1981 in Canada

Crown

Head of state (monarch) – Queen Elizabeth II (consort – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh)

Federal government

Governor general – Edward Schreyer (viceregal consort – Lily Schreyer)

Prime minister – Pierre Trudeau

Lieutenant governors

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Francis Charles Lynch-Staunton

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Henry Pybus Bell-Irving

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Francis Lawrence Jobin (until October 23) then Pearl McGonigal

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Hédard Robichaud (until December 23) then George Stanley

Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Gordon Arnaud Winter (until July 10) then William Anthony Paddon

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Elvin Shaffner

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Black Aird

Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Aubin Doiron

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Jean-Pierre Côté

Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Irwin McIntosh

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – Peter Lougheed

Premier of British Columbia – Bill Bennett

Premier of Manitoba – Sterling Lyon (until November 30) then Howard Pawley

Premier of New Brunswick – Richard Hatfield

Premier of Newfoundland – Brian Peckford

Premier of Nova Scotia – John Buchanan

Premier of Ontario – Bill Davis

Premier of Prince Edward Island – Angus MacLean (until November 17) then James Lee

Premier of Quebec – René Lévesque

Premier of Saskatchewan – Allan Blakeney

Commissioners

Commissioner of Yukon – Douglas Bell

Commissioner of Northwest Territories – John Havelock Parker

Premiers

Premier of the Northwest Territories – George Braden

Premier of Yukon – Chris Pearson

Events

January 1 - Gasoline and diesel are sold by the litre rather than the gallon.

February 5 - More than three hundred men are arrested after police sweeps of Toronto bathhouses. The arrests create an outcry among Canada's gay population, and become a historic turning point in Canadian LGBT history. See 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids.

March 19 - Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win a majority.

June 4 - NABET employees at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation hold a long strike, disrupting programming for much of the Spring.

July 17 – The government of British Columbia named a 2,639-metre (8,658 foot) peak in the Rocky Mountains after Terry Fox.

July 30 – The 83-kilometre (52 mi) section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Ontario where Terry Fox was forced to end his run, was renamed in his honour.

September 1 - Quebec's French language sign law comes into effect.

September 1 - The Albertan and federal governments sign an energy agreement.

September - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission holds pay-TV hearings in Hull, Quebec.

October 16 - Canada Post becomes a crown corporation.

November 5 - Canadian government and all provinces, except Quebec, agree on how to patriate the Canadian Constitution.

November 13 - The Canadarm is first deployed aboard the Space Shuttle.

November 17 - James Lee becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Angus MacLean.

November 30 - Howard Pawley becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Sterling Lyon.

Full date unknown

Power Corporation sells Canada Steamship Lines Inc. to Paul Martin and Laurence Pathy.

News media: NOW created.

New works

Margaret Atwood - True Stories

bill bissett - Northern Birds in Coulour

W.O. Mitchell - How I Spent My Summer Holidays

Gordon R. Dickson - Lost Dorsai

Nancy Huston - Les Variations Goldberg

Awards

See 1981 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

Books in Canada First Novel Award: W.D. Valgardson, Gentle Sinners

Gerald Lampert Award: Elizabeth Allan, The Shored Up House

Marian Engel Award:

Pat Lowther Award: M. Travis Lane, Divinations and Short Poems 1973-1978

Stephen Leacock Award: Gary Lautens, Take My Family...Please!

Vicky Metcalf Award: Monica Hughes

Film

David Cronenberg's Scanners is released

James Cameron's Piranha II: The Spawning, his first directing effort, is released

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is released

Joy Kogawa's Obasan is released

Sport

March 2 -Edmonton Drillers host Game 1 of the 1980–81 NASL indoor finals at Northlands Coliseum. They defeat the Chicago Sting 9–6.

March 5 -Edmonton Drillers win 1980–81 NASL indoor title in Chicago by defeating the Chicago Sting 5–4 in Game 2 of the finals.

September 26 - Toronto hosts Soccer Bowl '81 at Exhibition Stadium. 36,971 fans witness Chicago defeat New York 1–0 in a shoot-out.

September 28 - Calgary is awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Births

January 11 – Jonathan Mandick, rower

January 15 – Dylan Armstrong, shot putter

January 16 – Nic Youngblud, water polo player

January 17 – Julien Cousineau, alpine skier

January 20 – Owen Hargreaves, soccer player

January 21 – Dany Heatley, ice hockey player

February 13 – Kristina Kiss, soccer player

February 24 – Adam Kunkel, hurdler

March 14 – Isabelle Pearson, judoka

April 6 – Auburn Sigurdson, softball player

April 16 – Matthieu Proulx, football player

April 19 – Hayden Christensen, actor

May 20 – Morgan Knabe, swimmer

June 21 – Kevin Mitchell, water polo player

July 9 – Kimveer Gill, murderer responsible for the Dawson College shooting (d.2006)

July 21 – Anabelle Langlois, figure skater

August 9 – Lauren Bay Regula, softball player

August 19 – Taylor Pyatt, ice hockey player

September 7 – Annie Martin, beach volleyball player

September 26 – Kaila Holtz, softball player

October 4 – Justin Williams, ice hockey player

October 25 – Gary Reed, middle distance athlete

November 20 – Christian Bernier, volleyball player

Deaths

January 5 - Lomer Brisson, politician and lawyer (b.1916)

January 16 - John Oates Bower, politician, businessman and executive (b.1901)

April 10 - George Carlyle Marler, politician, notary and philatelist (b.1901)

May 4 - Samuel Rosborough Balcom, politician (b.1888)

May 23 - David Lewis, lawyer and politician (b.1909)

May 29 - Walter Russell Shaw, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b.1887)

June 28 - Terry Fox, humanitarian, athlete and cancer treatment activist (b.1958)

September 23 - Dan George, actor and author (b.1899)

November 3 - Thérèse Casgrain, feminist, reformer, politician and Senator (b.1896)

December 28 - Allan Dwan, film director, producer and screenwriter (b.1885)