1939 in Canada

Crown

Head of state (monarch) – King George VI (consort – Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon)

Federal government

Governor general – John Buchan (viceregal consort – Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir)

Prime minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King

Lieutenant governors

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Eric Hamber

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – William Johnston Tupper

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Murray MacLaren

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Robert Irwin

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Albert Edward Matthews

Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – George DesBrisay DeBlois (until September 11) then Bradford William LePage

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Esioff-Léon Patenaude (until December 30) then Eugène Fiset

Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Archibald Peter McNab

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – William Aberhart

Premier of British Columbia – Thomas Dufferin Pattullo

Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken

Premier of New Brunswick – Allison Dysart

Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Lewis Macdonald

Premier of Ontario – Mitchell Hepburn

Premier of Prince Edward Island – Thane Campbell

Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis (until November 9) then Adélard Godbout

Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

Commissioners

Controller of Yukon – George A. Jeckell

Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Charles Camsell

Events

May 17 - George VI and Queen Elizabeth begin their royal tour of Canada, eventually visiting every province.

September 3 - The Department of Labour establishes the Wartime Prices and Trade Board to control inflation

September 7 - Prime Minister Mackenzie King calls for a special session of Parliament, to discuss a declaration of war versus Nazi Germany. The session lasts until September 13.

September 10 - World War II: Canada declares war on Germany, one week after Britain does so

September 11 - World War II: Canada establishes a High Commission of Canada in Canberra, Australia. Australia reciprocates, the next day.

September 16 - World War II: The Royal Canadian Navy escorts the first of many transatlantic convoys

September 28 - World War II: Air training facilities are set up in Canada to train pilots from Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth.

October 25 - The Quebec election is won by the Liberals under Joseph-Adélard Godbout.

December 17 - World War II: The 1st Canadian Infantry Division lands in Scotland en route to England. The division is accompanied by a team of announcers and technicians, who set up Radio Canada's overseas service.

November 9 - Adélard Godbout becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Maurice Duplessis

Year Long events

Canada rapidly expands its international presence by establishing High Commissions in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.

January to March

January 3 - Bobby Hull, ice hockey player

January 11 - Anne Heggtveit, alpine skier and Olympic gold medalist

January 14 - Martha Gibson, actress

January 19 - Grant Notley, politician (d.1984)

February 3 - Ovid Jackson, politician

February 10 - Adrienne Clarkson, journalist and 26th Governor General of Canada

March 1 - Marlene Catterall, politician

March 8 - Berta Seymour, ballet dancer

March 17 - Bill Graham, politician

March 20 - Brian Mulroney, politician and 18th Prime Minister of Canada

March 26 - Patrick Lane, poet

April to June

April 14 - Ian Binnie, jurist and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada

April 20 - Wayson Choy, writer

April 24 - Dan Hays, politician

April 24 - Ernst Zündel, neo-Nazi,Holocaust denier and pamphleteer

May 7 - Sidney Altman, molecular biologist, joint 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate

May 11 - Ken Epp, politician

May 26 - Gerry McAlpine, politician

June 5 - Joe Clark, journalist, politician, statesman, businessman, professor and 16th Prime Minister of Canada

July to September

July 12 - David Bazay, television journalist (d.2005)

July 25 - Catherine Callbeck, politician and 30th Premier of Prince Edward Island

August 12 - Roy Romanow, politician and 12th Premier of Saskatchewan

August 15 - Hardial Bains, founder and leader of Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) (d.1997)

August 21 - JoAnn Wilson, murder victim (d.1983)

August 23 - Isabel Bassett, broadcaster and politician

August 31 - Dennis Lee, poet and children's writer

September 1 - Jake Epp, politician

September 2 - Henry Mintzberg, academic and author on business and management

September 4 - Jim Penner, businessman and politician (d.2004)

September 30 - Len Cariou, actor

October to December

November 6 - Joyce Fairbairn, Senator and first woman to serve as Leader of the Government in the Senate

November 18 - Margaret Atwood, author, poet, critic, feminist and social campaigner

November 23 - bill bissett, poet

November 30 - Louis LeBel, jurist and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada

December 2 - Francis Fox, politician, Minister and Senator

December 21 - Lloyd Axworthy, politician and Minister

December 24 - James Bartleman, diplomat, author and 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

Full date unknown

Michael Estok, poet

Michael Overs, businessman, founder and owner of Pizza Pizza Limited (d. 2010)

Tony Parsons, journalist and television news anchor

Robin Spry, filmmaker and television producer (d.2005)

Deaths

January 24 - Alfred Edmond Bourgeois, politician (b.1872)

March 7 - Joseph Flavelle, businessman (b.1858)

March 8 - Henry Pellatt, financier and soldier (b.1859)

May 6 - Edward S. Rogers, Sr., inventor and radio pioneer (b.1900)

July 12 - Fernand Rinfret, politician (b.1883)

August 21 - Francis Patrick O'Connor, businessman, politician and philanthropist (b. 1885)

November 12 - Norman Bethune, physician and medical innovator (b.1890)

November 28 - James Naismith, sports coach and innovator, inventor of basketball (b.1861)

December 22 - Herbert James Palmer, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b.1851)