1938 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 – John C. Bowen
• 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 – Robert Irwin
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – 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

• June 8 - Saskatchewan general election: William John Patterson's Liberals win a second consecutive majority

Full date unknown

• Superman first appears in Action #1 (cover date June 1938), as a backup feature. The character is created by Joe Shuster (an artist for the Toronto Star) and American writer Jerry Siegel for National Comics.
• Vaccination for tuberculosis (the leading cause of death in young people) is introduced.

Sport

• April 12 - The Chicago Black Hawks win their second Stanley Cup by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3 games to 1.
• April 18 - The Manitoba Junior Hockey League's St. Boniface Seals win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals 3 games to 2. The deciding Game 5 was played Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto
• December 10 - In a repeat of the 25th Grey Cup, the Toronto Argonauts win their fifth Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 30 to 7 in the 26th Grey Cup played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto

Births

January to June

• January 9 - Claudette Boyer, politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Ottawa—Vanier (1999–2003) (d.2013)
• January 10 - Frank Mahovlich, ice hockey player and Senator
• January 13 - William B. Davis, actor
• January 16 - Lou Angotti, ice hockey player and coach (d. 2021)
• February 9 - Jovette Marchessault, writer and artist (d. 2012)
• February 17 - Martha Henry, actress
• February 22 - Pierre Vallières, journalist and writer (d. 1998)
• April 5 - David Helwig, poet, novelist, and essayist (d. 2018)
• April 8 - John Hamm, physician, politician and 32nd Premier of Nova Scotia
• April 12 - Roger Caron, author
• May 13 - Lucille Starr, singer, songwriter and yodeler
• May 16 - Jim Coutts, political advisor (d.2013)
• May 24 - Tommy Chong, comedian, actor and musician
• May 26 - Teresa Stratas, operatic soprano
• May 30 - Eugene Belliveau, Canadian football defensive lineman
• June 4 - John Harvard, journalist, politician and 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
• June 13 - John Newlove, poet (d.2013)
• June 19
  • Jean-Claude Labrecque, director and cinematographer
  • Beth Phinney, educator and politician
• June 26 - Ken Monteith, politician

July to September

• July 12 - Matt Ravlich, ice hockey defenceman
• July 14 - Moshe Safdie, architect and urban designer
• July 18 - Helen Gardiner, philanthropist and co-founder of the Gardiner Museum (d.2008)
• July 29
  • Peter Jennings, journalist and television news anchor (d.2005)
  • Jean Rochon, politician (d. 2021)
• August 1 - Noble Villeneuve, politician (d. 2018)
• August 8 - Jacques Hétu, composer (d. 2010)
• August 9 - Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux, musician and composer (d.1985)
• August 25 - Colin Thatcher, politician and murderer
• August 28 - Paul Martin, politician and 21st Prime Minister of Canada

October to December

• October 8 - Walter Gretzky, ice hockey player and coach (d.2021)
• October 14 - Ron Lancaster, Canadian football player and coach (d.2008)
• October 27 - Tim Ralfe, journalist (d.2000)
• October 28 - Gary Cowan, golfer
• November 3 - Yvon Cormier, wrestler (d.2009)
• November 4 - LeRoy Fjordbotten, politician (d. 2017)
• November 13 - Gérald Godin, poet and politician (d.1994)
• November 15 - Denis DeJordy, ice hockey player and coach
• November 17 - Gordon Lightfoot, singer and songwriter (d. 2023)
• November 18 – Annon Lee Silver, lyric soprano (d.1971)
• November 26 - Rich Little, impressionist and voice actor
• December 16 - John Allan Cameron, folk singer (d.2006)
• December 22 - Lucien Bouchard, lawyer, diplomat, politician and Minister

Undated

• Roland Doré, educator, President of the Canadian Space Agency

Deaths

• January 4 - George Halsey Perley, politician and diplomat (b.1857)
• January 8 - Aimé Bénard, politician (b.1873)
• January 28 - Hugh Graham, 1st Baron Atholstan, newspaper publisher (b.1848)
• February 20 - William Alves Boys, politician and barrister (b.1868)
• March 23 - Thomas Walter Scott, politician and first Premier of Saskatchewan (b.1867)
• April 13 - Grey Owl, writer and conservationist (b.1888)
• April 24 - John Wycliffe Lowes Forster, artist (b.1850)
• May 6 - Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, politician and 11th Governor General of Canada (b.1868)
• May 7 - Frederick Cronyn Betts, politician (b.1896)
• July 25 - Francis Haszard, jurist, politician and Premier of Prince Edward Island (b.1849)
• December 26 - Pierre-Ernest Boivin, politician and businessman (b.1872)

References

References

1. "King George VI {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia".
2. "John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland".
3. (30 October 2002). "The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians". Harvard University Press.