The Toronto Maple Leafs win their 11th Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings. The deciding Game 5 is played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
 * April 22 – Winnipeg awarded the 1967 Pan Am Games
 * May 11 – The Central Alberta Hockey League's Edmonton Oil Kings win their First Memorial Cup by defeating Ontario Hockey Association's Niagara Falls Flyers 4 games to 2. All games were played at Edmonton Gardens.
 * November 30 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their third Grey Cup by defeating the BC Lions 21–10 in the 51st Grey Cup played Empire Stadium in Vancouver.

January to March

 * January 1 – Cheryl Dick, netball player
 * January 9 – Larry Cain, sprint canoer and Olympic gold medallist
 * January 12 – Ken Fitzpatrick, swimmer
 * January 19 – Steve Peters, politician and Minister
 * January 25 – Paul Dewar, educator and politician (d. 2019)
 * February 12 – Ron Schuler, politician
 * February 21 – Lori Fung, rhythmic gymnast
 * March 1 – Ron Francis, ice hockey player and coach
 * March 17 – Lawrence Ytzhak Braithwaite, novelist, spoken word artist, dub poet, essayist and musician (d. 2008)
 * March 26 – Roch Voisine, singer-songwriter, actor and radio and television host
 * March 28 – Sharon Hambrook, synchronized swimmer
 * March 30
 * Wayne Gordon, boxer
 * Carol Klimpel, swimmer

April to June



 * April 4
 * Vince Ditrich, rock musician
 * Dale Hawerchuk, ice hockey player
 * Jim Wilson, politician
 * April 14 – John Kalbhenn, boxer
 * April 17 – Penny & Vicky Vilagos, synchronized swimmers
 * April 18 – Eric McCormack, actor, musician, writer and producer
 * April 27 – Joe Peschisolido, politician and businessman
 * April 27 – Cali Timmins, actress
 * April 28 – Lloyd Eisler, pair skater
 * May 5
 * James LaBrie, vocalist (Dream Theater)
 * Susan Whelan, politician and Minister
 * May 9 – Joe Cirella, ice hockey player and coach
 * May 11 – Roark Critchlow, actor
 * May 17 – Michelle Conn, field hockey player
 * May 25 – Mike Myers, actor, comedian, screenwriter and film producer
 * May 26 – Richard Crouse, film critic
 * June – Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister Stephen Harper
 * June 4 – Carey Nelson, long-distance runner
 * June 6 – Bernard Drainville, Canadian journalist and politician
 * June 17 – Sandra Greaves, judoka
 * June 23 – Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper
 * June 24 – Barbara Underhill, pairs figure skater and World Champion
 * June 25 – Doug Gilmour, ice hockey player and coach
 * June 25 – Yann Martel, author

July to September

 * July 11 – Al MacInnis, ice hockey player
 * July 11 – Sandra Schmirler, curler, Olympic gold medallist and World Champion (d. 2000)
 * July 12 – Andy Savoy, politician and engineer
 * July 28 – Gregory Henriquez, architect
 * July 30 – Albert Schultz, actor and director
 * August 2 – Russell Smith, novelist and newspaper columnist
 * August 8 – Stephen Walkom, ice hockey official and executive
 * September 2 – Gerard Gallant, ice hockey player and coach
 * September 7 – Karen Dianne Baldwin, Miss Universe 1982
 * September 9 – Kathryn Johnson, field hockey player
 * September 25 – Karin Larsen, synchronized swimmer and broadcaster
 * September 29 – Dave Andreychuk, ice hockey player

October to December

 * October 20 – Julie Payette, astronaut
 * November 19 – Bill Dunlop, boxer
 * November 22 – Benoît Sauvageau, politician (d. 2006)
 * November 23 – Troy Hurtubise, inventor and conservationist (d. 2018)
 * November 25 – Holly Cole, jazz singer
 * December 4 – Robert Dawson, wrestler
 * December 9 – Dave Hilton, Jr., boxer
 * December 29 – Liisa Savijarvi, alpine skier
 * December 30 – Michelle Douglas, human rights activist

Deaths

 * January 2 – Jack Carson, actor (b. 1910)
 * March 27 – Gaspard Fauteux, politician, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada and Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (b. 1898)
 * May 12 – Robert Kerr, sprinter and Olympic gold medallist (b.1882)
 * June 23 – Herbert Alexander Bruce, surgeon and 15th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b.1868)
 * August 19 – Kathleen Parlow, violinist (b.1890)
 * September 8 – Leslie Gordon Bell, politician and lawyer (b. 1889)
 * October 8 – Grace Darmond, Canadian-born actress (b. 1893)

Full date unknown

 * Murdoch Mackay, politician (b.1884)