1990 in Canada

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – Jeanne Sauvé (until January 29) then Ray Hnatyshyn^[2]
• Prime Minister – Brian Mulroney
• Chief Justice – Brian Dickson (Manitoba) (until 30 June) then Antonio Lamer (Quebec)
• Parliament – 34th

Provincial governments

Territorial governments

January to June

• January 15 – Massive cuts to Via Rail come into effect leading to the rerouting of The Canadian and many intercity trains.
• January 24 – The Tories introduce legislation that would create the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a national sales tax.
• January 24 – Jean Charest resigns from cabinet after he was found to have spoken with a judge.
• January 29 – Ramon John Hnatyshyn replaces Jeanne Sauvé as governor general.
• January 29 – A controversial resolution is passed by the city council of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, declaring the city "English-only".
• February: The federal government announces that it will privatize Petro-Canada; the legislation to do so is introduced in October..
• February 12 – A massive tire fire begins near Hagersville, Ontario. It takes 17 days to put out.
• February 12 – 1990 Chambly by-election.
• March 9 – Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord.
• March 15 – The federal government decides that Sikhs may wear turbans while serving as Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers following the Baltej Singh Dhillon case.
• March 22 – Canadian arms designer Gerald Bull is assassinated in Brussels.
• April 1 – The World Wrestling Federation holds WrestleMania VI from SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, drawing a crowd of 67,678.
• May 12 – The Bloc Québécois Party is formed as several MPs led by Lucien Bouchard quit the Tories and Liberals.
• May 24 – The Edmonton Oilers win the 1990 Stanley Cup Final.
• May 29 – Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, arrives in Ottawa for a 29-hour visit.^[3]
• June 6 – Stanley Charles Waters is the first elected senator.
• June 12 – Elijah Harper prevents Manitoba from accepting the Meech Lake Accord.
• June 17–30 – Nelson Mandela tours North America, visiting three Canadian and eight U.S. cities.
• June 23 – Meech Lake Accord officially dead.
• June 23 – Jean Chrétien elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at a leadership convention held in Calgary.

July to December

• July 11 – The Oka crisis begins.
• September 6 – Bob Rae's Ontario New Democratic Party wins a surprise majority in Ontario.
• September 12 – Roger Bacon becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing John Buchanan.
• September 26 – Oka crisis ends.
• September 27 – Brian Mulroney temporarily increases the size of the Senate to ensure passage of the GST.
• October 1 – Bob Rae becomes premier of Ontario, replacing David Peterson.
• November 1 – Brian Mulroney launches the Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future to get Canadians' input on constitutional reform.
• December 10 – Jean Chrétien is returned to the House of Commons after winning a by election for the New Brunswick riding of Beauséjour.
• December 13 – The Senate of Canada approves the GST..
• December 17 – The GST becomes law.

New works

• Swann by Carol Shields published
• The Evening News by Arthur Hailey
• A Tenured Professor by John Kenneth Galbraith
• TekWar by William Shatner
• Magic Casement by Dave Duncan
• Golden Fleece by Robert J. Sawyer
• Medicine River by Thomas King
• The Magic Machine: A Handbook of Computer Sorcery by Alexander Dewdney
• Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke
• The Wild Blue Yonder by Audrey Thomas
• L'Oursiade by Antonine Maillet

Awards

• See 1990 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Sandra Birdsell, The Missing Child
• Geoffrey Bilson Award: Kit Pearson, The Sky Is Falling
• Gerald Lampert Award: Steven Heighton, Stalin's Carnival
• Marian Engel Award: Carol Shields
• Pat Lowther Award: Patricia Young, The Mad and Beautiful Mothers
• Stephen Leacock Award: W.O. Mitchell, According to Jake and the Kid
• Trillium Book Award: Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Bernice Thurman Hunter

Music

• RPM number-one hits of 1990
• RPM number-one albums of 1990

January to June

• January 7 – Bronko Nagurski, American football player (b. 1908)
• March 16 – Dalton McGuinty Sr., politician and father of premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty and the politician David McGuinty (b. 1926)
• March 22 – Gerald Bull, engineer and artillery designer (b. 1928)
• March 24 – Jim St. James, actor and HIV/AIDS activist
• April 11 – Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs (b. 1903)
• May 30 – Cécile Chabot, poet and illustrator (b. 1907)^[6]

July to September

• July 18
  • Johnny Wayne, comedian and comedy writer (b. 1918)
  • Gerry Boulet, Quebec rock singer (Offenbach) (b. 1946)
• August 25 – Morley Callaghan, novelist, short story writer, playwright, and television and radio personality (b. 1903)
• September 6 – Stan Roberts, politician (b. 1927)
• September 11 – Lela Brooks, speed skater and world record holder (b. 1908)

October to December

• October 22 – Carl Klinck, literary historian and academic (b. 1908)
• October 30 – Craig Russell, female impersonator (b. 1948)
• November 2 – Frederick Thomas Armstrong, politician (b. 1907)
• November 9 – Hugh MacLennan, author and professor of English (b. 1907)
• December 7 – Jean Paul Lemieux, painter (b. 1904)
• December 24 – Tammy Homolka, sister and homicide victim of Karla Homolka (b. 1975)
• December 31 – Robina Higgins, track and field athlete (b. 1915)