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Events from the year 1949 in Canada.

Events

• March 31 - Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province at a fraction of a second from April 1, April Fools' Day.
• April 1 - Joey Smallwood becomes the first premier of Newfoundland as a Canadian province
• April 4 - Canada joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• May 4 - Leslie Frost becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Thomas Kennedy
• June 27 - Federal election: Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals win a fourth consecutive majority
• August 22 - Queen Charlotte earthquake: Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake
• September 9 - Albert Guay affair: in-flight bombing of a Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 en route from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau
• September 14 - The Noronic, the largest Canadian passenger ship on the Great Lakes, is destroyed by a fire while docked in Toronto, killing 118.

Full date unknown

• Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are abolished, making the Supreme Court of Canada the country's top court
• British Columbia gives Asian-Canadians the vote

Arts and literature

Awards

• See 1949 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: Angeline Hango, Truthfully Yours

Births

January to March

Marc Garneau

• January 24 - Guy Charron, ice hockey player
• February 14 - Denis Rocan, politician
• February 23 - Marc Garneau, astronaut, engineer and politician
• March 3 - Elijah Harper, politician
• March 16 - Victor Garber, actor and singer
• March 16 - Jane Haist, discus thrower and shot putter
• March 30 - Liza Frulla, politician

April to June

Ray Henault

• April 4 - Nava Starr, chess player and a Women's International Master
• April 6 - Réginald Bélair, politician
• April 8 - Claudette Bradshaw, politician
• April 14 - Percy Mockler, politician and Senator
• April 16 - Sandy Hawley, jockey
• April 26 - Ray Henault, general and Chief of Defence Staff
• May 6 - Diane Ablonczy, politician
• May 20 - Sheldon Oberman, children's writer (d.2004)
• May 20 - Dave Thomas, comedian and actor
• June 21 - Jane Urquhart, writer
• June 22 - Wayne Easter, politician

July to September

• July 3 - Jan Smithers, actress
• July 11 - Liona Boyd, classical guitarist
• August 13 - Bobby Clarke, ice hockey player
• August 21 - Larry Fisher, murderer
• August 30 - Don Boudria, politician and Minister
• September 6 - Carole-Marie Allard, politician
• September 12 - Kevin Major, author
• September 26 - Marie Tifo, actress

October to December

• October 25 - Laurie Skreslet, mountaineer, first Canadian to reach the summit of Mount Everest
• October 27 - Garth Drabinsky, film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur
• November 27 - Nick Discepola, politician

Jim Flaherty

• November 28 - Paul Shaffer, musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian and composer
• November 29 - Stan Rogers, folk musician and songwriter (d.1983)
• December 19 - Larry Bagnell, politician
• December 21 - John Loewen, businessman and politician
• December 30 - Jim Flaherty, politician and Minister

Full date unknown

• Zahra Kazemi, photographer, died in Iranian custody (d.2003)

Deaths

January to June

• January 9 - Tom Longboat, long-distance runner (b.1887)
• January 11 - John Wesley Brien, physician and politician (b.1864)
• February 12 - Pegi Nicol MacLeod, artist (b.1904)
• June 2 - François Blais, politician (b.1875)

July to December

• July 7 - Fred Wellington Bowen, politician (b.1877)
• August 23 - Herbert Greenfield, politician and 4th Premier of Alberta (b.1869)
• September 2 - Ian Alistair Mackenzie, politician and Minister (b.1890)
• December 7 - Stanislas Blanchard, politician (b.1871)
• December 16 - Albert Edward Matthews, 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b.1873)
• December 16 - Sidney Olcott, film producer, director, actor and screenwriter (b.1873)