1981 in Canada
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See also: 1980 in Canada, other events of 1981, 1982 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.
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Incumbents
- Premier of Alberta - Peter Lougheed
- Premier of British Columbia - Bill Bennett
- Premier of Manitoba - Sterling Lyon then Howard Pawley
- Premier of New Brunswick - Richard Hatfield
- Premier of Newfoundland - Brian Peckford
- Premier of Nova Scotia - John Buchanan
- Premier of Ontario - Bill Davis
- Premier of Prince Edward Island - Angus MacLean then James Lee
- Premier of Quebec - René Lévesque
- Premier of Saskatchewan - Allan Blakeney
For more see: 1981 Canadian incumbents
Events
- January 1 - Gasoline is sold by the litre rather than the gallon
- February 5 - More than three hundred men are arrested after police sweeps of Toronto bathhouses. The arrests create an outcry among Canada's gay population. See 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids.
- March 19 - Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win a majority
- July 17 – The government of British Columbia named a 2,639-metre (8,658 foot) peak in the Rocky Mountains after Terry Fox.
- July 30 – The 83-kilometre (52 mile) section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Ontario where Terry Fox was forced to end his run, was re-named in his honour
- September 1 - Quebec's French language sign law comes into effect
- September 1 - The Albertan and federal governments sign an energy agreement
- September 28 - Calgary is awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics
- October 16 - Canada Post becomes a crown corporation.
- November 5 - Canadian government and all provinces, except Quebec, agree on how to patriate the Canadian Constitution
- November 13 - The Canadarm is first deployed aboard the Space Shuttle
- November 17 - James Lee becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Angus MacLean
- November 30 - Howard Pawley becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Sterling Lyon
- Power Corporation sells Canada Steamship Lines Inc. to Paul Martin and Laurence Pathy
- News media: NOW created
Arts and Literature
- New Works
- Margaret Atwood - True Stories
- Bill Bissett - Northern Birds in Coulour
- W.O. Mitchell - How I Spent My Summer Holidays
- Gordon R. Dickson - Lost Dorsai
- Nancy Huston - Les Variations Goldberg
- Awards
- See 1981 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Books in Canada First Novel Award: W.D. Valgardson, Gentle Sinners
- Gerald Lampert Award: Elizabeth Allan, The Shored Up House
- Marian Engel Award:
- Pat Lowther Award: M. Travis Lane, Divinations and Short Poems 1973-1978
- Stephen Leacock Award: Gary Lautens, Take My Family...Please! John
- Vicky Metcalf Award: Monica Hughes
- Film
- David Cronenberg's Scanners is released
- James Cameron's Piranha II: The Spawning, his first directing effort, is released
- Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is released
Births
- January 11 - Jonathan Mandick, Olympic rower
- January 20 - Owen Hargreaves, soccer player
- January 21 - Dany Heatley, hockey player
- April 6 - Auburn Sigurdson, Olympic softballer
- April 19 - Hayden Christensen, actor
- August 9 - Lauren Bay, Olympic softballer
- August 19 - Taylor Pyatt, hockey player
- September 7 - Annie Martin, Olympic beach volleyball player
- September 26 - Kaila Holtz, Olympic softballer
- October 4 - Justin Williams, hockey player
Deaths
- June 28 - Terry Fox, cancer activist
- December 28 - Allan Dwan early film director