See also: 1977 in Canada, other events of 1978, 1979 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.
Incumbents
Events
- January 24: Cosmos 954 a Soviet satellite breaks up over northern Canada.
- June 26: Air Canada DC-9 overruns runway in Toronto, 2 people die.
- August 4: 41 are killed when a bus plunges into a lake near Eastman, Quebec.
- September 15: The Sudbury Strike of 1978 begins.
- September 18: Bennett Campbell becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Alexander B. Campbell
- October 5: John MacLennan Buchanan becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Gerald Regan
- October 16: Fifteen federal by-elections are held across the country. The governing Liberals lose five seats, which leads to a general election the following May.
- October 18: Saskatchewan election: Allan Blakeney's NDP win a third consecutive majority
- Supreme Court of Canada declares unilingual legislatures and courts unconstitutional
- Chris Pearson becomes government leader of Yukon as responsible government is instituted
- Under the new immigration act homosexuals are no longer an inadmissible class
- VIA Rail is established
- The Commonwealth Games are held in Edmonton, Alberta
- Despite accusations of marital infidelity, Colin Thatcher, who would later become famous for his involvement in the murder of his ex-wife, is re-elected to the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly.
- The CBC became the first broadcaster in the world to use an orbiting satellite for television service, linking Canada “from east to west to north.”
Arts and literature
- New Works
- Awards
Births
- January 3 — Daryn Jones, actor
- February 20 — Andrea Moody, freestyle swimmer
- February 26 — Kyle Hamilton, Olympic rower
- March 9 — Chris Phillips, ice hockey player
- April 6 — Thomas Herschmiller, Olympic rower
- April 26 — Tyler Labine, actor
- May 12 — Amy Sloan, actress
- May 15 — Dwayne De Rosario, soccer player
- May 15 — Caroline Dhavernas, actress
- June 2 — Shane Niemi, track and field athlete
- June 13 — Matt Bradley, ice hockey player
- June 14 — Steve Bégin, ice hockey player
- July 4 — Marie Luc Arpin, water polo player
- July 22 — A. J. Cook, actor
- June 28 — Simon Larose, tennis player
- September 1 — Joe Stankevicius, Olympic rower
- September 5 — Laura Bertram, actor
- September 6 — Amy Agulay, field hockey international
- September 7 — Matt Cooke, ice hockey player
- September 7 — Devon Sawa, actor
- September 20 — Jason Bay, baseball player
- September 21 — Paulo Costanzo, actor
- September 22 — Steve Moore, ice hockey player
- December 2 — Nelly Furtado, singer
- December 23 — Esthero, musician
- Rebecca Blaikie, politician
Deaths
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