2012 in Canada

Events from the year 2012 in Canada.

Incumbents

January to March

January 1 – The Quebec Sales Tax rises one percentage point to 9.5%.
January 10 – MP for Saint-Maurice—Champlain, the NDP's Lise St-Denis, crosses the floor to join the Liberal caucus.
January 29 – A guilty verdict in the trial of the Shafia family murders is returned.
February 4
* The Syrian Embassy in Ottawa is vandalized as it was sprayed with red paint.
* An imam issues a fatwa condemning honour killings and domestic violence, in reaction to the Shafia family murder guilty verdict.
February 6 – Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II's accession as Queen of Canada
February 7
* Eleven people, including 10 migrant workers from Peru, die when a passenger van crashes into a flatbed truck near Stratford, Ontario.
* Prime Minister Stephen Harper begins a four-day visit to China.
February 10 – A Red Arrow bus skids out of control and flips on its side near Redwater, Alberta. At least 28 people were injured in the incident.
February 26 – Three Via Rail employees die when a train derails near Burlington, Ontario.
March 3 – Near Montreal, a charter bus crashes killing two people and injuring 48 others.
March 5 – The federal government announces they are closing the Canadian embassy in Damascus amid the continuing violence in Syria.
March 19 – NDP candidate Craig Scott wins a federal by-election in Toronto—Danforth.
March 22 – Vaughn Solomon Schofield becomes lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, replacing Gordon Barnhart.
March 23 – In Perth-Andover, a high spring freshet coupled with an ice jam causes a rise in water levels surpassing those in the 1987 flood. A mandatory evacuation order was issued. About 500 people were affected.
March 24 – Thomas Mulcair is elected leader of the New Democratic Party.
March 29
* Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announces the 2012 budget which includes cuts to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the reduction of over 19,000 federal jobs, and the discontinuation of the penny by the Royal Canadian Mint.
* The federal government announces they will gradually raise the age of eligibility for Old Age Security from 65 to 67 starting in 2023.
April to June
April 1 – Juno Awards in Ottawa, Ontario
April 12 – John James Grant becomes Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, replacing Mayann Francis.
April 15 – 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic
April 19
* The federal government announced they will close Kingston Penitentiary, which has housed convicted killers such as Paul Bernardo and Russell Williams.
* One hundred and fifty students are arrested in Gatineau after violent protests against Quebec's proposed tuition hikes.
April 20 – Allyson McConnell is convicted of manslaughter after drowning her two sons in the bath as revenge against their father. She is sentenced to six years in prison but serves only 15 months.
April 23
* The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta wins a majority government of 61 seats in the 2012 Alberta election. The Wildrose Party wins 17 seats to become the Official Opposition for the first time. The Liberal Party wins five seats and New Democratic Party four.
* Thunder Bay—Superior North MP Bruce Hyer leaves the NDP caucus after being disciplined for voting against the NDP's position on the gun registry.
April 24 – A sawmill in Prince George, British Columbia, explodes, killing two workers.
April 24–25 – Saskatchewan 3.0 Summit takes place.
April 28 – Seven killed in an Alberta Highway 63 crash near Fort McMurray
May 12 – Two private planes collide in midair near St. Brieux, Saskatchewan, killing five people.
May 18
* An Ontario Superior Court judge declares the 2011 federal election results in the riding of Etobicoke Centre to be "null and void", potentially triggering a by-election.
* The Quebec government passes Bill 78 which places restrictions on the ongoing protests over the forthcoming tuition hikes in the province.
May 20 – Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, arrive in Fredericton beginning a four-day royal tour across the country.
May 24 – Nearly 700 people are held in two Quebec cities in the biggest single night of mass arrests since student protests over fees began in February.
May 24/25 – International student Jun Lin is murdered in Montreal by Luka Magnotta. A video of Lin's killing and dismemberment featuring necrophilia is uploaded to the internet, Magnotta also mails his victim's hands and feet to Canadian elementary schools and federal political party offices.
May 28 – Jason Godin, at 19 years old, becomes the youngest mayor in the history of New Brunswick and Canada.
May 30 – Lee Richardson resigns as MP for Calgary Centre, to accept a job as principal secretary to Alberta Premier Alison Redford.
June 2 – A shooting at the Toronto Eaton Centre leaves one dead and seven others injured.
June 15 – A shooting at the University of Alberta in Edmonton leaves three dead.
June 16 – A stage collapses before a Radiohead concert in Toronto, killing one person and injuring three more.
June 18 – 200th anniversary of the start of War of 1812.
June 23 – A partial roof collapse at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario, injures dozens and kills two.
June 25 – Floods across the British Columbia Interior cause hundreds of people to evacuate. One man was killed.
July to September
July 1 – Celebrations of the 145th anniversary of Confederation.
July 3 – The of Nova Scotia ends.
July 12 – Johnsons Landing, British Columbia, is hit by a landslide. Four people were missing.
July 16 –
* The Danzig Street shooting at a suburban block party leaves 2 dead and 24 injured in Toronto's worst mass shooting.
* 57 Barrie residents are evacuated for a week while explosives are removed from the suburban home of a confessed murderer.
July 31 – Bev Oda resigns as Minister for International Cooperation and as MP for Durham.
August 31 – Citing health, Denise Savoie resigns as MP for Victoria.
September 4 –
*The win a minority government in the 2012 Quebec general election, with the Quebec Liberal Party coming in a close second.
* A shooting takes place during Premier-Designate Pauline Marois's victory speech at the rally, killing one man and injuring another.
September 6 – 60th anniversary of CBC Television.
September 7 – The government, saying Iran is a "threat to global peace", closes the Canadian embassy in Iran and gives Iranian diplomats five days to leave Canada.
September 19 – Pauline Marois is sworn in as premier of Quebec, following a general election, becoming Quebec's first female premier, and the first time in Canada that five provinces or territories have simultaneously had female premiers.
September 21 – A state funeral is held for former premier of Alberta Peter Lougheed, at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary.
September 24 – An outbreak of E. coli causes at least four illnesses in Alberta, a massive beef recall, and the temporary shutdown of XL Foods in Brooks, Alberta.
September 26 – A controversial motion to re-open the abortion debate is defeated in the House of Commons, with members voting 203–91 against it.
October to December
October 2 – A wildfire strikes Vita, Manitoba, destroying at least four houses and one bridge.
October 10 – Suicide of Amanda Todd.
October 18 – The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission rejects BCE's bid to take over Astral Media, citing that the deal would have given the company too much market power.
October 25
* Eight children are injured when a van crashes into a classroom in St. Paul, Alberta. One of the children died in hospital the next day.
* Wawa, Ontario, declares a state of emergency after severe flooding washes out several roadways in the municipality, including sections of both Highway 17 and Highway 101.
* The Supreme Court upholds the election result in Etobicoke Centre, with Conservative MP Ted Opitz keeping his seat.
October 26 – 20th anniversary of the referendum of Charlottetown Accord.
October 27 – A 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Moresby Island. A small tsunami occurred not long after the quake.
November 2 – Judith Guichon becomes Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, replacing Steven Point.
November 5 – Gérald Tremblay resigns as mayor of Montreal, following allegations of corruption within the city government at the provincial Charbonneau commission.
November 8 – An explosion in Sherbrooke kills two people and injures almost 20 more.
November 9 – Gilles Vaillancourt, the mayor of Laval, Quebec, since 1989, resigns following allegations of corruption within Laval's city government at the provincial Charbonneau commission.
November 16 – Michael Applebaum is selected as the new Mayor of Montreal in a council vote, winning 31 votes to 29 for challenger Richard Deschamps.
November 23 – Alexandre Duplessis is selected as the new mayor of Laval, Quebec, in a council vote, winning 15 to three over challenger Jacques St-Jean.
November 26 – Three federal by-elections. The Conservatives won Calgary Centre and Durham, and the New Democratics won in Victoria.
December 3 – Health Canada suspended the licence of Chemi Pharmaceutical Inc., after finding falsified test results, during a health inspection.

2012 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

Federal government

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

Premiers

Territorial governments

Commissioners

Premiers

Events

January to March

April to June

July to September

October to December