1937 in Canada

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – George VI

Federal government

• Governor General – John Buchan
• Prime Minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Chief Justice – Lyman Poore Duff (British Columbia)
• Parliament – 18th

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Philip Primrose (until March 17) then John C. Bowen (from March 23)
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Eric Hamber
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – William Johnston Tupper
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – Murray MacLaren
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – Walter Harold Covert (until April 7) then Robert Irwin
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Herbert Alexander Bruce (until November 23) then Albert Edward Matthews
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – George Des Brisay de Blois
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Esioff-Léon Patenaude
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Archibald Peter McNab

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – William Aberhart
• Premier of British Columbia – Thomas Dufferin Pattullo
• Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken
• Premier of New Brunswick – Allison Dysart
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Angus Lewis Macdonald
• Premier of Ontario – Mitchell Hepburn
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – Thane Campbell
• Premier of Quebec – Maurice Duplessis
• Premier of Saskatchewan – William John Patterson

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Controller of Yukon – George A. Jeckell
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Charles Camsell

Events

• April – A Crucifix was hung in the Montreal city council at the initiative of Joseph-Émile Dubreuil. The crucifix would hung there until 2019.
• April 10 – Trans-Canada Airlines, the predecessor of Air Canada, was created as a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway
• July 5 – Midale and Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan, record the highest temperature ever in Canada, with a record high of 113 F.
• August 15 – The Rowell-Sirois Commission is formed
• September 1 – Regular flights of Trans-Canada Air Lines begin
• October 6 – Ontario election: Mitchell Hepburn's Liberals win a second consecutive majority
• November 24 – The first Governor General's Awards are given.
• First ascent of Mount Lucania (5,226 m), third highest mountain in Canada.

Sport

• January 28 – Howie Morenz of the Montreal Canadiens suffers a career-ending leg injury in a game against the Chicago Black Hawks
• March 8 – While hospitalized for his leg injury, Morenz dies of a coronary embolism.
• March 11 – Morenz's funeral at the Montreal Forum. 50,000 mourners queue to pay respect.
• April 17 – The Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Winnipeg Monarchs win their second Memorial Cup by defeating the Northern Ontario Hockey Association's Copper Cliff Redmen 3 games to 1. The deciding Game 4 was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
• December 11 – Toronto Argonauts win their fourth Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 4 to 3 in the 25th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

Births

January to June

• January 5 – Richard Cashin, lawyer, politician and trade union leader
• January 21 – Jim Unger, cartoonist (d. 2012)
• January 24 – Suzanne Tremblay, politician
• January 26 – Maureen Hemphill, politician
• January 29 – Frank Iacobucci, jurist and Puisne Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada
• January 31 – Andrée Boucher, politician and 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007)
• February 5 – Larry Hillman, ice hockey player and coach (d. 2022)
• February 10 – Roy Megarry, publisher
• February 26 – Hagood Hardy, composer, pianist and vibraphonist (d. 1997)
• March 2 – Joseph B. MacInnis, diver
• March 9
  • Bernard Landry, lawyer, teacher, politician and 28th Premier of Quebec
  • Harry Neale, ice hockey coach and broadcaster
• March 10 – Tommy Hunter, country music singer
• March 16 – Brian Browne, jazz pianist and composer (d. 2018)
• March 26 – James Lee, politician and 28th Premier of Prince Edward Island
• March 30 – Maria Rika Maniates, musicologist (d. 2011)
• April 13 – Stan Stasiak, pro wrestler
• April 29 – Jean Gauthier, ice hockey player (Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins) (d. 2013)
• May 9 – Jim Walding, politician (d. 2007)
• May 13 – Roch Carrier, novelist
• June 15 – Toby Tarnow, actress

July to December

• July 12 – Michel Louvain, singer (d. 2021)
• July 30 – John de Chastelain, general, diplomat and Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (in Northern Ireland)
• August 2 – Garth Hudson, musician (d. 2025)
• August 16 – David Anderson, politician and Minister
• August 16 – Ian Deans, politician (d. 2016)
• August 25 – John G. Bryden, lawyer, public servant, businessman and Senator
• September 2 – Len Carlson, voice actor (d. 2006)
• September 3 – Gerry Brisson, ice hockey player (d. 2013)
• September 5 – John Dahmer, politician (d. 1988)
• September 8 – Barbara Frum, radio and television journalist (d. 1992)
• September 9 – Jean Augustine, politician
• September 12 – George Chuvalo, boxer
• September 19 – Neil Gaudry, politician (d. 1999)
• September 23 – Jacques Poulin, novelist (d. 2025)
• September 27 – Guido Basso, jazz musician (d. 2023)
• October 19 – Marilyn Bell, long-distance swimmer, first person to swim across Lake Ontario
• October 19 – Stanley Faulder, murderer and first Canadian citizen to be executed in the United States since 1952 (d. 1999)
• November 4 – Michael Wilson, politician and diplomat (d. 2019)
• November 6 – Gerry St. Germain, politician
• November 11 – Stephen Lewis, politician, broadcaster and diplomat
• November 12
  • Barbara McDougall, politician and Minister
  • Glen Shortliffe, Clerk of the Privy Council (d. 2010)
• December 4 – Donnelly Rhodes, actor (d. 2018)
• December 13 – Ron Taylor, baseball player (d. 2025)
• December 19 – Wayne Maunder, Canadian-born American actor (d. 2018)

Date unknown

• Élise Paré-Tousignant, music administrator and pedagogue (d. 2018)

Deaths

January to June

• January 21 – Marie Prevost, actress (b. 1896)
• January 29 – Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, painter and sculptor (b. 1869)
• February 16 – Rodmond Roblin, businessman, politician and 9th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1853)
• March 8 – Howie Morenz, ice hockey player (b. 1902)
• June 10 – Robert Borden, lawyer, politician and 8th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1854)

July to December

• July 25 – Charles E. Saunders, agronomist (b. 1867)
• October 13 – Simon Fraser Tolmie, politician and 21st Premier of British Columbia (b. 1867)
• November 21 – Matthew Robert Blake, politician (b. 1876)
• December 27 – John Douglas Hazen, politician and 12th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1860)

References

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