Events from the year 1963 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown
Monarch – Elizabeth II
Federal government
Governor General – Georges Vanier
Prime Minister – John Diefenbaker (until April 22) then Lester B. Pearson
Chief Justice – Patrick Kerwin (Ontario) (until 2 February) then Robert Taschereau (Quebec) Parliament – 25th (until 6 February) then 26th (from 16 May)
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John Percy Page
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – George Pearkes
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Errick Willis
Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Joseph Leonard O'Brien
Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Campbell Leonard Macpherson (until March 1) then Fabian O'Dea Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Edward Chester Plow (until March 1) then Henry Poole MacKeen Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Keiller MacKay (until May 1) then William Earl Rowe Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Frederick Walter Hyndman (until August 1) then Willibald Joseph MacDonald Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Paul Comtois Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Frank Lindsay Bastedo (until March 1) then Robert Hanbidge
Premiers
Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
Premier of Manitoba – Dufferin Roblin
Premier of New Brunswick – Louis Robichaud
Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
Premier of Nova Scotia – Robert Stanfield
Premier of Ontario – John Robarts
Premier of Prince Edward Island – Walter Shaw
Premier of Quebec – Jean Lesage
Premier of Saskatchewan – Woodrow Lloyd
Territorial governments
Commissioners
Commissioner of Yukon – Gordon Robertson Cameron
Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Robert Gordon Robertson (until July 12) then Bent Gestur Sivertz
Events
February 4: Defence Minister Douglas Harkness resigns after Prime Minister Diefenbaker refuses to accept nuclear weapons from the United States February 5: The Diefenbaker government collapses over the Bomarc Missile Crisis and an election is called March 1: Simon Fraser University is founded April 8: Federal election: Lester Pearson's Liberals win a minority, defeating John Diefenbaker's PCs April 9: Canadian Recording Industry Association is established April 20: The Front de libération du Québec sets off its first bombs in Quebec April 22: Lester Pearson becomes Prime Minister, replacing John Diefenbaker May 27: The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology opens June 17: 1963 Alberta general election: Ernest Manning's Alberta Social Credit Party wins an eighth consecutive majority July 22: The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is announced September 21: Place des Arts opens in Montreal September 25: 1963 Ontario general election: John Robarts's PCs win a sixth consecutive majority November 29: 118 are killed in the Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crash near Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec December 23: plans to build the National Arts Centre are approved
Arts and literature
New Works
W.L. Morton: The Kingdom of Canada
Milton Acorn: Jawbreakers
Leonard Cohen: The Favorite Game
Farley Mowat: Never Cry Wolf
Awards
See 1963 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards. Stephen Leacock Award: Donald Jack, Three Cheers for Me Vicky Metcalf Award: Kerry Wood
Sport
March 16 – The McMaster Marlins win the first University Cup by defeating the UBC Thunderbirds 3 to 2 at the Kingston Memorial Centre April 18 – The Toronto Maple Leafs win their 11th Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings. The deciding Game 5 is played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto April 22 – Winnipeg awarded the 1967 Pan Am Games May 11 – The Central Alberta Hockey League's Edmonton Oil Kings win their First Memorial Cup by defeating Ontario Hockey Association's Niagara Falls Flyers 4 games to 2. All games were played at Edmonton Gardens. November 30 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their third Grey Cup by defeating the BC Lions 21–10 in the 51st Grey Cup played Empire Stadium in Vancouver.