1981 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II

  Federal government

• Governor general – Edward Schreyer
• Prime minister – Pierre Trudeau
• Chief Justice – Bora Laskin
• Parliament – 32nd

  Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Francis Charles Lynch-Staunton
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Henry Pybus Bell-Irving
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Francis Lawrence Jobin then Pearl McGonigal
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Hédard Robichaud then George Stanley
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Gordon Arnaud Winter then William Anthony Paddon
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Elvin Shaffner
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Black Aird
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Aubin Doiron
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Jean-Pierre Côté
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Irwin McIntosh

  Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Peter Lougheed
• Premier of British Columbia – Bill Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba – Sterling Lyon then 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 – Angus MacLean then James Lee
• Premier of Quebec – René Lévesque
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Allan Blakeney

  Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – Douglas Bell
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – John Havelock Parker

  Premiers

• Premier of the Northwest Territories – George Braden
• Premier of Yukon – Chris Pearson

  Events

• January 1 - Gasoline and diesel are sold by the litre rather than the gallon.
• February 5 - More than three hundred men are arrested after police sweeps of Toronto bathhouses. The arrests create an outcry among Canada's gay population, and become a historic turning point in Canadian LGBT history. See 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids.
• March 19 - Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win a majority.
• June 4 - NABET employees at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation hold a long strike, disrupting programming for much of the Spring.
• July 17 – The government of British Columbia named a 2,639-metre peak in the Rocky Mountains after Terry Fox.
• July 30 – The section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Ontario where Terry Fox was forced to end his run, was renamed in his honour.
• September 1 - Quebec's French language sign law comes into effect.
• September 1 - The Albertan and federal governments sign an energy agreement.
• September - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission holds pay-TV hearings in Hull, Quebec.
• September - West Edmonton Mall opens
• October 16 - Canada Post becomes a crown corporation.
• November 5 - Canadian government and all provinces, except Quebec, agree on how to patriate the Canadian Constitution.
• November 13 - The Canadarm is first deployed aboard the Space Shuttle.
• November 17 - James Lee becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Angus MacLean.
• November 30 - Howard Pawley becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Sterling Lyon.

  Full date unknown

• Power Corporation sells Canada Steamship Lines Inc. to Paul Martin and Laurence Pathy.
• News media: NOW created.

  Arts and literature

New works

• Margaret Atwood - True Stories
• bill bissett - Northern Birds in Coulour
• W.O. Mitchell - How I Spent My Summer Holidays
• Gordon R. Dickson - Lost Dorsai
• Nancy Huston - Les Variations Goldberg
• Joy Kogawa - Obasan

  Awards

• See 1981 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: W.D. Valgardson, Gentle Sinners
• Gerald Lampert Award: Elizabeth Allan, The Shored Up House
• Marian Engel Award:
• Pat Lowther Award: M. Travis Lane, Divinations and Short Poems 1973-1978
• Stephen Leacock Award: Gary Lautens, Take My Family...Please!
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Monica Hughes

  Film

• David Cronenberg's Scanners is released
• James Cameron's , his first directing effort, is released
• Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is released

  Sport

• March 2 – The Edmonton Drillers host Game 1 of the 1980–81 NASL indoor finals at Northlands Coliseum. They defeat the Chicago Sting 9–6.
• March 5 – The Edmonton Drillers win the 1980–81 NASL indoor title in Chicago by defeating the Chicago Sting 5–4 in Game 2 of the finals.
• March 15 – The Moncton Aigles Bleus win their first University Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies 4–2. The final game was played at the Stampede Corral in Calgary
• May 10 – The Cornwall Royals win their third Memorial Cup by defeating the Kitchener Rangers 8–2. The final game was played at Windsor Arena in Windsor, Ontario
• May 13 – The original Montreal Allouettes cease operations
• May 14 – Montreal Concordes are established
• May 21 – Saint Boniface, Manitoba's Butch Goring of the New York Islanders is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
• July 21 – Quebec City's Rick Martel win his second World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship by defeating the Moondogs in Allentown, Pennsylvania
• September 26 – Toronto hosts Soccer Bowl '81 at Exhibition Stadium. 36,971 fans witness Chicago defeat New York 1–0 in a shoot-out.
• September 28 – Calgary is awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics.
• November 22 – The Edmonton Eskimos win their eighth Grey Cup by defeating the Ottawa Redblacks 26–23 in the 69th Grey Cup played at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. London, Ontario's Neil Lumsden won the game's Most Valuable Canadian
• November 28 – The Acadia Axemen win their second Vanier Cup by defeating the Alberta Golden Bears 18–12 in the 17th Vanier Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

  Births

• January 7 – Alex Auld, ice hockey player
• January 8 – Jeff Francis, baseball pitcher
• January 11 – Jonathan Mandick, rower
• January 15 – Dylan Armstrong, shot putter
• January 16 – Nic Youngblud, water polo player
• January 17 – Julien Cousineau, alpine skier
• January 20 – Owen Hargreaves, soccer player
• January 21 – Dany Heatley, ice hockey player
• February 13 – Kristina Kiss, soccer player
• February 24 – Adam Kunkel, hurdler
• March 14 – Isabelle Pearson, judoka
• March 28 – Dan Petronijevic, actor
• April 6 – Auburn Sigurdson, softball player
• April 16 – Matthieu Proulx, football player
• April 19 – Hayden Christensen, actor
• May 15 – Justin Morneau, baseball player
• May 20 – Morgan Knabe, swimmer
• May 29 – Chris Violette, actor
• June 4 – Jennifer Carroll, swimmer
• June 21 – Kevin Mitchell, water polo player
• July 9 – Dylan Taylor, actor
• July 13 – Michael Mando, actor, writer and director
• July 21 – Anabelle Langlois, figure skater
• July 23 – Steve Jocz, drummer
• August 9 – Lauren Bay Regula, softball player
• August 19 – Taylor Pyatt, ice hockey player
• September 1 – Michael Adamthwaite, voice actor
• September 7 – Annie Martin, beach volleyball player
• September 26 – Kaila Holtz, softball player
• October 3 – Amanda Walsh, actress
• October 4 – Justin Williams, ice hockey player
• October 8 – Raffi Torres, ice hockey player
• October 25 – Gary Reed, middle distance athlete
• October 30 – Shaun Sipos, actor
• November 20 – Christian Bernier, volleyball player

  Deaths

• January 5 - Lomer Brisson, politician and lawyer
• January 16 - John Oates Bower, politician, businessman and executive
• April 10 - George Carlyle Marler, politician, notary and philatelist
• May 4 - Samuel Rosborough Balcom, politician
• May 23 - David Lewis, lawyer and politician
• May 29 - Walter Russell Shaw, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island
• June 28 - Terry Fox, humanitarian, athlete and cancer treatment activist
• September 23 - Dan George, actor and author
• November 3 - Thérèse Casgrain, feminist, reformer, politician and Senator
• December 28 - Allan Dwan, film director, producer and screenwriter