1951 in Canada
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| Years in Canada: | 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 |
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s |
| Years: | 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 |
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Events from the year 1951 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown
- Head of state (monarch) – King George VI (consort – Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon)
Federal government
- Governor general – Earl Alexander of Tunis (viceregal consort – Margaret Alexander, Countess Alexander of Tunis)
- Prime minister – Louis Saint Laurent
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
- Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – John J. Bowlen
- Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Clarence Wallace
- Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – Roland Fairbairn McWilliams
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – David Laurence MacLaren
- Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland – Leonard Outerbridge
- Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy
- Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Ray Lawson
- Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Thomas William Lemuel Prowse
- Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Gaspard Fauteux
- Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – John Michael Uhrich (until June 15) then William John Patterson (from June 25)
Premiers
- Premier of Alberta – Ernest Manning
- Premier of British Columbia – Byron Johnson
- Premier of Manitoba – Douglas Campbell
- Premier of New Brunswick – John McNair
- Premier of Newfoundland – Joey Smallwood
- Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Macdonald
- Premier of Ontario – Leslie Frost
- Premier of Prince Edward Island – J. Walter Jones
- Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
- Premier of Saskatchewan – Tommy Douglas
Territorial governments
Commissioners
- Commissioner of Yukon – Andrew Harold Gibson (until October 15) then Frederick Fraser
- Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Hugh Andrew Young
Events
- April 22–25 – Korean War: In the Battle of Kapyong, the Canadians hold off the Chinese.
- June 1 – The Massey Report into Canadian culture is released
- July 10 – A formal peace agreement between Canada and Germany is signed
- September 30 - Charlotte Whitton becomes mayor of Ottawa and Canada's first woman mayor of a major city.
- October 27:
- The cobalt bomb cancer therapy is first tested in London, Ontario
- The Duke of Edinburgh, and The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (now Elizabeth II), attend an Edmonton Eskimos home game. In the western semi-final, Edmonton beat Winnipeg 4–1
- November 22 – Ontario general election, 1951: Leslie Frost's PCs win a third consecutive majority
- December 12 – The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority is established.
Full date unknown
- Canada's immigration rate rises. Population is 14,009,429.
- The Indian Act of Canada is revised to limit coverage of Aboriginal people, excluding Aboriginal women who married non-Aboriginal men.
- Louis St. Laurent moves into 24 Sussex Drive, the new official residence of the Prime Minister
- Labatt Blue is introduced
- The Wartime Prices and Trade Board is abolished.
- Thérèse Casgrain, the first woman to lead a provincial political party in Canada, becomes leader of the Quebec CCF.
Arts and literature
- November 12 – The National Ballet of Canada gives its first performance.
New books
- Morley Callaghan – The Loved and the Lost
- Harold Innis – The Bias of Communication
Awards
- See 1951 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Stephen Leacock Award: Eric Nicol, The Roving I
Births
January to March
- January 3 – Claude Bachand, politician
- January 17 – Carol Marguerite Anderson, choreographer
- January 21 – Yvon Dumont, politician
- January 25 - Bob McDonald, science journalist
- February 16 – Greg Selinger, politician and 21st Premier of Manitoba
- February 22 – Elaine Tanner, swimmer
- March 12 – Susan Musgrave, poet and children's writer
- March 16 – Kate Nelligan, actress
- March 21 – Lesley Choyce, novelist, poet and children's writer
- March 25 – Ethel Blondin-Andrew, politician
- March 28 – Karen Kain, ballet dancer
- March 31 – Lawrence O'Brien, politician (d.2004)
April to June
- April 5 – Guy Vanderhaeghe, author
- April 15 – Paul Snider, murder (d.1980)
- April 18 – Pierre Pettigrew, politician
- May 2 – Andrew Barron, ice speed skater
- May 3 – Dianne Whalen, politician, MHA for Conception Bay East – Bell Island (2003–2010) (d. 2010)
- May 7 – Janina Fialkowska, pianist
- May 9 – Christopher Dewdney, poet, author and professor
- May 11 – Ed Stelmach, farmer, politician and 13th Premier of Alberta
- June 2 – Larry Robinson, ice hockey player and coach
- June 7 – Terry O'Reilly, ice hockey player and coach
- June 19 – Bill Blaikie, politician
July to September
- July 4 – Beverly Boys, diver
- July 5 – Penny Werthner, track and field athlete
- July 20 – Paulette Bourgeois, children's writer
- July 26 – Rick Martin, ice hockey player (d. 2011)
- July 27 – Shawn Murphy, politician
- August 3 – Marcel Dionne, ice hockey player
- August 10 – Judy Wasylycia-Leis, politician
- August 17 – Robert Joy, actor
- September 14 – Elizabeth Carruthers, diver
- September 19 – Daniel Lanois, record producer, guitarist and singer-songwriter
- September 20 – Guy Lafleur, ice hockey player
- September 28 – Rick Gibson, artist
October to December
- October 9 – Joe Tascona, lawyer and politician
- October 11 – Jim Carr, politician
- October 16 – Brenda Eisler, long jumper
- October 26 – Willie P. Bennett, folk music singer-songwriter (d.2008)
- October 27 – Roger Fortin, boxer
- October 29 – Camille Huard, boxer
- October 31 – Doug Bennett, singer, musician and music video director (d.2004)
- November 10 – Marlene Jennings, politician
- November 13 – Robert Hilles, poet and novelist
- December 6 – Tomson Highway, playwright, novelist and children's author
- December 7 - Richard Darbois, actor
- December 22 – Charles de Lint, fantasy author and Celtic folk musician
Full date unknown
- Robert Priest, poet and children's author
Deaths
January to June
- January 1 – Frank Scott Hogg, astrophysicist (b.1904)
- January 3 – Richard Langton Baker, politician (b.1870)
- January 16 – Seymour J. Farmer, politician (b.1878)
- February 7 – Edna Diefenbaker, first wife of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker (b.1899)
- February 27 – Leland Payson Bancroft, politician (b.1880)
- April 14 – Al Christie, film director, producer and screenwriter (b.1881)
July to December
- August 26 – Bill Barilko, ice hockey player (b.1927)
- September 1 – Nellie McClung, feminist, politician and social activist (b.1873)
- September 14 – James Langstaff Bowman, politician and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (b.1879)
- September 20 – William Henry Wright, prospector and newspaper owner (b.1876)
- October 8 – Charles William Jefferys, artist and historian (b.1869)
Full date unknown
- Harry Cassidy, academic, social reformer and civil servant (b.1900)
