1940 in Canada

Events from the year 1940 in Canada.

Incumbents

March 13 – John B. McNair becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Allison Dysart
March 21 – Alberta election: William Aberhart's Social Credit Party wins a second consecutive majority
March 26 – Federal election: Mackenzie King's Liberals win a second consecutive majority
April 3 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, is appointed Governor General of Canada replacing the late John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir
April 25 – Quebec women get the vote in provincial elections
May 28–June 30 – World War II: The Royal Canadian Navy stations seven destroyers in the English Channel; these play an important role in evacuating Allied troops from France
June – World War II: Canadian troops are some of a small number of forces defending Britain
June 5 – Nazi, fascist, and communist groups are declared illegal in Canada and leaders and members are jailed
June 10 – World War II: Canada declares war against Italy
June 13–18 – World War II: A small number of Canadian troops land in Brest, France, but are forced to evacuate soon after
June 21 – The National Resources Mobilization Act is passed; conscription is introduced, but only for homeland defence
June 25 – sinks in a collision in the Gironde estuary in France. 45 sailors die.

July 10: Alexander MacMillan becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Angus Macdonald
August 1 – September 17: World War II: 80 Canadian pilots participate in the Battle of Britain
August 5: Camillien Houde, the mayor of Montreal, is arrested for sedition due to his anti-conscription rhetoric
August 7: Unemployment insurance is introduced
August 13: The Canadian Armoured Corps is established
August 18: The Odgensburg Agreement on continental defence is signed with the United States
September 5: United Kingdom trades most of its North American military bases to the United States in exchange for 50 destroyers
October 22: is sunk in a collision in the North Atlantic. 142 sailors die and 34 survive.
November 7: The Permanent Active Militia is renamed the Canadian Army and the Non-Permanent Active Militia is renamed the Canadian Army.

See the 1940 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

April 13 – The New York Rangers win their third Stanley Cup by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 2. The deciding Game 6 was played at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
April 22 – The Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals win their second Memorial Cup by defeating Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Kenora Thistles 3 games to 1. The deciding Game 4 was played at Shea's Amphitheatre in Winnipeg
November 30 – The Ottawa Rough Riders win their second Grey Cup by defeating the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers 20 to 7 in the 28th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

January 1 - Clifford Olson, serial killer
January 10 - Guy Chevrette, politician
January 19 - Linda Sorenson, actress
January 28 - Valery Fabrikant, professor of mechanical engineering and murderer responsible for the Concordia University massacre on August 24, 1992
February 4 - Michelle Rossignol, Canadian actress
February 16 - Don Bertoia, middle-distance runner
March 4 - Nellie Cournoyea, former politician and 6th Premier of the Northwest Territories and the first female premier of a Canadian territory
March 6 - Ken Danby, artist
March 22 - Dave Keon, ice hockey player

February 11 - John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, novelist, politician and 15th Governor General of Canada
March 3 - Joseph Ovide Brouillard, politician and businessman
March 26 - Richard Squires, politician and Prime Minister of Newfoundland
April 25 - John Hampden Burnham, politician and lawyer
May 2 - James Bowman, politician
June 10 - Norman McLeod Rogers, lawyer, politician and Minister