1982 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 – Pearl McGonigal
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – George Stanley
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – 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 – 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 – Allan Blakeney then Grant Devine

  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 to June

• January 11 – CBC's moves to 10 p.m. and The Journal debuts at 10:22 p.m.
• January 15 – Striking Quebec transit workers are forced back to work.
• February – First reported cases of AIDS in Canada.
• February 14 – 84 are killed when the Ocean Ranger oil platform capsizes.
• March 4 – Bertha Wilson is appointed Canada's first female Supreme Court justice.
• March 8 – The Canada Act is passed by the British House of Commons.
• April 14 – 1982 Northwest Territories division plebiscite
• April 17 – Elizabeth II signs Canada's newly patriated constitution in Ottawa and the new Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms comes into effect.
• April 26 – Saskatchewan election: Grant Devine's PCs win a landslide majority, defeating Allan Blakeney's NDP.
• May 5 – Peru requests Canadian intervention in the ongoing Falklands War.
• May 8 – Grant Devine becomes Premier of Saskatchewan after defeating Allan Blakeney's NDP.
• May 23 – André Besette beatified by the Pope.
• June 12 – The first drawing of Lotto 6/49 occurs with a jackpot of. Winning numbers are 03, 11, 12, 14, 41, 43, bonus 13.
• June 28 – Access to Information Act passed.

  July to December

• July 15 – Anik 1, Canada's first communications satellite, is retired after ten years' service.
• July 26 – Karen Baldwin is crowned Miss Universe in Lima, Peru, becoming the first Canadian to win this award.
• August 16 – Communications satellite Anik D launched.
• August 23 – Turkish military attaché to Canada, Colonel Atilla Altıkat, is assassinated by Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide in Ottawa.
• October 5 – Laurie Skreslet becomes the first Canadian to climb Mount Everest.
• October 27 – Dominion Day renamed Canada Day.
• October 31 – Marguerite Bourgeoys becomes Canada's first female saint.
• November 2 – Alberta election: Peter Lougheed's PCs win a fourth consecutive majority.
• December 10 – Canada's 200 nautical mile limit is officially recognized.

  Full date unknown

• The year sees a severe recession in the economy.
• In a case concerning the development of the Hibernia Oil Field the Supreme Court rules that the continental shelf falls under federal jurisdiction.
• Ed Mirvish purchases London's Old Vic theatre.
• Colin Thatcher is elected to his third term in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, where he is appointed Minister of Energy and Mines.

  Arts and literature

New books

• Dig up My Heart: Milton Acorn

  Awards

• See 1982 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Joy Kogawa, Obasan
• Gerald Lampert Award: Abraham Boyarsky, Schielber and Edna Alford, A Sleep Full of Dreams
• Pat Lowther Award: Rona Murray, Journey
• Stephen Leacock Award: Mervyn J. Huston, Gophers Don't Pay Taxes Tree
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Janet Lunn

  Film

• E released

  Dance

• Arnold Spohr wins the Dancemagazine Award

  Sports

• March 14 – The Moncton Aigles Bleus win their second University Cup be defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies 3 to 2. The final game was played in the Moncton Coliseum in Moncton, New Brunswick
• May 9 – Gilles Villeneuve is killed at the Belgian Grand Prix.
• May 15 – The Kitchener Rangers win their first Memorial Cup by defeating the Sherbrooke Castors 7 to 4. The final game was played at Robert Guertin Arena in Hull, Quebec
• May 16 – The New York Islanders win their third Stanley Cup by defeating the Vancouver Canucks 4 games to 0. The deciding Game 4 was played at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. Montreal's Mike Bossy was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
• November 20 – The UBC Thunderbirds win their first Vanier Cup by defeating the Western Ontario Mustangs by a score of 39–14 in the 18th Vanier Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto
• November 28 – The Edmonton Eskimos win their ninth Grey Cup by defeating the Toronto Argonauts in the 70th Grey Cup played at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto

  Births

• January 5 – Tiiu Nurmberg, skier
• January 12 – Shawn Desman, pop musician
• January 31 – Jay Malinowski musician
• March 10 – Kathleen Stoody, swimmer
• March 18 – Matthew Lombardi, ice hockey player
• March 30 – A-Trak, DJ and turntablist
• April 3 – Cobie Smulders, actress and model
• April 9 – Jay Baruchel, actor and comedian
• April 14 – Lise Leveille, gymnast
• April 16 – Aaron Feltham, water polo player
• April 24 – Shayna Nackoney, synchronized swimmer
• May 6 – Kyle Shewfelt, gymnast
• May 10 – Adam Sioui, swimmer
• May 11 – Cory Monteith, actor
• May 12 – Rhian Wilkinson, soccer player
• May 16 – Melissa Altro, actress
• May 23 – Linda Consolante, soccer player
• June 9 – Rachel Schill, softball player
• June 16 – Kathy Tremblay, triathlete
• June 23 – Derek Boogaard, hockey player
• June 24 – Jarret Stoll, ice hockey player
• July – Gregory Despres, murder
• July 6 – Kelly Stefanyshyn, swimmer
• July 9 – Viola Yanik, wrestler
• July 17 – Jessi Cruickshank, television host
• August 21 – Omar Sachedina, journalist and news anchor
• September 1 – Jeffrey Buttle, figure skater, Olympic bronze medallist and World Champion
• September 2 – Kelly Haxton, soccer player
• September 21 – Cindy Eadie, softball player
• September 23 – Shyla Stylez, porn actress
• October 31 – Justin Chatwin, actor
• November 26 – Alison Braden, water polo player
• November 29 – Elizabeth Collins, swimmer
• December 29 – Brian Hill, Paralympic swimmer
• December 30 – Kristin Kreuk, actress

  Full date unknown

• Ryan Riordon, politician

  Deaths

January to June

• January 5 – Elizabeth Bagshaw, doctor
• March 28 – William Giauque, chemist and Nobel laureate
• May 8 – Gilles Villeneuve, motor racing driver.
• June 10 – Elizabeth Goudie, writer.
• June 28 – Igor Gouzenko, Russian defector

  July to December

• July 25 – Hal Foster, cartoonist
• October 4 – Glenn Gould, pianist
• October 16 – Hugh John Flemming, politician and 24th Premier of New Brunswick
• October 16 – Hans Selye, endocrinologist
• October 18 – John Robarts, lawyer, politician and 17th Premier of Ontario
• November 2 – J. Dewey Soper, Arctic explorer, zoologist, ornithologist and author
• November 19 – Erving Goffman, sociologist and writer
• November 29 – Percy Williams, athlete and double Olympic gold medallist
• December 7 – Harry Jerome, track and field runner
• December 19 – George Isaac Smith, lawyer, politician and Premier of Nova Scotia