1948 in Canada

Crown

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

Federal government

Governor general – Earl Alexander of Tunis (viceregal consort – Margaret Alexander, Countess Alexander of Tunis)

Prime minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King (until November 15) then Louis Saint Laurent

Lieutenant governors

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Charles Arthur Banks

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Ray Lawson

Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Alphonsus Bernard

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset

Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Reginald John Marsden Parker (until March 23) then John Michael Uhrich (from March 24)

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning

Premier of British Columbia – Boss Johnson

Premier of Manitoba – Stuart Garson (until November 13) then Douglas Campbell

Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair

Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald

Premier of Ontario – George A. Drew (until October 19) then Thomas Laird Kennedy

Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones

Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis

Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

Commissioners

Commissioner of Yukon – John Edward Gibben

Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside

Events

June 7 - Ontario election: George Drew's PCs win a second consecutive majority

June 24 - Saskatchewan election: Tommy Douglas's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation wins a second consecutive majority

July 22 - The Dominion of Newfoundland votes 52% to 48% to join the foreign nation of Canada in a questionable referendum.

August 17 - Alberta general election, 1948: Ernest Manning's Social Credit Party wins a fourth consecutive majority

October 19 - Thomas Kennedy becomes premier of Ontario, replacing George Drew

November 13 - Douglas Campbell becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Stuart Garson

November 15 - Louis Saint Laurent becomes prime minister, replacing Mackenzie King

Awards

See 1948 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

Stephen Leacock Award: Paul Hiebert, Sarah Binks

January to March

January 10 - Craig Russell, female impersonator (d.1990)

January 12 - Gordon Campbell, politician and 34th Premier of British Columbia

January 13 - Pat O'Brien, politician

January 15 - Andy Jones, comedian, writer, actor and director

January 16 - Cliff Thorburn, snooker player, former world number one

January 19 - Frank McKenna, businessman, politician, 27th Premier of New Brunswick and diplomat

January 25 - Sarkis Assadourian, politician

February 11 - Shaughnessy Cohen, politician (d.1998)

February 21 - Chuck Cadman, politician (d.2005)

March 14 - Maria Minna, politician

March 20 - Bobby Orr, ice hockey player

March 31 - Gary Doer, politician and 20th Premier of Manitoba

April to June

April 14 - Claude Vivier, composer

April 16 - Reg Alcock, politician, minister, MP for Winnipeg South (1993–2006); President of the Treasury Board (2003–2006) (d.2011)

April 17 - Wilf Wedmann, high jumper

May 11 - John Plohman, politician

May 16 - Clif Evans, politician

May 24 - Lorna Crozier, poet and essayist

June 4

Margaret Gibson, novelist and short story writer (d.2006)

Sandra Post, golfer, first Canadian to play on the LPGA Tour

June 5 - Bill Smart, middle distance runner and judge

June 7 - Welwyn Wilton Katz, children's author

July to September

July 4 - Katherine Govier, novelist

July 8 - Raffi, children's entertainer, music producer, author and entrepreneur

August 2 - Bob Rae, politician and 21st Premier of Ontario

August 5 - Don Scott, politician

August 31 - Marie-Lynn Hammond, folk singer-songwriter, broadcaster and playwright

September 8 - Stephen Owen, politician

September 10 - Margaret Trudeau, wife of the late Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada

September 14 - John Edzerza, Yukon MLA (d. 2011)

September 19 - James McCrae, politician

September 21 - Bernard Jean, oboist, conductor, and music educator

September 24 - Phil Hartman, actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic artist (d.1998)

October to December

October 8 - Pat Binns, politician, 30th Premier of Prince Edward Island and diplomat

October 9 - Brad Woodside, politician, Mayor of Fredericton, New Brunswick

October 17 - Margot Kidder, actress

November 5 - Michael Neary, rower

November 24 - Spider Robinson, science fiction author

December 7 - Jay Dahlgren, javelin thrower

December 30 - Rick Casson, politician

December 30 - Pierre Blais, jurist, politician and Minister

Full date unknown

Pierre Granche, sculptor (d.1997)

Marc Lortie, diplomat

Deaths

March 14 - Ernest Frederick Armstrong, politician (b.1878)

March 28 - John Duncan MacLean, teacher, physician, politician and Premier of British Columbia (b.1873)

May 20 - George Beurling, most successful Canadian fighter pilot of World War II (b.1921)

May 21 - James Ralston, lawyer, soldier, politician and Minister (b.1881)

Full date unknown

Margaret C. MacDonald, nurse (b.1873)