1983 in Canada

See also: 1982 in Canada, other events of 1983, 1984 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister – Pierre Trudeau
• Governor General – Edward Schreyer

• Premier of Alberta – Peter Lougheed
• Premier of British Columbia – Bill Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba – 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 – James Lee
• Premier of Quebec – René Lévesque
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Grant Devine

See 1983 Canadian incumbents for more

Events

• January 17 – Saskatchewan MLA Colin Thatcher resigns as Minister of Energy and Mines after several well-publicised disputes with premier Grant Devine.
• January 21 – JoAnn Thatcher, wife of Saskatchewan MLA Colin Thatcher, is murdered in her Regina home. Colin would later be convicted of the crime.
• February 1 – Pay television begins operating in Canada.
• February 15 – the Tamarack Review ceases publication
• March 4 – Bertha Wilson is appointed Canada's first female Supreme Court justice
• March 5 – Steve Podborski wins Gold at the World Cup of Skiing
• June 2 – Air Canada Flight 797 makes an emergency landing in Cincinatti, Ohio – a fire kills 23 of 41 passengers onboard.
• June 9 – Bill 101, protecting the French language in Quebec is ruled unconstitutional
• June 11 – Brian Mulroney replaces Joe Clark as leader of Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
• June 19 BC Place in Vancouver opens
• July 23 – Gimli Glider: Air Canada flight 143 crash-lands in Gimli, Manitoba.
• October 1 – North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization is established
• November 17 – The Western Grain Transportation Act is passed
• December 23 – Jeanne Sauvé is appointed Canada's first female Governor General
• Canada agrees to allow testing of American cruise missiles in the west
• Grey Cup – Toronto Argonauts won 18–17 over the British Columbia Lions
• Vanier Cup – Calgary Dinos won 31–21 over the Queen's Golden Gaels
• The Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station, the first Nuclear power plant in the Maritimes

Arts and Literature

New Books

• A Time for Judas – Morley Callaghan
• Unearthing Suite – Margaret Atwood
• Seagull on Yonge Street – Bill Bissett

Awards

• See 1983 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe
• Gerald Lampert Award: Diana Hartog, Matinee Light
• Pat Lowther Award: Rhea Tregebov, Remembering History
• Stephen Leacock Award: Morley Torgov, The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Claire Mackay

Film

• Graham Greene makes his film debut in Running Brave
• David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone is released
• A film is made of Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf

Births

• February 2 – Jordin Tootoo, hockey player
• April 7 – Kyle Labine, actor
• May 20 – Dan Blackburn, hockey goalie
• June 22 – Sheena Lawrick, Olympic softball player
• September 27 – Jay Bouwmeester, hockey player

Deaths

• June 12 – Norma Shearer, actor
• July 13 – Gabrielle Roy, author
• July 29 – Raymond Massey, actor
• Alden Nowlan, author
• Stan Rogers, musician
• Yves Theriault, author
• Graham Spry, broadcaster