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First television stations in Canada begin broadcasting in Montreal and Toronto
The first ever television stations broadcasted in Montreal on September 6th and in Toronto on September 8th 1952! -
Canadian government cancels the Avro Arrow.
When the Canadian government canceled the Avro Arrow in 1959, many of the engineers on the project end up working for NASA. -
“Quiet Revolution” begins in Québec.
The Quiet Revolution was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in the Canadian province of Quebec, characterized by the effective secularization of government, the creation of a welfare state, and realignment of politics into federalist. -
Trans-Canada Highway officially opens
The system was approved by the Trans-Canada Highway Act of 1949, with construction commencing in 1950. The highway officially opened in 1962, and was completed in 1971. -
The Auto Pact, forerunner of NAFTA, is signed between United States and Canada
The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965, better known as the Canada-US Auto Pact, led to the integration of the Canadian and US auto industries in a shared North American market. While it brought great benefits to Canada, it was eventually found to be contrary to international trade rules and was cancelled in 2001. -
The federal government becomes officially bilingual!
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada," according to Canada's constitution. -
October Crisis occurs
The October Crisis occurred in October 1970 in the province of Quebec in Canada, mainly in the Montreal metropolitan area. Members of the FLQ kidnapped the provincial cabinet minister Pierre Laporte and the British diplomat James Cross. In response, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the only peacetime use of the Canada War Measures Act. The kidnappers murdered Laporte, and negotiations led to Cross's release and the kidnappers' exile to Cuba. -
Parti Quebécois under Rene Levesque wins Québec provincial election on separatist platform
The Parti Québécois is a sovereignist provincial political party in Quebec in Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishing a sovereign state. The PQ has promoted the possibility of maintaining a loose political and economic sovereignty-association between Quebec and Canada. -
The majority of Québecers reject separation from Canada in a referendum vote
In this referendum, the government asked the people of Québec to give it a mandate to “negotiate a new constitutional agreement with the rest of Canada, based on the equality of nations.” When the votes were counted, nearly 60% of Quebecers had voted against this plan, and it was thereby rejected. -
Jeanne Sauve is named the Governor General of Canada, the first woman appointed to this role.
Jeanne-Mathilde Sauvé, governor general of Canada 1984-1990, journalist, politician, speaker of the House of Commons (born 26 April 1922 in Prud'homme, Saskatchewan; died 26 January 1993 in Montreal). Sauvé was Canada's first woman to be Speaker of the House of Commons and first woman to serve as governor general. -
Brian Mulroney of the Progressive Conservative party is first elected Prime Minister.
Martin Brian Mulroney (born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian politician who served as the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993. His tenure as prime minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax, and the rejection of constitutional reforms such as the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. -
Brian Mulroney runs for re-election and wins.
In his second general election as leader, Mulroney was returned to office, but with a reduced majority. -
Canada and the United States sign a free trade agreement.
The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement is a trade agreement reached by negotiators for Canada and the United States and signed by the leaders of both countries. The agreement phased out a wide range of trade restrictions in stages over a ten-year period, and resulted in a substantial increase in cross-border trade. -
The proposed Meech Lake Accord, a Constitutional proposal, fails.
The Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney attempted to win Québec's consent to the revised Canadian Constitution — following the Québec government's rejection of it. -
The Goods and Services Tax (GST), is introduced.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% manufacturers' sales tax (MST); Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST was hindering the manufacturing sector's ability to export competitively. The introduction of the GST was very controversial. -
The proposed Charlottetown Accord, a proposal for a new Canadian Constitution, is rejected in a referendum.
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated. -
Kim Campbell becomes Canada’s first female Prime Minister.
Avril Kim Campbell, née Avril Phaedra Douglas Campbell, lawyer, politician, prime minister, Campbell obtained a degree in political science at the University of British Columbia and pursued doctoral studies at the London School of Economics. -
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect.
This created a free trade zone between Canada, the United States and Mexico. -
Confederation Bridge links Prince Edward Island to the rest of Canada.
The Confederation Bridge is the longest bridge in the world crossing ice-covered water. The toll bridge spans a 12.9 km stretch of the Northumberland Strait connecting Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island, to Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick. -
The Territory of Nunavut is carved from the Northwest Territories on April 1st.
On April 1, 1999, Canada created a third territory called Nunavut, which was carved out of the central and eastern area of the Northwest Territories (NWT). Inuit make up almost 85 percent of Nunavut's population. Nunavut means "our land" in Inuktitut, the Inuit language.
