See also: 1955 in Canada, other events of 1956, 1957 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Louis Saint Laurent
• Governor General - Vincent Massey

• 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 - Henry Hicks then Robert Stanfield
• Premier of Ontario - Leslie Frost
• Premier of Prince Edward Island - Alex Matheson
• Premier of Quebec - Maurice Duplessis
• Premier of Saskatchewan - Tommy Douglas

Events

• February 10 - William Coffin is hanged
• May 1 - The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada merges with the Canadian Congress of Labour to form the Canadian Labour Congress.
• May 8 - The controversial bill to create the Trans Canada Pipeline is introduced in the House of Commons.
• May 15 - A CF-100 crashes into a Grey Nuns convent outside of Ottawa killing fifteen.
• June 20 - Saskatchewan election: Tommy Douglas's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation wins a fourth consecutive majority
• November 1 - The second Springhill Mining Disaster occurs killing 36.
• November 4 - Lester B. Pearson proposes a successful resolution to the Suez Crisis, this will win him a Nobel Peace Prize.
• November 20 - Robert Stanfield becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Henry Hicks
• December 14 - John Diefenbaker is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.
• René Lévesque begins hosting Point de Mire

Arts and literature

New Books

• Milton Acorn - In Love and Anger
• Pierre Berton - The Mysterious North
• Max Aitken - Men and Power
• Leonard Cohen - Let Us Compare Mythologies
• Harold Innis - Essays in Canadian Economic History
• Farley Mowat - Lost in the Barrens

Literary Awards

• See 1956 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Stephen Leacock Award: Eric Nicol , Shall We Join The Ladies?

Music

• Walter Susskind replaces Sir Ernest MacMillan as the director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
• Pianist Glenn Gould tours the Soviet Union

Births

• January 6 - Peter Stoffer, politician
• January 9 - Gregory Dewar, politician
• January 28 - David Faurschou, politician
• February 7 - Murray Downing, farmer
• February 28 - Guy Maddin, filmmaker
• February 29 - Steve Ashton, politician
• February 29 - Bob Speller, politician
• April 4 - Evelyn Hart, ballet dancer
• May 7 - Jean Lapierre, politician
• May 9 - Wendy Crewson, actor
• May 19 - James Gosling, computer scientist (Java)
• May 29 - Claude Drouin, politician
• June 10 - Hugh MacMillan, musician
• June 22 - Blake Debassige , artist
• July 8 - Terry Puhl, baseball player
• July 15 - Barry Melrose, hockey player and commentator
• July 17 - Bryan Trottier, hockey player
• August 12 - Bruce Greenwood, actor
• August 12 - Jane Siberry, singer
• October 7 - Brian Sutter, hockey player and coach
• October 23 - Geoffrey Kelly, musician
• December 10 - Marie Bountrogianni, politician
• December 31 - Paul Zed, politician

Deaths

• February 10 - William Coffin, alleged murderer
• September 11 - Billy Bishop, fighter pilot
• December 7 - Huntley Gordon, actor