1931 in Canada

Crown

• Monarch – George V^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (until April 4) then Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough
• Prime Minister – Richard Bedford Bennett
• Chief Justice – Francis Alexander Anglin (Ontario)
• Parliament – 17th

Provincial governments

Territorial governments

January to March

• January 5 - Percy Schmeiser, businessman, farmer, and politician (d. 2020)
• January 6 - Dickie Moore, ice hockey player, businessman and philanthropist (d. 2015)
• January 7 - Elizabeth Kishkon, politician (d. 2018)
• January 19 - Robert MacNeil, Canadian-American journalist (d. 2024)
• January 27 - Mordecai Richler, author, screenwriter and essayist (d. 2001)
• January 30 - John Crosbie, politician and Minister (d. 2020)
• February 16 - Bernie Geoffrion, ice hockey player (d. 2006)
• February 17 - Mark MacGuigan, academic and politician (d. 1998)
• February 26 - C. William Doody, politician and Senator (d. 2005)
• March 10 - Georges Dor, author, composer, playwright, singer, poet, translator and theatrical producer and director (d. 2001)
• March 12 - Danny Lewicki, Canadian professional ice hockey player (d. 2018)
• March 20 - Hubert Desbiens, politician (d. 2009).^[2]
• March 22 - William Shatner, actor and novelist
• March 22 - Monte Kwinter, politician
• March 25 - Jack Chambers, artist and filmmaker (d. 1978)
• March 28 - Jane Rule, novelist and non-fiction writer (d. 2007)
• March 30 - Gérard Bruchési, politician

April to June

• April 2 - Howard Engel, writer and television producer (d. 2019)
• April 9 - Richard Hatfield, politician and 26th Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1991)
• April 13 - Cliff Lumsdon, world champion marathon swimmer (d. 1991)
• April 15 - Helen Maksagak, politician, first woman and first Inuk Northwest Territories Commissioner (d. 2009)
• April 19 - Walter Stewart, writer, editor and journalism educator (d. 2004)
• April 22 - John Buchanan, lawyer, politician and 27th Premier of Nova Scotia
• April 29 - Chris Pearson, 1st Premier of the Yukon (d. 2014)
• May 18 - Clément Vincent, politician (d. 2018)
• May 21 - Jeannine Pelland, former President of the Order of nurses of Quebec^[3]
• May 22 - Arthé Guimond, Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan (2000–2006) (d. 2013).
• May 24 - Bruce Owen, politician and lawyer (d. 2022)
• May 25 - Herb Gray, politician, Canada's first Jewish federal cabinet minister
• June 23 - Charles Keith Taylor, politician
• June 25 - Stan Dromisky, politician
• June 27 - Charles Bronfman, businessman and philanthropist
• June 30 - Joyce Wieland, experimental filmmaker and mixed media artist (d. 1998)

July to September

• July 2 - Robert Ito, actor
• July 5 - Peter Silverman, broadcast journalist (d. 2021)
• July 6 - Jean Campeau, Quebec businessman and politician
• July 7 - Charles Alexander Best, politician (d. 1978)
• July 10 - Alice Munro, short-story writer (d. 2024)
• July 15 - Jacques-Yvan Morin, politician (d. 2023)
• July 19 - Allan Slaight, rock and roll radio pioneer, media mogul, and philanthropist (d. 2021)
• July 20 - Gilles Morin, politician
• August 18 - Bramwell Tillsley, General of The Salvation Army
• August 29 - Lise Payette, politician, feminist, writer and columnist
• August 30 - Frank Zakem, politician and businessman (d. 2013)
• August 31 - Jean Béliveau, ice hockey player
• September 23 - Gerald Merrithew, politician (d. 2004)

October to December

• October 4 - Werner Israel, physicist (d. 2022)
• October 8 - Isadore Sharp, businessman
• November 5 - Charles Taylor, philosopher
• November 8 – Morley Safer, journalist (60 Minutes) (d. 2016)
• November 13 - Andrée Lachapelle, actress (d. 2019)
• November 28 - George Ramsay Cook, historian (d. 2016)
• November 30 - Harry Enns, politician
• December 4 - Alex Delvecchio, ice hockey player (d. 2025)^[4]
• December 10 - Jack Riddell, politician (d. 2024)
• December 15 - John Allen Fraser, politician, Speaker of the House of Commons (d. 2024)

Full date unknown

• Fred Dixon, politician (b. 1881)