1948 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – George VI

  Federal government

• Governor general – Earl Alexander of Tunis
• Prime minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King then Louis Saint Laurent
• Chief Justice – Thibaudeau Rinfret
• Parliament – 20th

  Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John C. Bowen
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Charles Arthur Banks
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Ray Lawson
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Joseph Alphonsus Bernard
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Eugène Fiset
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Reginald John Marsden Parker then John Michael Uhrich

  Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
• Premier of British Columbia – Boss Johnson
• Premier of Manitoba – Stuart Garson then Douglas Campbell
• Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
• Premier of Ontario – George A. Drew then Thomas Laird Kennedy
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones
• Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas

  Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Commissioner of Yukon – John Edward Gibben
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside

  Events

• June 7 – Ontario election: George Drew's PCs win a second consecutive majority
• June 24 – Saskatchewan election: Tommy Douglas's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation wins a second consecutive majority
• July 22 – The Dominion of Newfoundland votes 52% to 48% to join the foreign nation of Canada in a questionable referendum.
• August 17 – 1948 Alberta general election: Ernest Manning's Social Credit Party wins a fourth consecutive majority
• October 19 – Thomas Kennedy becomes premier of Ontario, replacing George Drew
• November 13 – Douglas Campbell becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Stuart Garson
• November 15 – Louis Saint Laurent becomes prime minister, replacing Mackenzie King

  Arts and literature

Awards

• See 1948 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

• Stephen Leacock Award: Paul Hiebert, Sarah Binks

  Sport

• February 2 – Barbara Ann Scott became the First Canadian to win the Figure skating Gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland
• April 14 – Toronto Maple Leafs won their Seventh Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 0.
• April 30 – Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League's Port Arthur West End Bruins won their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association'sBarrie Flyers 4 games to 0. All games were played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
• November 27 – The Undefeated Calgary Stampeders won their First Grey Cup by defeating Ottawa Rough Riders 12 to 7 in the 36th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. This Cup is notable for the Stampeders fans making a party out of the game and launching the Grey Cup Fesitval that precedes the Championship game.

  Births

January to March

• January 10 – Craig Russell, female impersonator
• January 12 – Gordon Campbell, politician and 34th Premier of British Columbia
• January 13 – Pat O'Brien, politician
• January 15 – Andy Jones, comedian, writer, actor and director
• January 16 – Cliff Thorburn, snooker player, former world number one
• January 19 – Frank McKenna, businessman, politician, 27th Premier of New Brunswick and diplomat
• January 25 – Sarkis Assadourian, politician
• February 11 – Shaughnessy Cohen, politician
• February 21 – Chuck Cadman, politician
• March 14
• *Pierre Granche, sculptor
• *Maria Minna, politician
• March 20 – Bobby Orr, ice hockey player
• March 31 – Gary Doer, politician and 20th Premier of Manitoba

  April to June

• April 14 – Claude Vivier, composer
• April 16 – Reg Alcock, politician, minister, MP for Winnipeg South ; President of the Treasury Board
• April 17 – Wilf Wedmann, high jumper
• April 20 – Rémy Trudel, academic and politician
• May 11 – John Plohman, politician
• May 16 – Clif Evans, politician
• May 24 – Lorna Crozier, poet and essayist
• June 4
• * Margaret Gibson, novelist and short story writer
• * Sandra Post, golfer, first Canadian to play on the LPGA Tour
• June 5 – Bill Smart, middle distance runner and judge
• June 7 – Welwyn Wilton Katz, children's author

  July to September

• July 4 – Katherine Govier, novelist
• July 8 – Raffi, children's entertainer, music producer, author and entrepreneur
• August 2 – Bob Rae, politician and 21st Premier of Ontario
• August 5 – Don Scott, politician
• August 31 – Marie-Lynn Hammond, folk singer-songwriter, broadcaster and playwright
• September 8 – Stephen Owen, politician
• September 10 – Margaret Trudeau, wife of the late Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada
• September 14 – John Edzerza, Yukon MLA
• September 19 – James McCrae, politician
• September 21 – Bernard Jean, oboist, conductor, and music educator
• September 24 – Phil Hartman, actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic artist

  October to December

• October 8 – Pat Binns, politician, 30th Premier of Prince Edward Island and diplomat
• October 9 – Brad Woodside, politician, Mayor of Fredericton, New Brunswick
• October 17 – Margot Kidder, actress
• November 5 – Mike Neary, rower
• November 24 – Spider Robinson, science fiction author
• December 7 – Jay Dahlgren, javelin thrower
• December 30 – Rick Casson, politician
• December 30 – Pierre Blais, jurist, politician and Minister

  Full date unknown

• Marc Lortie, diplomat

  Deaths

• March 14 – Ernest Frederick Armstrong, politician
• March 28 – John Duncan MacLean, teacher, physician, politician and Premier of British Columbia
• May 20 – George Beurling, most successful Canadian fighter pilot of World War II
• May 21 – James Ralston, lawyer, soldier, politician and Minister

  Full date unknown

• Margaret C. MacDonald, nurse