1962 in Canada

Events from the year 1962 in Canada.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor General – Georges Vanier
• Prime Minister – John Diefenbaker
• Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
• Premier of British Columbia – W.A.C. Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba – Duff Roblin
• Premier of New Brunswick – Louis Robichaud
• Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Robert Stanfield
• Premier of Ontario – John Robarts
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Walter Shaw
• Premier of Quebec – Jean Lesage
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Woodrow Lloyd

Events

• March 21 – The birth-defect-causing drug thalidomide is banned
• May 2 – The Canadian dollar is pegged to the U.S. currency
• June 15 – Canada is the third power to reach space with the launch of scientific satellite
• June 18 – In the 1962 Federal election John Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservative Party of Canada is reduced to a minority government
• July 1 – First medicare plan is launched in Saskatchewan to great protest by doctors
• July 30 – Trans-Canada Highway opens
• August 6 – A Premiers Conference is held in Victoria, British Columbia
• September 1 – Place Ville Marie opens in Montreal
• September 29 – Alouette 1, Canada's first satellite is launched.
• October 25 – The Bedford Institute of Oceanography opens in Nova Scotia
• October 25-November 12 – The Cuban Missile Crisis occurs. Diefenbaker refuses to put Canadian forces on alert, angering the U.S. government.
• December 11 – The last three hangings in Canada take place.
• The Globe and Mail adds the Report on Business section

Arts and literature

New books

• Max Aitken – The Decline and Fall of Lloyd George
• W. O. Mitchell – The Kite
• Marshall McLuhan – The Gutenberg Galaxy
• George Woodcock – Anarchism
• Farley Mowat – The Black Joke
• Thomas B. Costain – The Last Plantagenets

Awards

• See 1962 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: W. O. Mitchell, Jake and the Kid

Television

• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood premieres on CBC

Theatre

• The first Shaw Festival opens

Sport

• December 1-December 2 – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers win the Grey Cup in the famous fog bowl.

Births

January to June

• January 17 – Jim Carrey, comedian and actor
• January 22 – Kevin Lamoureux, politician
• February 23 – John Hatch, basketball player
• February 27 – Susie Moloney, novelist
• March 27 – Jann Arden, singer-songwriter
• April 1 – John Wallace, rower and Olympic gold medallist
• May 31 – Corey Hart, musician
• June 23 – Patrick Kelly, ice speed skater

July to December

• July 7 – Ross Rutledge, field hockey player (d.2004)
• July 12 – Camilla Scott, actress and television host
• July 14 – Diane Ratnik, volleyball player
• July 21 – Lee Aaron, rock and jazz singer
• August 23 – Martin Cauchon, politician and Minister
• August 27 – Adam Oates, ice hockey and lacrosse player
• August 31 – Wanda Guenette, volleyball player
• September 15 – Brad Willock, volleyball player
• September 18 – John Mann, rock musician and actor
• September 22 – Normand D'Amour, actor
• September 24 – Nia Vardalos, actress, screenwriter and producer
• September 28 – Grant Fuhr, ice hockey player
• October 16 – Dan McTeague, politician
• October 30 – Rex Harrington, ballet dancer
• November 8 – Cliff Cullen, politician

Deaths

• January 12 – James Garfield Gardiner, politician, Minister and Premier of Saskatchewan (b.1883)
• January 24 – James Charles Brady, politician (b.1876)
• March 3 – Cairine Wilson, Canada's first female Senator (b.1885)
• August 20 – Joseph-Arsène Bonnier, politician (b.1879)
• August 26 – Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Arctic explorer and ethnologist (b.1879)
• October 23 – John Thomas Haig, politician (b.1877)
• November 13 – Télesphore-Damien Bouchard, politician (b.1881)
• November 21 – Frank Amyot, sprint canoer and Olympic gold medalist (b.1904)
• December 8 – Allison Dysart, politician, lawyer, judge and 21st Premier of New Brunswick (b.1880)
• December 22 – Solon Earl Low, politician (b.1900)