1971 in Canada

See also: 1970 in Canada, other events of 1971, 1972 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister – Pierre Trudeau
• Governor General – Roland Michener

• Premier of Alberta – Harry Strom then Peter Lougheed
• Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba – Edward Schreyer
• Premier of New Brunswick – Richard Hatfield
• Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Gerald Regan
• Premier of Ontario – John Robarts then Bill Davis
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Alexander B. Campbell
• Premier of Quebec – Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Ross Thatcher then Allan Blakeney

Events

• March 1 – Bill Davis becomes premier of Ontario, replacing John Robarts
• March 4 – Prime Minister Trudeau weds Margaret Sinclair
• March 31 – FLQ terrorist Paul Rose is sentenced to life in prison
• April 5 – The first CANDU reactor begins operation at Gentilly, Quebec
• May 4 – A sinkhole destroys much of St Jean Vianney, Québec and kills 31
• May 22 – Ontario Place opens in Toronto
• June 3 The controversial Spadina Expressway project is cancelled
• June 11 – Jack Davis becomes Canada's first Minister of the Environment, heading the new department of Environment Canada
• June 14 – The Victoria Charter proposing constitutional reforms is written by the first ministers, it is later rejected by Robert Bourassa
• June 23 – Saskatchewan election: Allan Blakeney's NDP wins a majority, defeating Ross Thatcher's Liberals
• June 30 – Allan Blakeney becomes premier of Saskatchewan, replacing Ross Thatcher
• July 29 – The Bluenose II is donated to the province of Nova Scotia
• August 15 – The first Banff Festival of the Arts opens
• August 16 – Hurricane Beth hits Nova Scotia
• August 30 – Alberta election: Peter Lougheed's PCs win a majority, defeating Harry Strom's Social Credit Party, which had governed for 36 years
• September 10 – Peter Lougheed becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Harry Strom
• October 4 – Petroleum is found under Sable Island
• October 21 – Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win an eighth consecutive majority
• November 1 – The Toronto Sun begins publication
• November 2 – Gerhard Herzberg wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• November 12 – Paul Joseph Cini hijacks an Air Canada plane. He is later arrested without incident
• December 1 – Two subway trains collide in Montreal killing one person
• December 26 – An Air Canada plane was hijacked and flown to Cuba
• Ontario Universities Application Centre founded
• Harold Ballard gains full control of the Toronto Maple Leafs
• The first edition of The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide is published
• Conrad Black and David Radler buy the Sherbrooke Record
• Statistics Canada is formed to replace the Dominion Bureau of Statistics

Arts and Literature

New Works

• Alice Munro – Lives of Girls and Women
• Margaret Atwood – Power Politics
• Milton Acorn – I Shout Love and On Shaving Off His Beard
• Mordecai Richler – St. Urbain's Horseman
• Joan Haggerty – Daughters of the Moon
• Gordon R. Dickson – Tactics of Mistake
• Brian Fawcett – Friends

Awards

• See 1971 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: Robert Thomas, Allen Wives, Children & Other Wild Life
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Kay Hill

Births

• January 9 – Sandra Oh, actor
• January 27 – Patrice Brisebois, hockey player
• March 8 – Bob Boughner, hockey player
• March 27 – Nathan Fillion, actor
• April 9 – Jacques Villeneuve, automobile racing driver
• June 17 – Bif Naked, singer
• July 2 – Evelyn Lau, poet
• July 10 – Adam Foote, hockey player
• July 17 – Cory Doctorow, writer and activist
• June 26 – Christine Nordhagen, Olympic wrestler
• July 30 – Tom Green, actor
• September – Chris Klein-Beekman, aid worker
• September 6 – Fiona Milne, Olympic rower
• November 1 – Glen Murray, hockey player
• November 24 – Keith Primeau, hockey player
• December 9 – Petr Nedved, hockey player
• December 25 – Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister's son

Deaths

• January 5 – Douglas Shearer, sound designer
• July 10 – Samuel Bronfman, businessman
• July 22 – W. Ross Thatcher, premier of Saskatchewan