1949 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 – 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 Newfoundland – Albert Walsh (until September 15) then Leonard Outerbridge

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 – John Michael Uhrich

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning

Premier of British Columbia – Boss Johnson

Premier of Manitoba – Douglas Campbell

Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair

Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood

Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald

Premier of Ontario – Thomas Laird Kennedy (until May 4) then Leslie Frost

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

March 31 - Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province at a fraction of a second from April 1, April Fools' Day.

April 1 - Joey Smallwood becomes the first premier of Newfoundland as a Canadian province

April 4 - Canada joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

May 4 - Leslie Frost becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Thomas Kennedy

June 27 - Federal election: Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority

August 22 - Queen Charlotte earthquake: Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake

September 9 - Albert Guay affair: in-flight bombing of a Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 en route from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau

September 14 - The Noronic, the largest Canadian passenger ship on the Great Lakes, is destroyed by a fire while docked in Toronto, killing 118.

Full date unknown

Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are abolished, making the Supreme Court of Canada the country's top court

British Columbia gives Asian-Canadians the vote

Awards

See 1949 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

Stephen Leacock Award: Angeline Hango, Truthfully Yours

January to March

January 24 - Guy Charron, ice hockey player

February 14 - Denis Rocan, politician

February 23 - Marc Garneau, astronaut, engineer and politician

March 3 - Elijah Harper, politician

March 16 - Victor Garber, actor and singer

March 16 - Jane Haist, discus thrower and shot putter

March 29 - Pauline Marois, social worker, civil servant and 30th premier of Quebec

March 30 - Liza Frulla, politician

April to June

April 4 - Nava Starr, chess player and a Women's International Master

April 6 - Réginald Bélair, politician

April 8 - Claudette Bradshaw, politician

April 14 - Percy Mockler, politician and Senator

April 16 - Sandy Hawley, jockey

April 18 - Jean-Paul Saint-Pierre, politician, Mayor of Russell, Ontario (since 2010) (d.2014)

April 26 - Ray Henault, general and Chief of Defence Staff

May 6 - Diane Ablonczy, politician

May 20 - Sheldon Oberman, children's writer (d.2004)

May 20 - Dave Thomas, comedian and actor

June 21 - Jane Urquhart, writer

June 22 - Wayne Easter, politician

July to September

July 3 - Jan Smithers, actress

July 11 - Liona Boyd, classical guitarist

August 4 - Danny Williams, politician and 9th Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador

August 13 - Bobby Clarke, ice hockey player

August 21 - Larry Fisher (murderer)

August 30 - Don Boudria, politician and Minister

September 6 - Carole-Marie Allard, politician

September 12 - Kevin Major, author

September 26 - Marie Tifo, actress

October to December

October 25 - Laurie Skreslet, mountaineer, first Canadian to reach the summit of Mount Everest

October 27 - Garth Drabinsky, film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur

November 27 - Nick Discepola, politician

November 28 - Paul Shaffer, musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian and composer

November 29 - Stan Rogers, folk musician and songwriter (d.1983)

December 13 - Denise Leblanc-Bantey, politician (d.1999)

December 19 - Larry Bagnell, politician

December 21 - John Loewen, businessman and politician

December 30 - Jim Flaherty, politician and Minister

Full date unknown

Zahra Kazemi, photographer, died in Iranian custody (d.2003)

January to June

January 9 - Tom Longboat, long-distance runner (b.1887)

January 11 - John Wesley Brien, physician and politician (b.1864)

February 12 - Pegi Nicol MacLeod, artist (b.1904)

June 2 - François Blais, politician (b.1875)

July to December

July 7 - Fred Wellington Bowen, politician (b.1877)

August 23 - Herbert Greenfield, politician and 4th Premier of Alberta (b.1869)

September 2 - Ian Alistair Mackenzie, politician and Minister (b.1890)

December 7 - Stanislas Blanchard, politician (b.1871)

December 16 - Albert Edward Matthews, 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b.1873)

December 16 - Sidney Olcott, film producer, director, actor and screenwriter (b.1873)