1985 in Canada

See also: 1984 in Canada, other events of 1985, 1986 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister – Brian Mulroney
• Governor General – Jeanne Sauvé

• Premier of Alberta – Peter Lougheed then Don Getty
• 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 then Frank Miller then David Peterson
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – James Lee
• Premier of Quebec – René Lévesque then Pierre-Marc Johnson then Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Grant Devine

See 1985 Canadian incumbents for more

Events

• January 26 – Frank Miller elected leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party replacing Bill Davis
• January 30 – The federal government relaxes laws requiring businesses to use the metric system
• February 8 – Frank Miller becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Bill Davis after the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership election
• February 10 – A supergroup of Canadian musicians, Northern Lights, gathers to record the charity single Tears Are Not Enough for famine relief in Ethiopia.
• February 11 – The federal and Newfoundland governments sign the Atlantic Accord paving the way for joint development of Newfoundland's offshore oil and gas reserves
• February 12 – Minister of National Defence Robert Coates resigns after it is revealed that he visited a strip-club while on government business in Germany
• February 13 – Denis Lortie is found guilty of murder for his attack on the Quebec National Assembly that killed three
• February 28 – Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel is found guilty of publishing false news and fermenting racial intolerance
• March – Willard Phelps becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing Chris Pearson
• March – At the so-called Shamrock Summit between Prime Minister Mulroney and President Ronald Reagan the two agree on cooperation on Missile Defence and free trade
• March 12 – Heavily armed Armenian terrorists storm the Turkish embasssy in Ottawa. They kill a security guard and hold a dozen people hostage for four hours
• March 21 – Rick Hansen launches his Man in Motion world tour to raise money for spinal cord research
• March 29 – 10 are killed after two military planes collide near CFB Edmonton
• April 24 – The Supreme Court rules the Lord's Day Act violates Canadians' freedom of religion
• May – Tony Penikett becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing Willard Phelps
• May 2 – Ontario election: Frank Miller's PCs win a minority, but David Peterson's Liberals will form a coalition with the NDP, forcing Miller to resign
• May 9 – The Supreme Court rules that Orders-in-Council are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• May 31 – A tornado in Barrie, Ontario kills twelve
• June 23 – Air India flight 182 blows up en-route from Toronto to London; Sikh terrorists are blamed.
• June 26 – David Peterson becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Frank Miller
• September 1 – The wreck of the RMS Titanic is found off the coast of Newfoundland
• September 6 – The Canadian Encyclopedia is launched
• September 17 – The tunagate scandal erupts
• September 20 – Lincoln Alexander becomes the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, the first Black person to hold a vice regal position in Canadian history
• September 25 – The Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology opens in Drumheller, Alberta
• October 3 – Pierre-Marc Johnson becomes premier of Quebec, replacing René Lévesque
• November 1 – Don Getty becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Peter Lougheed
• November 5 – Nick Sibbeston becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Richard Nerysoo
• December 2 – In the Quebec election, Robert Bourassa's Liberals gain a majority, defeating the Parti Québécois.
• December 12 – Robert Bourassa becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Pierre-Marc Johnson
• December 12 – The worst airplane accident in Canadian history occurs when an Arrow Airlines flight crashes soon after take-off from Gander, Newfoundland. 256 people are killed.
• Corel is founded in Ottawa

Arts and literature

New books

• Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid's Tale
• Colin Thatcher – Backrooms: A Story of Politics
• Erin Mouré – Domestic Fuel
• Farley Mowat – My Discovery of America

Awards

• See 1985 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: G. Ursell, Perdue, or How the West Was Lost
• Gerald Lampert Award: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation
• Pat Lowther Award: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation
• Stephen Leacock Award: Ted Allan, Love Is a Long Shot
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Edith Fowke

Television

• The last episode of The Friendly Giant on CBC

Births

• February 27 – Fefe Dobson, singer
• November 11 – Kalan Porter, singer
• Marc Hall, rights activist

Deaths

• April 21 – Foster Hewitt, broadcaster