2009 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II

  Federal government

• Governor general – Michaëlle Jean
• Prime minister – Stephen Harper
• Chief Justice – Beverley McLachlin
• Parliament – 40th

  Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Norman Kwong
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Steven Point
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – John Harvard then Philip S. Lee
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Herménégilde Chiasson then Graydon Nicholas
• Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador – John Crosbie
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Mayann Francis
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – David Onley
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Barbara Oliver Hagerman
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Pierre Duchesne
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Gordon Barnhart

  Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Ed Stelmach
• Premier of British Columbia – Gordon Campbell
• Premier of Manitoba – Gary Doer then Greg Selinger
• Premier of New Brunswick – Shawn Graham
• Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador – Danny Williams
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Rodney MacDonald then Darrell Dexter
• Premier of Ontario – Dalton McGuinty
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Robert Ghiz
• Premier of Quebec – Jean Charest
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Brad Wall

  Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – Geraldine Van Bibber
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Tony Whitford
• Commissioner of Nunavut – Ann Meekitjuk Hanson

  Premiers

• Premier of the Northwest Territories – Floyd Roland
• Premier of Nunavut – Eva Aariak
• Premier of Yukon – Dennis Fentie

  Events

January to March

• January 5 – Fourth explosion from 2008-09 British Columbia pipeline bombings destroyed a metering shed near the community of Tomslake, British Columbia.
• January 8 – Large amount of gang violence in Vancouver starts.
• January 15 – A large blackout hits Toronto effecting an estimated 250,000 people.
• January 26 – The 40th Canadian Parliament reopens for its second session after a two-month prorogation. Governor General Michaëlle Jean reads the Speech from the Throne.
• January 27 – Finance Minister Jim Flaherty presents the 2009 Canadian federal budget to the House of Commons of Canada.
• January 28
• *Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff announces the support of the Liberal Party for the budget on the condition that his amendment is included.
• *The first of the 2009 Canadian Tamil protests begin in front of the Consulate General office of Sri Lanka in Toronto.
• January 29 – 2008-09 York University Strike comes to an end with a count of 42–8 ending the strike.
• February 19 – Newly-sworn American President Barack Obama made his first foreign trip by visiting Canada.
• February 22 – Spanish fishing vessel Monte Galineiro sank off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
• March 12 – A helicopter crash off the coast of Newfoundland kills 17.
• March 17 – Former U.S. President George W. Bush gave a talk in Calgary, Alberta.
• March 29 – Researchers from the University of Toronto discover GhostNet.

  April to September

• April 2 – Stephen Harper attends the 2009 G-20 London summit.
• April 6 – Tamil protesters gather at Parliament Hill, Ottawa for a non-stop, continuous protest requesting Harper to call for a ceasefire to the Sri Lankan Civil War. Six people begin their own hunger strikes.
• April 8 – Victoria "Tori" Stafford is abducted from Oliver Stephens Public School in Woodstock, Ontario.
• April 26 – First cases of the 2009 H1N1 outbreak are confirmed in Canada.
• April 30 – Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention is held in Vancouver, British Columbia.
• May 6 – Canada begins negotiations with the European Union on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
• May 20 – Two people, Michael Thomas Rafferty, and Terri-Lyne McClintic are charged with the abduction and murder of Victoria "Tori" Stafford.
• June 17 – School stabbings happen at St. Joseph Secondary School in Mississauga.
• June 22 – Start of the 2009 City of Toronto inside and outside workers strike.
• June 24 to July 3 – Death and state funeral of Roméo LeBlanc, former Governor General
• July 4 – Natural gas line was bombed for the sixth time near Dawson Creek.
• July 8 – Stephen Harper attends the 35th G8 summit.
• July 9 – A small plane crashed on final approach to Vancouver International Airport, killing all two people on board. No one on the ground was injured, while an IKEA in the parking lot suffered some damage.
• July 17 – R. v. Grant is ruled on at the Supreme Court of Canada.
• July 23 – Shawn Atleo is chosen as the organization's new national chief at the Assembly of First Nations leadership convention.
• August 1 – One person was killed and seventy-five others were injured, when the stage collapsed at the Big Valley Jamboree due to a severe thunderstorm and high winds.
• August 6 – The 67th World Science Fiction Convention is held in Montreal, Quebec at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
• August 19 – CrossIron Mills opens near the Calgary area.
• August 20 – 18 tornadoes rated up to F2 struck Southwestern Ontario, Central Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area.

  October to December

• October 17
• *Greg Selinger is chosen as the new leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party and the new Premier of Manitoba.
• *Danielle Smith is chosen as the new leader of the Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta.
• October 18 – Gilles Taillon is chosen as the new leader of the Action démocratique du Québec.
• October 20 – Former U.S. President George W. Bush spoke in Edmonton, Alberta.
• October 22 – Former U.S. President George W. Bush spoke in Montreal, Quebec.
• October 29 – The premiers of New Brunswick and Quebec sign a memorandum of understanding to sell most assets of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec for C$4.75 billion.
• November 9 – Four by-elections are held to fill vacancies in the House of Commons.
• November 10 – Just 23 days after assuming the leadership of the Action démocratique du Québec, Gilles Taillon resigns, citing both caucus infighting and alleged irregularities in the party's financial records which he called on the Sûreté du Québec to investigate.
• November 15 – Mike Schreiner is chosen as the new leader of the Green Party of Ontario.
• December 10 – The Olympic torch arrives at Parliament Hill and is carried into the House by Barbara Ann Scott.
• December 15 – Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive is welcomed to Canada to talk about security and development of Haiti

  Unknown date

• The government cryptologic agency, Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing, is founded.

  Arts and literature

Art

• March 6 – Art and Social Responsibility The Interdependence of the Arts and Civil Society conference is held in Toronto, Ontario.

  Film

• January 23 – 3 saisons is released in Quebec
• April 4 – The 29th Genie Awards are held at the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.
• September 10 – The 2009 Toronto International Film Festival was held.

  Music

• March 29 – The Juno Awards of 2009 are held in Vancouver, hosted by Russell Peters.
• September 21 – The 2009 Polaris Music Prize is won by Fucked Up for their album The Chemistry of Common Life.

  Television

Literature

• Scotiabank Giller Prize – Linden MacIntyre, The Bishop's Man

  Sport

• January 4 – The 2009 World U-17 Hockey Challenge is held in several cities in the Lower Mainland.
• January 6 – Team Canada wins the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for the 5th time in a row.
• February 4 – The 2009 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships is held in Vancouver.
• March 12 – The 2009 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships are held in Richmond, BC.
• April 13 – The 2009 Allan Cup is held in Steinbach, Manitoba.
• May 15 – The 2009 season of the Canadian Soccer League starts.
• May 24 – Windsor Spitfires won their First Memorial Cup by defeating the Kelowna Rockets 4 to 1. The Tournament was played at Colisée de Rimouski in Rimouski, Quebec
• June 20 – In the 2009 Men's Pan-American Volleyball Cup, Canada placed second in group A.
• July 12 – The 2009 Honda Indy Toronto takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto.
• July 26
• *The Trophée des Champions Final was held in Montreal.
• *The 2009 Rexall Edmonton Indy takes place at the Rexall Speedway.
• August 12 – 2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships is held in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on Lake Banook.
• August 15 – Canada competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
• October 12 – The Canadian National Challenge Cup 2009 was held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
• November 28 – Queen's Golden Gaels won their Fourth Vanier Cup by defeating the Calgary Dinos 33 to 31 in the 45th Grey Cup played at PEPS Stadium in Quebec City
• November 29 – Montreal Alouettes won their Sixth Grey Cup by defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 28 to 27 in the 97th Grey Cup played at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

  Deaths

January

• January 8 – Richard John Neuhaus, churchman and author
• January 10 – Jean Pelletier, politician and Mayor of Quebec City
• January 11 – Daryl Seaman, businessman
• January 20 – Stan Hagen, politician
• January 22 – John Alan Beesley, diplomat and civil servant
• January 23
• *Helen Maksagak, politician, first woman and first Inuk Northwest Territories Commissioner
• *Percy Smith, barrister, lawyer and politician
• January 31
• *Thérèse Lavoie-Roux, politician and Senator
• *Dewey Martin, rock drummer

  February

• February 2 – Russ Germain, radio presenter
• February 5
• *John W. Grace, first Privacy Commissioner of Canada
• * Leo Orenstein, director, producer and writer
• February 6 – George Karpati, neurologist and neuroscientist
• February 8 – Bob Stephen, Canadian football player
• February 23
• *Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook, portrait sculptor
• *Scott Symons, writer
• February 25 – Molly Kool, North America's first registered female sea captain
• February 27 – James Page Mackey, chief of Toronto Police Service

  March

• March 1 – Alf Pike, ice hockey player and coach
• March 2 – Michael Baker, politician
• March 3
• *Gilbert Parent, politician and 33rd Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada
• *Alessandro De Rango, mathematician
• March 4 – Yvon Cormier, wrestler
• March 9 – Larry Regan, ice hockey player, coach and manager
• March 10 – Tom Hanson, photojournalist
• March 11 – Harvey Lowe, broadcaster and yo-yo world champion
• March 13 – Andrew Martin, wrestler
• March 15 – Edmund Hockridge, singer and actor
• March 17 – Gaston Labrèche, Chief Justice of Quebec Superior Court
• March 18 – Donald Tolmie, politician
• March 21
• *Walt Poddubny, ice hockey player and coach
• *Doug Frith, MP for Sudbury, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• March 22 – Archie Green, folklorist and musicologist
• March 26 – Shane McConkey, extreme skier and base jumper
• March 29 – Ivor Dent, politician and mayor of Edmonton

  April

• April 2
• *Émilie Lavoie, supercentenarian
• * Albert Sanschagrin, Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
• April 6 – J. M. S. Careless, historian
• April 8 – Victoria Stafford, murder victim
• April 10 – Frank Morris Canadian football player
• April 12
• *Derek Weiler, editor and writer
• *Danny Cameron, politician
• * Kent Douglas, ice hockey player and coach
• April 23 – Gordon Gair, lacrosse player
• April 24 – Orville Howard Phillips, politician and Senator
• April 27 – John Crispo, economist and educator
• April 28 – Ted Reynolds, television and radio sportscaster

  May

• May 3 – Renée Morisset, pianist
• May 7
• *Robin Blaser, author and poet
• *Hugh Stansfield, Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia
• May 11 – Lude Check, ice hockey player
• May 19 – Clint Smith, ice hockey player and coach
• May 20 – Arthur Erickson, architect and urban planner
• May 22 – Randy Steele, television news reporter
• May 26
• *Charles Dalfen, chairperson of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
• *Peter Zezel, ice hockey player
• May 27 – Abram Hoffer, orthomolecular psychiatrist
• May 28
• *Marcel Béliveau, television host, film director and comedian
• *Lawrence Heisey, businessman
• * John Tolos, wrestler and wrestling manager
• *Betty Tancock, Olympic swimmer
• May 29 – Hank Bassen, ice hockey player
• May 30 – Eva Dawes, bronze medal-winning Olympic high jumper

  June

• June 3
• *David Bromige, poet
• *Sam George, native rights activist
• *Benoit Marleau, actor
• June 8 – Sheila Finestone, politician and Senator
• June 8 – Nathan Marsters, ice hockey player
• June 14
• *William McIntyre, Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
• *Angela Coughlan, swimmer and Olympic bronze medalist
• June 15 – Allan King, film director
• June 17
• *Gordon Wray, politician
• *Tony Wong, politician
• *Charles A. Barkley, politician, Mayor of South Dundas, Ontario
• June 20 – Roseanne Allen, Olympic cross-country skier
• June 21 – Lorena Gale, playwright
• June 22 – Billy Red Lyons, professional wrestler
• June 23 – Raymond Berthiaume, jazz musician, singer and record producer
• June 24 – Roméo LeBlanc, Governor General & politician
• June 27 – Jackie Washington, blues musician
• June 28 – Terry Black, singer
• June 29
• *Jan Rubeš, Czech-Canadian singer and actor
• *Pauline Picard, politician, MP for Drummond
• *Glen Nicoll, farm writer and photojournalist
• *Dave Batters, politician, MP for Palliser

  July

• July 4 – Leo Mol, sculptor
• July 5 – Waldo Von Erich, professional wrestler
• July 6 – Martin Streek, disc jockey
• July 9 – Ron Kennedy, ice hockey player and trainer
• July 11
• *Arturo Gatti, boxer
• *Reg Fleming, hockey player
• July 13 – Neil Munro, director, actor and playwright
• July 14 – Phyllis Gotlieb, science fiction author
• July 15 – Brian Goodwin, mathematician
• July 16
• *Jerry Holland, fiddler and composer
• *Charles Gonthier, jurist, Supreme Court Justice
• July 18 – Robert Uffen, research geophysicist, professor, and university administrator
• July 21 – Les Lye, actor and broadcaster
• July 22 – Mark Leduc, Olympic boxer
• July 26 – Jerry Yanover, Liberal Party strategist
• July 27 – Lee Orr, Olympic athlete
• July 30 – Joy Langan, Member of Parliament for Mission—Coquitlam

  August

• August 5
• *Al Tomko, professional wrestler
• *Gerald Cohen, Marxist political philosopher
• August 6
• *Donald Marshall, Jr., Aboriginal wrongfully convicted of murder
• *Stanley Haidasz, politician, MP for Trinity and Parkdale, Senator
• August 10 – Sylvia Lennick, sketch comedy actor
• August 13
• *Al Purvis, Olympic gold medal-winning ice hockey player
• *Joseph Gilles Napoléon Ouellet, Archbishop of Rimouski
• August 14 – Ted "Teeder" Kennedy, hockey player
• August 21 – Chris McCubbins, Olympic athlete
• August 22 – Muriel Duckworth, feminist and activist
• August 29 – Sam Etcheverry, American-born Canadian football player, member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame

  September

• September 1 – Alexis Tioseco, Filipino-born Canadian film critic
• September 7 – Fred Mills, musician
• September 9
• *Frank Mazzuca, businessman, Mayor of Capreol, Ontario
• *Eric Davidson, blind mechanic, survivor of the Halifax Explosion
• September 10
• *Lyn Hamilton, author
• *Kerry Brown, professional wrestler
• September 11 – Pierre Cossette, television producer
• September 13 – Philip Aziz, artist
• September 18 – Doug Fisher, journalist and politician, MP for Port Arthur
• September 19 – Gabriel Beaudry, Olympic rower
• September 23 – Stuart Robertson, journalist and gardener
• September 24 – Nelly Arcan, novelist
• September 25 – Pierre Falardeau, movie director
• September 27 – Alan Dick, principal of Canadian International School of Hong Kong
• September 29 – Ray Nettles, Canadian football player

  October

• October 1 – Luigi Moro, footballer and football coach
• October 2 – Harvey Veniot, MLA for Pictou West, Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
• October 6 – Douglas Campbell, actor
• October 8 – Gerald Ferguson, artist
• October 10 – Joan Orenstein, actress
• October 11 – Herb Leblanc, musician
• October 19 – Joseph Wiseman, actor
• October 20 – Margaret Fitzgerald, supercentenarian
• October 22 – Howard Darwin, sports promoter, founder of the Ottawa 67's
• October 23
• *Lou Jacobi, actor
• *Jack Poole, multimillionaire, real estate developer
• October 28 – Ted Nebbeling, former British Columbia MLA
• October 28 – Taylor Mitchell, singer-songwriter
• October 29 – Gino Fracas, football player
• October 31 – Harry Gauss, soccer coach

  November

• November 1 – Gus Mitges, politician
• November 5 – Adam Firestorm, professional wrestler
• November 11
• *Bernd Dittrich, Austrian football player
• *Tony Anselmo, football executive
• November 15 – Richard Carlyle, actor
• November 22 – Haydain Neale, musician
• November 28 – Gilles Carle, filmmaker
• November 30 – George Atkins, radio and TV presenter, founder of Farm Radio International
• Date uncertain – Claire Drainie Taylor, actor and writer

  December

• December 9 – Goldie Semple, stage actor
• December 10
• *Roy Shatzko, football player
• *Jean-Robert Gauthier, MP for Ottawa East
• December 11 – Damien Truth, wrestler
• December 14 – David Pecaut, Municipal entrepreneur
• December 18
• * Rex Yetman, bluegrass musician
• * Del St. John, ice hockey player
• * Harold Lundrigan, businessman
• December 28 – Terry Matte, television news producer
• December 30
• * Michelle Lang, reporter
• * Peter Corren, gay rights activist