1986 in Canada

Events from the year 1986 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

Monarch – Elizabeth II

Federal government

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Premiers

Premier of Alberta – Don Getty
Premier of British Columbia – Bill Bennett then Bill Vander Zalm
Premier of Manitoba – Howard Pawley
Premier of New Brunswick – Richard Hatfield
Premier of Newfoundland – Brian Peckford
Premier of Nova Scotia – John Buchanan
Premier of Ontario – David Peterson
Premier of Prince Edward Island – James Lee then Joe Ghiz
Premier of Quebec – Robert Bourassa
Premier of Saskatchewan – Grant Devine

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Premiers

Events

January to June

January 22 – An investigation determines that a bomb caused the crash of Air India flight 182.
January 31 – The Canadian dollar hits an all-time low of 70.2 U.S. cents on international money markets.
February 8 – Hinton train collision: 23 people are killed when the Super Continental passenger train collides with a Canadian National Railway freight train near Hinton, Alberta.
April 4 – Port Simpson, British Columbia, is renamed to Lax Kwʼalaams.
May 1 – Shirley Carr becomes the first female head of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
May 2
*Joe Ghiz becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing James Lee.
*The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver opens.
May 8 – Alberta election: The PCs, led by Don Getty, win a fifth consecutive majority, but a smaller majority than before.
May 9 – Roger Coles resigns as leader of Yukon Liberal Party and MLA for Tatchun after being arrested and charged with selling cocaine to an undercover police officer.
May 25 – In Vancouver an attempt is made to assassinate Malkiat Singh Sidhu, a cabinet minister in the Indian state of Punjab.
June 14 – An accident involving the Mindbender roller coaster at West Edmonton Mall kills three people and seriously injures a fourth.
June 19 – The new Competition Act comes into force.
June 20 – Jean Drapeau resigns as mayor of Montreal.

July to December

August 5 – Canada adopts sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies
August 6 – Bill Vander Zalm becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Bill Bennett
August 11 – Tamil refugees are found drifting off the coast of Newfoundland
September 16 – Elizabeth II augments the coat of arms of Saskatchewan with a crest and supporters
September 30 – MPs elect the speaker by secret ballot for the first time.
October 6 – Canada receives a United Nations award for sheltering refugees
October 20 – Saskatchewan election: Grant Devine's PCs win a second consecutive majority
November 13 – The announcement that the film producer Claude Jutra was reported missing for over one week. He had started to suffer the first symptoms of the Alzheimer's disease.
December 8 – The University of Toronto's John C. Polanyi shares the Nobel Prize for chemistry for the development of the chemical laser.

Full date unknown

Negotiators begin work on what would eventually be the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement
The birds series of Canadian banknotes is released
Supreme Court rules on the RWDSU v. Dolphin Delivery Ltd. case
Conrad Black buys The Daily Telegraph
Dinosaur fossils are found near Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

Arts and literature

New works

Margaret Atwood - Freeforall
W.P. Kinsella - The Fence Post Chronicles
Robert Munsch - Love You Forever
Alice Munro - The Progress of Love
Antonine Maillet - Garrochés en paradis
Hugh Hood - The Motor Boys in Ottawa
William Gibson - ''Count Zero''

Awards

See 1986 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Books in Canada First Novel Award: Wayne Johnston, The Story of Bobby O'Mally
Gerald Lampert Award: Joan Fern Shaw, Raspberry Vinegar
Marian Engel Award: Alice Munro
Pat Lowther Award: Erín Moure, Domestic Fuel
Stephen Leacock Award: Joey Slinger, No Axe too Small to Grind
Vicky Metcalf Award: Dennis Lee

New music

Leonard Cohen - First We Take Manhattan
Neil Young - ''Landing on Water''

New movies

James Cameron's Aliens is released
David Cronenberg's The Fly
Denys Arcand's ''The Decline of the American Empire''

Sport

March 15 – In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium Canada beats England 3 – 1.
May 17 – The Guelph Platers win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Hull Olympiques 6 to 2.
May 24 – The Montreal Canadiens win their 23rd Stanley Cup by defeating the Calgary Flames. The deciding Game 5 is played at Olympic Saddledome in Calgary
June 1 – Canada participates in the FIFA World Cup for the first time. They would not come back to a World Cup until 2022.
November 22 – The UBC Thunderbirds win their second championship by defeating the Western Ontario Mustangs by a score of 25–23.
November 30 – Hamilton Tiger-Cats win their 7th Grey Cup by defeating the Edmonton Eskimos 39 to 15 in the 74th Grey Cup played at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver

Unknown date

The Canadian Amateur Football Association is renamed Football Canada.
Montreal Concordes are re-branded as the "new" Montreal Allouettes

Births

January 8 – Jaclyn Linetsky, actress
January 13 - Joannie Rochette, figure skater
January 20 – Krystina Alogbo, water polo player
January 26 -
*Taylor Wilde, wrestler
*Johnny Griffin, voice actor
February 13 – Matthew Hawes, swimmer
February 19 – Jayde Nicole, model
February 26 - Jeff Berg voice actor
March 26 -
*Jonny Craig, american singer
*Carol-Anne Day, voice actor
April 4 – Cam Barker, ice hockey defenceman
April 8 - Jevohn Shepherd, basketball player
April 21 – Kevin Graham, water polo player
April 23 - Jessica Stam, model
April 28 – Brandon Jung, water polo player
May 6 - Tyler Hynes, actor and filmmaker
May 12 – Emily VanCamp, actress
May 31 – Melissa McIntyre, actress
June 5 – Amanda Crew, actress
June 9 - Adamo Ruggiero, actor
June 17 - Marie Avgeropoulos, Greek actress and model
June 18 – Meaghan Rath, actress
June 28 - Shadia Simmons, actress
July 15 - Mishael Morgan, actress
July 16 – Dustin Boyd, ice hockey player
July 18 - Brando Eaton, actor
July 19 – Jinder Mahal, pro wrestler
July 24 - Megan Park, actress and singer
July 28 - Nolan Gerard Funk, actor and singer
July 31 - Sean Eldrige, born American political and gay activist
August 6 - Bryan Young (ice hockey), south korean ice hockey player
August 16 – Sarah Pavan, volleyball player
August 19 – Marie-Christine Schmidt, canoeist
August 20 – Linus Sebastian, youtuber
August 29 – Lauren Collins, actress
September 8 – Leah LaBelle, singer
September 19 – Carrie Finlay, voice actor
October 6 - Luisa D'Oliveria, actress
October 24 – Drake, Canadian-American actor and rapper
October 29 - Italia Ricci, actress
November 4 – Alexz Johnson, singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist
November 5 – Heather Purnell, artistic gymnast
November 8 – Kaniehtiio Horn, actress
December 7 – Corey Vidal, online video content provider and digital media consultant
December 11 - Alex House, actor
December 12 – Marie-Pier Beaudet, archer
December 16 – Scott Tupper, field hockey player
December 19 – Annie Murphy, actress

Deaths

January to June

January 4 - Wilbur R. Franks, scientist and inventor
January 26 - Norman MacKenzie, author, lawyer, professor and Senator
February 23 - Louis-Philippe Pigeon, judge of the Supreme Court of Canada
February 24 - Tommy Douglas, politician and Premier of Saskatchewan
February 27 - Jacques Plante, ice hockey player
March 4 - Richard Manuel, composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist
March 4 - Elizabeth Smart, poet and novelist
June 13 - Wilfrid Eggleston, journalist and chief censor for Canada from 1942 until 1944

July to December

July 25 - Alison Parrott, murder victim
August 20 - Milton Acorn, poet, writer and playwright
September 28 – Howard Graham, army officer, Chief of the General Staff
October 11 – Barker Fairley, painter
October 26 – John Henry Cates, businessman and political figure
November 5 - Claude Jutra, actor, film director and writer
November 8 - King Clancy, ice hockey player
November 19 - Don Jamieson, politician, diplomat and broadcaster
December 24 – John Damien, racing steward whose 1975 dismissal from his job for being gay ultimately led to the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Ontario Human Rights Code in 1986
December 31 - Donald Fleming, politician, International Monetary Fund official and lawyer