See also: 1952 in Canada, other events of 1953, 1954 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

• Monarch—Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General—Vincent Massey
• Prime Minister—Louis Saint Laurent
• Premier of Alberta—Ernest Manning
• Premier of British Columbia—W.A.C. Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba—Douglas Campbell
• Premier of New Brunswick—Hugh John Flemming
• Premier of Newfoundland—Joey Smallwood
• Premier of Nova Scotia—Angus Macdonald
• Premier of Ontario—Leslie Frost
• Premier of Prince Edward Island—J. Walter Jones then Alex Matheson
• Premier of Quebec—Maurice Duplessis
• Premier of Saskatchewan—Tommy Douglas

Events

• January 1—The National Library of Canada is founded
• January 27—The Canadian Dental Association approves the use of fluoride in drinking water
• May 25—Alex Matheson becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing J. Walter Jones
• June 2—Queen Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of Canada. In Korea the Canadian Army celebrates the coronation by firing red, white, and blue smoke shells at the enemy
• July 13—The Stratford Festival of Canada opens
• July 27—The Korean War ends. In total 314 Canadians were killed and 1211 injured.
• August 10—Federal election: Louis Saint Laurent's Liberals win a fifth consecutive majority
• October 15—The Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline is completed
• October 25—Canada's first privately-owned television station, CKSO, broadcasts in Sudbury.

Arts and literature

Literary awards

• See 1953 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: Lawrence Earl, The Battle of Baltinglass

Births

• February 5—Eric Robinson, Manitoba politician
• February 15—Gerald Keddy, politician
• February 15—David Chomiak, Manitoba politician
• February 16—Lanny McDonald, ice hockey player
• March 10—Debbie Brill, high jumper
• March 13—Stephanie Berto, track and field athlete
• April 2—Janet Nutter, diver
• April 13—Dany Laferrière, author
• May 14 —Tom Cochrane, singer/songwriter
• June 23—Raymonde April, photographer
• June 23—Albina Guarnieri, politician
• July 3—Dave Lewis, ice hockey player and coach
• July 9—Margie Gillis, dancer
• July 15—Mila Mulroney, wife of Brian Mulroney
• July 15—Richard Margison, tenor
• July 29—Geddy Lee, musician (Rush)
• August 11—Greg Duhaime, middle-distance runner
• August 17—Robert Thirsk, astronaut
• August 27—Alex Lifeson, musician
• September 30—S. M. Stirling, author
• October 12—Daniel Louis, film producer
• October 29—Denis Potvin, ice hockey player
• December 7—Carmen Rinke, boxer
• December 13—Bob Gainey, ice hockey player and coach
• December 18—Daniel Poliquin, writer
• Dionne Brand, poet
• Barbara Haworth-Attard, author
• Nancy Huston, author
• Paul Quarrington, author
• Gaëtan Dugas, early AIDS patient

Deaths

• November 29—Sam De Grasse, actor