1989 in Canada

Incumbents

January 1 - The Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect
March 1 - The Canadian Space Agency is created
March 10 - An Air Ontario flight crashes near Dryden, Ontario killing 24
March 20 - Alberta election: Don Getty's PCs win a sixth consecutive majority
March 22 - Thomas Rideout becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Brian Peckford
May 5 - Clyde Wells becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Thomas Rideout
May 25 - In Montreal, the Calgary Flames win the Stanley Cup against the Montreal Canadiens
June 5 - First baseball game in SkyDome is played
June 5 - The federal government announces sweeping cuts to VIA Rail
July 31 - Cable television network CBC Newsworld is launched.
September 1 - French cable sports network, RDS, signs on.
December 2 - Audrey McLaughlin is elected head of the NDP replacing Ed Broadbent becoming the first female major party leader in Canadian history
December 6 - École Polytechnique Massacre - Marc Lépine murders fourteen women at the École Polytechnique of the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec. The event proves a spur to both the Canadian feminist and gun control movements.
December 21 - Quebec uses the notwithstanding clause for the first time
Deborah Grey wins a by-election to become the first Reform Party Member of Parliament.
Corel releases CorelDraw
Heather Erxleben becomes Canada's first official female combat soldier
Sidney Altman shares in the Nobel Prize for Chemistry

New Works

Awards

Books in Canada First Novel Award: Rick Salutin, A Man of Little Faith
See 1989 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Geoffrey Bilson Award: Martyn Godfrey, Mystery in the Frozen Lands, and Dorothy Perkyns, Rachel’s Revolution
Gerald Lampert Award: Sarah Klassen, Journey to Yalta
Marian Engel Award: Merna Summers
Pat Lowther Award: Heather Spears, The Word for Sand
Stephen Leacock Award: John Kertes, Winter Tulips
Trillium Book Award: Modris Eksteins, Rites of Spring
Vicky Metcalf Award: Stéphane Poulin

Television