See also: 1978 in Canada, other events of 1979, 1980 in Canada and the list of 'years in Canada'.
Incumbents
Events
- January 17: Edward Richard Schreyer replaces Jules Léger as Governor General
- February 1: The first Winterlude is held in Ottawa
- February 24: An explosion rips through Number 26 Colliery located in Glace Bay, Cape Breton killing 12 men.
- March 14: Alberta election: Peter Lougheed's PCs win a third consecutive majority
- March 26: Brian Peckford becomes premier of Newfoundland, replacing Frank Moores
- May 3: Angus MacLean becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Bennett Campbell
- May 21: Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup defeating the New York Rangers 4 games to 1.
- May 22: Canadians go to the polls in the federal election. They defeat Pierre Trudeau's Liberals and elect Joe Clark's PCs, but only with a minority
- June 4: Joe Clark becomes Canada's sixteenth, and youngest ever, prime minister
- June 7: The Sudbury Strike of 1978 ends after nine months.
- June 22: The World Hockey Association folds. Four teams—the Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques, and Hartford Whalers—survive and move to the NHL
- September 5: Canada's first gold bullion coin goes on sale
- November 10: The 1979 Mississauga train derailment causes the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people
- December 13: Supreme Court declares Quebec and Manitoba's provincial legislatures to be unconstitutional because of their use of only one language.
- December 13: The government is defeated on a non-confidence motion and Prime Minister Clark calls an election
- December 31: A fire at Le Club Opemiska in Chaplais, Quebec, kills 42 at a New Year's Eve party
- Chris Haney and Scott Abbott invent Trivial Pursuit
- Petro-Canada buys U.S.-controlled Pacific Petroleums
- The first women enroll in Canadian military colleges
Arts and literature
- New Works
- Awards
- Television
Births
- January 2: Kathleen Edwards, musician
- January 8: Sarah Polley, actor
- January 9: Jenny Johnson, field hockey midfielder
- January 15: Nick Boynton, ice hockey player
- February 8: Adam Trupish, boxer
- February 21: Andre Noble, actor
- March 15: Azelia Liu, field hockey goalkeeper
- April 4: Roberto Luongo, ice hockey goaltender
- April 17: Eric Brewer, ice hockey player
- June 1: Craig Olejnik, actor
- July 2: Joe Thornton, ice hockey player
- August 3: Evangeline Lilly, actor
- August 22: Jennifer Finnigan, actor
- August 31: Mark Johnston, freestyle swimmer
- September 15: Patrick Marleau, ice hockey player
- October 7: Shawn Ashmore, actor
- October 7: Aaron Ashmore, actor
- November 21: Alex Tanguay, ice hockey player
- December 10: Andrea Rushton, field hockey player
Deaths
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