1991 in Canada

Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – Ray Hnatyshyn
• Prime Minister – Brian Mulroney
• Chief Justice – Antonio Lamer (Quebec)
• Parliament – 34th

Provincial governments

Territorial governments

January to June

• January 1 – The Goods and Services Tax comes into effect.
• January 15 – Canadian Forces begin their participation in the Persian Gulf War.
• January 29 – The Allaire Committee releases its report on Canada's constitution: it recommends the transfer of many powers from the federal government to the provinces.
• January 30 – Gulf War: A Canadian CF-18 Hornet attacks and causes irreparable damage to an Iraqi warship.
• February 26 – Donald Cameron becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Roger Bacon.
• February 27 – Gulf War: Iraq agrees to a cease-fire ending the conflict.
• April 2 – Rita Johnston becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Bill Vander Zalm. She is the first woman premier in Canada.
• April 22 – Joe Clark is appointed Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs.
• May – George Erasmus, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, resigns and is succeeded by Ovide Mercredi.
• May 14 – MP John Nunziata alleges the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) know who bombed the Air-India flight 182 but did not have evidence needed for prosecution.
• June 11 – The Quebec sovereigntist party Bloc Québécois is founded by Lucien Bouchard.
• June 15 – Paul Bernardo kidnaps, rapes, and murders Leslie Mahaffy.
• June 19 – The Dobbie-Castonguay Commission is created to look into changes to the constitution.

July to December

• July 3 – The process leading to the privatization of Petro-Canada is started.
• July 27 – Greg Welch (AUS) and Sue Schlatter (CAN) win the 1991 ITU Triathlon World Cup race (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run) in Vancouver.
• August 4 – Brad Beven (AUS) and Karen Smyers (USA) win the 1991 ITU Triathlon World Cup race (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run) in Toronto.
• September 24 – Dobbie-Castonguay Commission recommends an elected Senate and recognizing Quebec as a distinct society.
• October 21 – The Saskatchewan election: Roy Romanow's NDP win a majority, defeating Grant Devine's PCs.
• November 1 – Roy Romanow becomes premier of Saskatchewan, replacing Grant Devine.
• November 5 – Michael Harcourt becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Rita Johnston.
• November 14 – Nellie Cournoyea becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Dennis Patterson, the first woman to do so, first female premier of a Canadian territory and the second female premier in Canadian history after Rita Johnston of British Columbia.
• November 24 – At the 79th Grey Cup the Toronto Argonauts defeat the Calgary Stampeders at Winnipeg Stadium in Winnipeg.
• December 7 – A Bunch of Munsch premieres on CTV, based on the children's books by Robert Munsch.

Full date unknown

• Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the President of Haiti, visits Canada and is warmly welcomed by the large Haitian community in Montreal, where he had studied at the Université de Montréal.
• Julius Alexander Isaac is named Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada. He becomes the first Black Chief Justice in Canada.
• David Schindler of the University of Alberta wins the first international Stockholm Water Prize for environmental research.
• Ferguson Jenkins becomes the first Canadian elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Canadian peacekeepers begin a five-year deployment to El Salvador.
• Canadian observers are sent to Western Sahara.
• News media: eye weekly created in Toronto.

New works

• Rohinton Mistry: Such a Long Journey
• Douglas Coupland: Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
• Margaret Atwood: Wilderness Tips
• Dave Duncan: Faery Lands Forlorn
• Hume Cronyn: A Terrible Liar
• Spider Robinson: Starseed

Awards

• See 1991 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Nino Ricci, Lives of the Saints
• Gerald Lampert Award: Diana Brebner, Radiant Life Forms
• Geoffrey Bilson Award: Marianne Brandis, The Sign of the Scales
• Marian Engel Award: Joan Clark
• Pat Lowther Award: Karen Connelly, The Small Words in My Body
• Stephen Leacock Award: Howard White, Waiting in the Rain
• Trillium Book Award: Margaret Atwood, Wilderness Tips
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Brian Doyle

Film

• Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster is released
• James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day is released. It is the year's highest-grossing film

Music

• Trevor Pinnock becomes director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra

January to June

• January 1 – Larry Condon, politician (born 1936)
• January 23 – Northrop Frye, literary critic and literary theorist (born 1912)
• February 7 – Jean-Paul Mousseau, artist (born 1927)
• February 11 – Pete Parker, radio announcer (born 1895)
• February 20 – Eugene Forsey, politician and constitutional expert (born 1904)
• April 26 – Richard Hatfield, politician and 26th Premier of New Brunswick (born 1931)
• May 9 – Loran Ellis Baker, politician (born 1905)
• June 11 – David Croll, politician (born 1900)
• June 16 – Leslie Mahaffy, murder victim (born 1976)

July to December

• July 8 – Gordon Stewart Anderson, writer (born 1958)
• July 10 – Grace MacInnis, politician and feminist (born 1905)
• August 6 – Roland Michener, lawyer, politician diplomat and Governor-General of Canada (born 1900)
• August 22 – Colleen Dewhurst, actress (born 1924)
• August 31 – Cliff Lumsdon, world champion marathon swimmer (born 1931)
• September 12 – Albert Bruce Matthews, commander of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division during the Second World War (born 1909)
• September 25 – Stanley Waters, Senator (born 1920)
• October 2 – Hazen Argue, politician (born 1921)
• October 26 – Sherry Hawco, artistic gymnast (born 1964)^[7]

• November 13 – Paul-Émile Léger, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (born 1904)
• December 17 – Armand Frappier, physician and microbiologist (born 1904)