1535
Cartier Sets Sail for Second Voyage
Jacques Cartier departs St-Malo, France, on his second voyage to Canada, this time with three ships and over 100 men, hoping to find the fabled Kingdom of Saguenay and a route to Asia.
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Jacques Cartier departs St-Malo, France, on his second voyage to Canada, this time with three ships and over 100 men, hoping to find the fabled Kingdom of Saguenay and a route to Asia.
Bishop François de Laval establishes the Seminary of Quebec to train priests for New France, a forerunner of Laval University, which will become the oldest university in Canada.
British forces under General Jeffrey Amherst and Admiral Edward Boscawen tighten their siege of the fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton as French defenders prepare for a final stand.
The Act of Union, uniting Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, receives Royal Assent in Britain. It comes into force in 1841, following Lord Durham's recommendation.
The British North America Act, creating the Dominion of Canada, officially comes into effect on July 1, 1867. Parliamentary preparations are in full swing by June 25, with the new constitution ready to launch.
The Senate of Canada holds its first session in Ottawa, with the chamber's 72 founding senators beginning the work of the upper house of Parliament in the new Dominion of Canada.
The Red River Resistance effectively ends as Manitoba becomes a province, with Louis Riel's provisional government giving way to Canadian authority, though controversy over his role will continue for years.
Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal Party wins its third consecutive majority government, with Laurier continuing his policies of immigration, western settlement and railway construction.
Strike leaders in Winnipeg, including R.B. Russell, William Ivens and others, are arrested following the violent dispersal of strikers on Bloody Saturday, signaling the end of the Winnipeg General Strike.
The CBC, created by Parliament to provide public broadcasting services in both official languages, plays an increasingly important role in connecting Canadians from coast to coast with news and cultural programming.
North Korea invades South Korea, and Canada soon commits military forces to the United Nations operation, eventually sending over 26,000 Canadian troops to the peninsula during the three-year conflict.
Canadian and American officials begin negotiations that will eventually lead to the landmark Canada-United States Automotive Products Agreement (Auto Pact) in 1965, transforming the Canadian auto industry.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberal Party wins a majority government, beginning the era of 'Trudeaumania' that will reshape Canadian society through bilingualism, multiculturalism and constitutional reform.
The Supreme Court of Canada rules in the Calder case that Aboriginal title to land existed in Canadian law before European settlement, a landmark decision for Indigenous land rights.
The results of the Quebec sovereignty referendum are confirmed, with approximately 60% of Quebecers voting No to the PQ's sovereignty-association question, keeping Quebec within Canada.
Terry Fox, the young cancer patient who began his cross-Canada Marathon of Hope run in St. John's on April 12, 1980, dies in New Westminster, BC. He had raised over $24 million for cancer research.
Kim Campbell is sworn in as Canada's 19th Prime Minister and Canada's first female Prime Minister, succeeding Brian Mulroney as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.
The World Health Organization removes Toronto from its list of areas with local SARS transmission, ending a health crisis that killed 44 Canadians and significantly disrupted the city's economy.
Canada marks the tenth anniversary of the Civil Marriage Act, which made Canada the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide on July 20, 2005.
The Senate of Canada passes Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, making Canada the second country in the world to legalize recreational cannabis use nationwide, with legalization taking effect on October 17, 2018.