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1981
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Canada

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Decades:

Part of a series on the
History of Canada
Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe
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v t e

Incumbents

Main article: 1981 Canadian incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Elizabeth II^[1]

Federal government

Provincial governments

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

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Premiers

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.
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 name a 2,639-metre (8,658 ft) peak in the Rocky Mountains after Terry Fox.
July 30 – The 83 km (52 mi) section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Ontario where Terry Fox was forced to end his run, was renamed in his honour.
August – The prime rate hits a record high of 22.75%.
September 1 – Quebec's French-language sign law comes into effect.
September 1 – The Alberta and federal governments sign an energy agreement.
September – The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission holds pay-TV hearings in Hull, Quebec.
September – West Edmonton Mall opens
October 16 – Canada Post becomes a crown corporation.
November 5 – In the Kitchen Accord, the federal 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.

Arts and literature

New works

Margaret Atwood - True Stories
Bill Bissett - Northern Birds in Colour
W.O. Mitchell - How I Spent My Summer Holidays
Gordon R. Dickson - Lost Dorsai
Nancy Huston - Les Variations Goldberg
Joy Kogawa - Obasan

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

Sport

March 2 – The Edmonton Drillers host Game 1 of the 1980–81 NASL indoor finals at Northlands Coliseum. They defeat the Chicago Sting 9–6.
March 5 – The Edmonton Drillers win the 1980–81 NASL indoor title in Chicago by defeating the Chicago Sting 5–4 in Game 2 of the finals.
March 15 – The Moncton Aigles Bleus win their first University Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies 4–2. The final game was played at the Stampede Corral in Calgary
May 10 – The Cornwall Royals win their third (second consecutive) Memorial Cup by defeating the Kitchener Rangers 8–2. The final game was played at Windsor Arena in Windsor, Ontario
May 13 – The original Montreal Allouettes cease operations
May 14 – Montreal Concordes are established
May 21 – Saint Boniface, Manitoba's Butch Goring of the New York Islanders is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
July 21 – Quebec City's Rick Martel win his second World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship (with Tony Garea) by defeating the Moondogs in Allentown, Pennsylvania
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.
November 22 – The Edmonton Eskimos win their eighth (fourth consecutive) Grey Cup by defeating the Ottawa Redblacks 26–23 in the 69th Grey Cup played at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. London, Ontario's Neil Lumsden won the game's Most Valuable Canadian
November 28 – The Acadia Axemen win their second Vanier Cup by defeating the Alberta Golden Bears 18–12 in the 17th Vanier Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

Births

January 7 – Alex Auld, ice hockey player
January 8 – Jeff Francis, baseball pitcher
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 19 – Shawn Spears, pro wrestler
February 24 – Adam Kunkel, hurdler
March 14 – Isabelle Pearson, judoka
March 28 – Dan Petronijevic, actor
April 6 – Auburn Sigurdson, softball player
April 16 – Matthieu Proulx, football player
April 19 – Hayden Christensen, actor
April 29 – Oliver Bone, sailor
May 8 – Blake Leibel, murderer
May 15 – Justin Morneau, baseball player
May 20 – Morgan Knabe, swimmer
June 4 – Jennifer Carroll, swimmer
June 21 – Kevin Mitchell, water polo player
June 23 – Mikey Bustos, Filipino Canadian entertainer
July 9 – Dylan Taylor, actor
July 13 – Michael Mando, actor, writer and director
July 21 – Anabelle Langlois, figure skater
July 23 – Steve Jocz, drummer
August 9 – Lauren Bay Regula, softball player
August 19 – Taylor Pyatt, ice hockey player
September 1 – Michael Adamthwaite, voice actor
September 7
- Annie Martin, beach volleyball player
- Athena Karkanis, television, film and voice actress
September 13 – Angelina Love, professional wrestler^[3]
September 26 – Kaila Holtz, softball player
October 3 – Amanda Walsh, actress
October 4 – Justin Williams, ice hockey player
October 8 – Raffi Torres, ice hockey player
October 25 – Gary Reed, middle distance athlete
October 30 – Shaun Sipos, actor
November 4 – Paul Tucker comic-book artist
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)

References

^ "Queen Elizabeth II | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
^ Lentz, Harris M. (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.
^ Altamura, Brian (July 2, 2003). "Touched by Angel Williams". SLAM Sports!. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2008.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

v t e History of Canada
Year list (Timeline)	18000 BCE–1500 CE 1534–1763 1763–1867 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–present
Topics	Canadians - (Persons of significance) Constitutional Crown and Indigenous peoples Cultural Economic Etymology Events of significance Former colonies and territories Heritage Minutes Historic Sites Immigration Chinese immigration Military Conflicts Operations Peacekeeping Victories Monarchical Population history Sports Territorial evolution Women
Provinces and territories	Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Quebec Prince Edward Island Saskatchewan Yukon (Name etymologies)
Cities	Brampton Charlottetown Edmonton Fredericton Halifax Hamilton Lethbridge Markham Moncton Montreal Northwest Territories capital cities Ottawa Quebec City Saint John Regina Richmond Hill Saskatoon Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg (Name etymologies)
Research	Bibliography Historiography Historians Surveys
Category Canada portal

v t e List of years in Canada
Pre-Confederation Prehistory–1866	Prehistory to 1 BC 1st millennium 1000s 1100s 1400s 1500s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866
Post-Confederation 1867–present	1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Quebec	1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1635
Canadian electoral calendars	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Related	List of Canadian monarchs List of governors general of Canada List of prime ministers of Canada Population of Canada by year Timeline
Research	Bibliography Historiography
Category Canada portal

v t e 1981 in North America
Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	Anguilla Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Navassa Island United States Virgin Islands

Incumbents

Crown

Federal government

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Premiers

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Premiers

Events

Full date unknown

Arts and literature

New works

Awards

Film

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References