1918 in Canada
Events from the year 1918 in Canada.
Incumbents
Crown
- Monarch – George V
Federal government
- Governor general – Victor Cavendish
- Prime minister – Robert Borden
- Chief Justice – Charles Fitzpatrick then Louis Henry Davies
- Parliament – 13th
Provincial governments
Lieutenant governors
- Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Robert Brett
- Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Francis Stillman Barnard
- Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – James Albert Manning Aikins
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – William Pugsley
- Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – MacCallum Grant
- Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – John Strathearn Hendrie
- Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Augustine Colin Macdonald
- Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Pierre-Évariste Leblanc then Charles Fitzpatrick
- Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Richard Stuart Lake
Premiers
- Premier of Alberta – Charles Stewart
- Premier of British Columbia – Harlan Brewster then John Oliver
- Premier of Manitoba – Tobias Norris
- Premier of New Brunswick – Walter Foster
- Premier of Nova Scotia – George Henry Murray
- Premier of Ontario – William Hearst
- Premier of Prince Edward Island – Aubin Arsenault
- Premier of Quebec – Lomer Gouin
- Premier of Saskatchewan – William Melville Martin
Territorial governments
Commissioners
- Commissioner of Yukon – George Norris Williams
- Gold Commissioner of Yukon – George P. MacKenzie
- Commissioner of Northwest Territories – Frederick D. White then William Wallace Cory
Events
- March 1 – Harlan Brewster, premier of British Columbia, dies in office
- March 6 – John Oliver becomes premier of British Columbia
- March 28 – April 1 – In the Easter Riots in Quebec City, the Militia suppress anti-conscription protesters. Four civilians are killed.
- March 30 – C Squadron of Lord Strathcona's Horse conducts a cavalry charge against the Germans at Moreuil Wood. The squadron suffers atrocious casualties, but the action is one of the keys of halting the German advance in Operation Michael. Lieutenant Gordon Flowerdew will be awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.
- April 21 – Canadian Captain Roy Brown supposedly shoots down the famed Red Baron. More accepted theories credit either Sergeant Cedric Popkin, Gunner Snowy Evans or Gunner Robert Buie with the kill.
- May 24 – Canadian women obtain the right to vote in federal elections ; some limited women's suffrage had been granted the year earlier. Status Indians gained federal suffrage in 1960.
- August 2 – The first general strike in Canada occurred in Vancouver, British Columbia, triggered by the murder of Ginger Goodwin.
- August 8 – World War I: At the Battle of Amiens superior Canadian gunners assist a great allied breakthrough
- August 26 – September 3 – Battle of Arras, 1918
- September – Canadian forces arrive in northern Russia to assist the White Russians in their battle against the Bolsheviks
- September 2–3 – Battle of Drocourt-Quéant Line
- September 9–12 – Battle of the Hindenburg Line
- September 27 – October 2 – Battle of Canal du Nord
- October – A second group of Canadian forces is sent to Siberia
- October 8–9 – Battle of Cambrai
- November 1–2 – Battle of Valenciennes
- November 11 – The First World War ends. Over 600 000 Canadians fought in Europe: 70 000 were killed and 173 000 were wounded
Full date unknown
- The Statistics Act is passed, creating the Dominion Bureau of Statistics
- Canada demands and receives – over the initial opposition of Britain, France and the USA – the right to participate in the Versailles Peace Conference and in the League of Nations.
Arts and literature
Sport
- March 30 – Toronto Hockey Club won their first and only Stanley Cup by defeating the Vancouver Millionaires 3 game to 2. All games were played at Toronto's Arena Gardens
Births
January to June
- February 6 – Louis Dudek, poet, literary critic and publisher
- February 13 – Ross Whicher, politician and businessman
- February 22 – Sid Abel, ice hockey player and coach
- February 27 – Marcel Bourbonnais, politician
- April 2 – Marion Bryden, politician
- April 23 – Margaret Avison, poet
- May 1 – Raymond Mailloux, politician
- May 15 – Saul Laskin, politician and 1st Mayor of Thunder Bay
- May 15 – Joseph Wiseman, actor
- May 28 – Johnny Wayne, comedian and comedy writer
- June 10 – Barry Morse, actor
July to December
- July 15 – Bertram Brockhouse, physicist, shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1994
- July 18 – Nelson Mandela, one of only two honorary Canadian citizens
- August 5 – Betty Oliphant, ballet mistress, co-founder of the National Ballet School of Canada
- October 25 – Bobby Gimby, orchestra leader, trumpeter and singer-songwriter
- November 13 – George Grant, philosopher, teacher and political commentator
- November 17 – Prosper Boulanger, politician and businessman
- November 19 – Lloyd Crouse, businessman, politician and Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
- December 20 – Jean Marchand, trade unionist and politician
- December 30 – Al Purdy, poet
Deaths
- January 1 – Anson Dodge, lumber dealer and politician
- January 28 – John McCrae, poet, physician, author, artist and soldier
- March 1 – Harlan Carey Brewster, politician and Premier of British Columbia
- March 21 – Henry Joseph Walker, politician and merchant
- April 9 – Charles Fleetford Sise, businessman
- August 18 – Henry Norwest, sniper in World War I
- October 11 – Wallace Lloyd Algie, Victoria Cross recipient
- October 18 – Pierre-Évariste Leblanc, politician and Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
- November 11 – George Lawrence Price, last Commonwealth casualty of World War I
Historical Documents
Ontario women recruited for summer work in food production
Saskatchewan Victoria Cross winner Hugh Cairns cited for "most conspicuous bravery"
His brother describes presentation of Victoria Cross to George Pearkes, "looking a very fine soldier indeed"
Account of Canadian cavalry action resulting in Victoria Cross award for Gordon Flowerdew
Shot-down pilot describes jumping from his falling plane despite bullet wounds and burns
Canadian soldier describes his psychological strain
Folksy Canadian enjoys leave in Paris, despite street crime
Soldier appreciates "toothsomeness" of Christmas treats after living on hardtack and bully beef
U.S. soldier newspaper salutes Canadian forces, but confuses Victoria Day and Dominion Day
Saint John Housewives' League and War Gardens Association exhibit their prowess and patriotism in competitive exhibitions
Ontario health board's tips and myths regarding influenza
Various Montreal community groups aid fight against influenza
Death notice for Mi'kmaq grand chief John Denny Jr. and inauguration of new grand chief Gabriel Sylliboy on Cape Breton Island
United Farm Women of Ontario get their male counterparts to work with them
United Farmers of Ontario protest undemocratic wartime government practices
Basic English manual is aimed at foreign-born adults of "industrial class"
Labour lawyer comments at length on deteriorating worker-management relations in Winnipeg
Journalist says people in central Canada have no more influence on government than Westerners do
Vilhjalmur Stefansson speaks on difficulties of his Arctic explorations, and overcoming them
University of Manitoba convocation speaker addresses optimism
Wilfrid Laurier comments on Louis Hémon's novel Maria Chapdelaine