1998 in Canada
See also:
1997 in Canada,
other events of 1998,
1999 in Canada and the
list of 'years in Canada'.
Incumbents
See also: 1998 Canadian incumbents
Events
- January 1 - Toronto and six other communities are merged to form a new megacity. The next day Mel Lastman is sworn in as its first mayor.
- January 2 - Three separate avalanches in British Columbia kill a total of nine people.
- January - A massive ice storm, caused by El Niño, strikes southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and a number of deaths.
- January 6 - Alan Eagleson pleads guilty to fraud.
- January 7 - The federal government formally apologizes for the past mistreatment of First Nations.
- January 23 - The Royal Bank and the Bank of Montreal announce plans to merge, which are later scuttled by the federal government.
- February 6 - The Hudson's Bay Company takes over K-Mart Canada, folding it into its Zellers chain.
- February 7 - February 22 - Nagano Olympics Canada wins the fourth-most medals, but is embarrassed when their star-filled hockey team fails to win a medal.
- February 10 - Canadian National Railway merges with the Illinois Central.
- February 12 - The Toronto Maple Leafs buy the Toronto Raptors.
- February 13 - Three girls, all under 18 years of age, are found guilty in Victoria, BC, of killing 14-year-old Reena Virk. Three others plead guilty of assault.
- February 16 - The Supreme Court is asked to rule on the legality of Quebec separatism.
- February 18 - Controversial plans to include a Holocaust memorial in the Canadian War Museum are scrapped.
- February 24 - In the 1998 Canadian budget Finance Minister Paul Martin delivers a balanced budget.
- March 2 - Daniel Johnson, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, announces his resignation.
- March 6 - The Dionne Quintuplets are given money and an apology by the Ontario government.
- March 6 - British Columbian doctors begin the first of a series of protests against funding shortages.
- March 12 - Quebec and Newfoundland resolve the long running Churchill Falls dispute.
- March 12 - Mutual Life of Canada acquires MetLife to become Canada's second-largest insurace company.
- March 23 - Senator Andrew Thompson is forced to resign his Senate seat after not attending for two years.
- March 24 - The 1998 Nova Scotia election leaves the Liberals and NDP tied for the most seats.
- March 27 - Jean Charest announces that he will seek the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party.
- March 27 - The federal government agrees to compensate hepatitis C victims of tainted blood.
- April 1 - Floods in the Saguenay region of Quebec force 2000 from their homes.
- April 2 - The Supreme Court rules that Alberta's laws discriminating against homosexuals are unconstitutional.
- April 3 - Members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary are permitted side arms for the first time.
- April 17 - Dafydd Rhys Williams flies aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, becoming the first non-American to serve as medical officer.
- April 17 - The Toronto Dominion Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announce plans to merge, however the merger is later blocked by the government.
- April 25 - The United States announces large tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.
- April 26-28 - Prime Minister Chrétien pays an official visit to Cuba.
- May 1 - Separatist David Levine is named head of the newly amalgamated Ottawa hospital sparking great controversy.
- Early May - Wildfires burning in Alberta force the evacuation of a number of communities.
- May 14 - Camille Thériault becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Raymond Frenette.
- May 21 The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans shuts down the B.C. Coho fishery.
- May 29 - The Supreme Court strikes down a ban on pre-election opinion polls.
- June 9 - Three are killed in a gas explosion in Montreal.
- June 10 - One person is killed by a explosion at an Irving Oil refinery.
- June 11 - Eleven are killed in a plane crash a Mirabel airport
- June 24 - Macmillan Bloedel says that it will end clear cutting of old growth forests.
- July 15 - The B.C. government and the Nisga'a First Nation sign a historic, and controversial, land claims agreement.
- July 20 - The Southam chain buys the Financial Post from Sun Media.
- August - The Canadian dollar plunges all month.
- August 11 - 8,000 people are evacuated as forest fires threaten Salmon Arm, British Columbia.
- August 20 - The Supreme Court of Canada states Quebec can not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.
- August 28 - The dollar reaches its lowest point ever, at only 64.02 US cents.
- September 2 - Pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history.
- September 2 - Crash of Swissair Flight 111 off Peggys Cove in Nova Scotia.
- September 3 - A three-week lockout begins in Ontario's Catholic school system.
- September 22 - 20,000 protest Canada's new gun registry on Parliament Hill.
- October 8 - Canada is elected to a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
- October 14 - Canada's first diamond mine opens in the Northwest Territories.
- October 27 - Conrad Black's National Post publishes its first issue.
- November 14 - Former Prime Minister Joe Clark is selected as the new leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.
- November 26 - Don Morin is forced to resign as Premier of the Northwest Territories.
- November 30 - In the Quebec election the Parti Québécois is re-elected despite narrowly losing the popular vote.
- December 1 - Work on Canada's new gun registry begins.
- December 10 - James Antoine becomes premier of the Northwest Territories, replacing Don Morin.
- December 14 - Minister of Finance Paul Martin prohibits Canada's banks from merging.
- Grey Cup: Calgary Stampeders win 26-24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
- Vanier Cup: Saskatchewan Huskies win 24-17 over the Concordia Stingers.
Arts and literature
- New Books
- Awards
- Film
- Television
- Canada's Sesame Street switches to showing exclusively Canadian content, renaming itself Sesame Park, as it no longer uses any American made segments from Sesame Street
- Dance
- The French government names Karen Kain as an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters
Births
Deaths
- January 1 - Arthur Gelber, philanthropist
- January 6 - Lotte Brotte, cellist
- January 12 - Mark MacGuigan, politician
- January 23 - Donald Davis, actor
- February 20 - Bob McBride, singer
- February 25 - W.O. Mitchell, author
- March 13 - Bill Reid, Canadian artist
- March 16 - Yves Landry, president of Chrysler Canada
- March 17 - Eric Donkin, actor
- March 25 - Daniel Massey, actor
- March 31 - Sheila Watson, author
- April 3 - Elmer Iseler, conductor
- April 7 - Nick Auf Der Maur - columnist
- April 16 - Marie-Louise Meilleur, world's oldest person
- April 25 - Jimmy Namaro, jazz musician
- April 27 - John Bassett, businessman
- May 28 - Phil Hartman, artist, writer, actor and comedian
- June 4 - David Walsh, disgraced head of Bre-X
- June 20 - Bobby Gimby, musician
- June 27 - Joyce Weiland, artist
- July 1 - Emery Barnes, football player and first black BC MLA
- July 1 - Florence Doane, Olympic athlete
- July 6 - Loris Russell, paleontologist
- July 18 - Forence Barnes, Senator
- August 1 - Ken Wood, author
- September 15 - Louis Rasminsky, economist, governor of the Bank of Canada
- September 28 - Eric Malling, news anchor
- October 1 - Pauline Julien, singer and political activist
- October 4 - Roger Mason, author
- October 17 - Robert Dickson, Supreme Court justice
- October 17 - Mary O'Brien, feminist
- November 9 - Roland Hewgill, actor
- November 13 - Michel Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau
- November 22 - Jack Shadbolt, artist
- December 9 - Shaughnessy Cohen, Member of Parliament
- December 16 - John Gallagher, founder of Dome Petroleum
- December 22 - Pierre Vallieres, FLQ leader
- December 24 - Charles Apps, pole vaulter
- December 31 - Apak Angilik, film maker
- John Hayes, (b. 1917), harness racing driver
