1953 in Canada

Crown

Head of state (monarch) – Queen Elizabeth II (consort – The Duke of Edinburgh)

Federal government

Governor general – Vincent Massey (viceregal consort – Alice Massey)

Prime minister – Louis Saint Laurent

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 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 This amendment was repealed in 1977.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

January to June

January 7 – Dionne Brand, poet, novelist and non-fiction writer

January 19 – Richard Legendre, tennis player and politician

January 29 – Pierre Jacob, politician

February 5 – Eric Robinson, politician

February 15 – David Chomiak, politician

February 15 – Gerald Keddy, politician

February 16 – Lanny McDonald, ice hockey player

February 17 – Borys Chambul, discus thrower

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 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)