1996 in Canada
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See also: 1995 in Canada, other events of 1996, 1997 in Canada and the list of 'years in Canada'.
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Incumbents
- Premier of Alberta - Ralph Klein
- Premier of British Columbia - Mike Harcourt then Glen Clark
- Premier of Manitoba - Gary Filmon
- Premier of New Brunswick - Frank McKenna then Raymond Frenette
- Premier of Newfoundland - Clyde Wells then Brian Tobin
- Premier of Nova Scotia - John Savage then Russell MacLellan
- Premier of Ontario - Mike Harris
- Premier of Prince Edward Island - Catherine Callbeck then Keith Milligan then Pat Binns
- Premier of Quebec - Jacques Parizeau then Lucien Bouchard
- Premier of Saskatchewan - Roy Romanow
See also: 1996 Canadian incumbents
Events
- January 14 - a free trade agreement with Israel is announced
- January 15 - the Corel Centre opens in Ottawa
- January 25 - Jean Chrétien launches a major cabinet shuffle. Pierre Pettigrew and Stéphane Dion are brought in, despite not having seats in parliament.
- January 26 - Brian Tobin becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Clyde Wells
- January 29 - Lucien Bouchard becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Jacques Parizeau
- February 7 - Bob Rae, former premier of Ontario leaves politics
- February 14 - Mr. Dressup does his last show
- February 15 - Chrétien throttles a protester in Ottawa, launching a small controversy over the "Shawinigan Handshake"
- February 17 - Michel Gauthier is elected new leader of the Bloc Québécois
- February 22 - Glen Clark becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Michael Harcourt
- February 22 - Brian Tobin leads the Newfoundland Liberal Party to victory in the 1996 Newfoundland election
- February 27 - the Los Angeles Kings trade Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues
- March 6 - the federal budget continues the assault on the deficit
- March 16 - the Montreal Canadiens play their first game at the Molson Centre against the New York Rangers
- March 26 - the ANIK E-1 satellite malfunctions
- March 27 - the Quebec budget proposes sweeping cuts to government funding
- April 3 - all members of the Canadian Forces are ordered to spend the entire day searching for documents that may aid the Somalia inquiry
- April 5 - a gunman in B.C. kills nine relatives and then himself
- April 11 - the Ontario government announce a 15 per cent reduction in the civil service
- April 22 - John Nunziata is expelled from the Liberal caucus for voting against the budget
- April 23 - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland agree to replace their provincial sales taxes and the GST with a Harmonized Sales Tax.
- May 7 - the Ontario government cuts provincial income taxes by 30 per cent
- May 10 - Jan Brown resigns from the Reform Party
- May 19 - Marc Garneau flies on a second space mission
- May 24 - Conrad Black's Hollinger takes over the Southam newspaper chain
- May 28 - The British Columbia NDP wins a surprise re-election
- May 29 - Six Taiwanese sailors are charged with the murder of three Romanian stowaways aboard the Maersk Dubai
- June 10 - the Quebec government reintroduces the "Language Police"
- June 17 - Sheila Copps, who had resigned over the GST, wins back her Hamilton–Wentworth seat in a by-election
- June 20 - Robert Thirsk flies aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia
- June 24 - a riot in Quebec City causes a million dollars in damage
- July 1 - the Winnipeg Jets leave Canada and become the Phoenix Coyotes
- July 7-July 11 - a major AIDS conference is held in Vancouver
- July 19 - the Atlanta Olympics open, Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey wins the 100-metre dash
- July 20-July 21 - floods in Quebec kill ten
- July 25 - Coach House Press closes
- July 26 - Gretzky signs with the New York Rangers
- August 8 - former Prime Minister Kim Campbell is named consul general to Los Angeles
- August 8 - Jean-Louis Roux appointed Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
- August 29 - former B.C. Premier W.R. Bennett is found guilty of insider trading
- October 4 - Defence Minister David Collenette resigns
- October 10 - Keith Milligan becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Catherine Callbeck
- October 19 - Piers McDonald becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing John Ostashek
- November - SaskTel becomes the first Canadian Internet Service Provider to rollout ADSL
- November 5 - Jean-Louis Roux forced to resign as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec when pictures of him at Nazi rallies in the 1930s are published
- November 27 - Pat Binns becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Keith Milligan
- December 16 - Chrétien formally apologizes for lying about the GST
- Karen Kain becomes the first Canadian to win the Cartier Lifetime Achievement Award
- General Jean Boyle resigns over Somalia Inquiry controversy
- Dalton McGuinty is elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
- Canada sends over a thousand troops to take part in IFOR
Arts and literature
- New books
- John Ralston Saul - The Unconscious Civilization
- Nancy Huston - Slow Emergencies
- Pierre Berton - Farewell to the Twentieth Century
- Elisabeth Harvor - Let Me Be the One
- Yann Martel - Self
- Timothy Findley - You Went Away
- Di Brandt - Dancing Naked: Narrative Strategies for Writing Across Centuries
- Douglas Coupland - Polaroids from the Dead
- Awards
- Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Margaret Atwood - Alias Grace
- See 1996 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Books in Canada First Novel Award: Keath Fraser, Popular Anatomy
- Geoffrey Bilson Award: Marianne Brandis, Rebellion: A Novel of Upper Canada
- Gerald Lampert Award: Maureen Hynes, Rough Skin
- Marian Engel Award: Barbara Gowdy
- Pat Lowther Award: Lorna Crozier, Everything Arrives at the Light
- Stephen Leacock Award: Marsha Boulton, Letters from the Country
- Trillium Book Award English: Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
- Trillium Book Award French: Nancy Vickers, Le Pied de Sappho and Alain Bernard Marchand, Tintin au pays de la ferveur
- Vicky Metcalf Award: Margaret Buffie
- New Music
- Barenaked Ladies - Born on a Pirate Ship
- Bruce Cockburn - The Charity of Night
Births
Deaths
- January 26 - Sally Gribble, founder of MADD Canada
- January 26 - Yvonne Housser, painter
- January 27 - Brian Kelleher, journalist
- January 31 - Beth Amos, actress
- February 2 - Phyliss Marshall, actor
- February 7 - Barbara Hamilton, actor
- February 7 - Lucien Maynard, leader of Alberta francophones
- February 9 - Henri Masson, painter
- February 19 - Ernest C. Manning former Premier of Alberta
- February 21 - Gordon Armstrong, playwright
- February 29 - Robert O'Driscoll, scholar
- March 28 - Edith Fowke, ethnologist
- April 13 - Stewart McLean, Manitoba politician
- April 23 - Jean Allard former Chief of the Defence Staff
- May 5 - Salli Terri, musician
- May 11 - Hilda Grant, author
- May 22 - Robert Christie, actor
- June 10 - George Hees, cabinet minister
- July 1 - Harold Greenberg, businessman
- July 5 - Fred Davis, moderator of Front Page Challenge
- July 5 - Bob Southam, newspaper publisher
- July 17 - Susan Cole, puppeteer
- July 18 - Robert Needham, journalist
- July 20 - Ronald Buick, scientist
- July 22 - Carl Goldenberg, Senator
- August 1 - Patrick O'Callaghan, newspaper publicist
- August 10 - Walter MacNutt, organist
- August 21 - Mary Earley, aboriginal rights campaigner
- September 22 - Ludmilla Chiriaeff, ballet dancer
- September 23 - Joe Borowski, anti-abortion activist
- October 2 - Robert Bourassa, former Premier of Quebec
- October 3 - Winnifred Holden, actor
- October 9 - Colleen Peterson, singer/songwriter
- October 11 - Joe Morris, chairman of International Labour Organization
- October 11 - William Vickrey, nobel prize winner, professor
- October 17 - Laura Sabia, feminist, women's rights activist
- October 19 - James Bourque, Aboriginal activist
- October 21 - Rejean Boily, horse racer
- October 22 - Ed Kubin, AIDS activist for hemophiliacs
- October 22 - Jan Verdun, designed 3 quart (2.8 L) milk jug, pioneered sale of milk in stores
- October 23
- Kurt Freund, sexologist
- Mervin Good Eagle, actor
- Ran Ide, first president of TVOntario
- October 27 - Arthur Tremblay, senator
- October 28 - Reuben Baetz, Ontario politician
- October 28 - Jack Reitman, chairman of the board of Reitmans
- November 9 - Joseph A. Ghiz, Premier of PEI
- November 18 - John Josiah Robinette, courtroom lawyer
- December 1 - Peter Bronfman, founded Edper Investments
- December 5 - Wilf Carter, composer and singer
- December 13 - Ear Walls, boxer
- December 17 - Nancy Malloy, Red Cross nurse, murdered in Chechnya
- December 19 - Austin Taylor, financier
- December 21 - Douglas Fullerton, headed National Capital Commission
- December 21 - Clarence Gosse, Lt-governor of Nova Scotia
- December 26 - Al Adair, Alberta politician
- December 29 - Dorothy Livesay, poet, journalist, peace activist, feminist