1871 in Canada

March 10 – Government of Manitoba meets for the first time
March 21 – Ontario election: Edward Blake's Liberals win a majority, defeating J. S. Macdonald's Liberal-Conservatives
April 2 – The first Canadian census finds the population to be 3,689,257
May 8 – The Treaty of Washington reaches agreements on fishing rights and Great Lakes trade between Canada and the United States
May 17 – New Brunswick abandons separate schools
July – Phoebe Campbell murders her husband with an axe. She is hanged the next year.
July 20 – British Columbia joins the Confederation.
July 25 – Treaty Number 1 the first of a number of treaties with western Canada's First Nations is signed
August 17 – Treaty Number 2 is signed
November 11 – The last of the British army leaves Canada
November 13 – John McCreight becomes the first premier of British Columbia
December 14 – Marc-Amable Girard becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Alfred Boyd
December 20 – Edward Blake becomes premier of Ontario, replacing J. S. Macdonald
National Meteorological Service is formed
Parliament legalizes the use of the metric system
Goldwin Smith immigrates to Canada