See also: 1980 in Canada, other events of 1981, 1982 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Pierre Trudeau
• Governor General - Edward Schreyer

• Premier of Alberta - Peter Lougheed
• Premier of British Columbia - Bill Bennett
• Premier of Manitoba - Sterling Lyon then Howard Pawley
• Premier of New Brunswick - Richard Hatfield
• Premier of Newfoundland - Brian Peckford
• Premier of Nova Scotia - John Buchanan
• Premier of Ontario - Bill Davis
• Premier of Prince Edward Island - Angus MacLean then James Lee
• Premier of Quebec - René Lévesque
• Premier of Saskatchewan - Allan Blakeney

For more see: 1981 Canadian incumbents

Events

• January 1 - Gasoline is sold by the litre rather than the gallon
• February 5 - More than three hundred men are arrested after police sweeps of Toronto bathhouses. The arrests create an outcry among Canada's gay population. See 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids.
• March 19 - Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win a majority
• July 17 – The government of British Columbia named a 2,639-metre (8,658 foot) peak in the Rocky Mountains after Terry Fox.
• July 30 – The 83-kilometre (52 mile) section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Ontario where Terry Fox was forced to end his run, was re-named in his honour
• September 1 - Quebec's French language sign law comes into effect
• September 1 - The Albertan and federal governments sign an energy agreement
• September 28 - Calgary is awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics
• October 16 - Canada Post becomes a crown corporation.
• November 5 - Canadian government and all provinces, except Quebec, agree on how to patriate the Canadian Constitution
• November 13 - The Canadarm is first deployed aboard the Space Shuttle
• November 17 - James Lee becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing Angus MacLean
• November 30 - Howard Pawley becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Sterling Lyon
• Power Corporation sells Canada Steamship Lines Inc. to Paul Martin and Laurence Pathy
• News media: NOW created

Arts and Literature

New Works

• Margaret Atwood - True Stories
• Bill Bissett - Northern Birds in Coulour
• W.O. Mitchell - How I Spent My Summer Holidays
• Gordon R. Dickson - Lost Dorsai
• Nancy Huston - Les Variations Goldberg

Awards

• See 1981 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: W.D. Valgardson , Gentle Sinners
• Gerald Lampert Award: Elizabeth Allan, The Shored Up House
• Marian Engel Award:
• Pat Lowther Award: M. Travis Lane , Divinations and Short Poems 1973-1978
• Stephen Leacock Award: Gary Lautens , Take My Family...Please! John
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Monica Hughes

Film

• David Cronenberg's Scanners is released
• James Cameron's , his first directing effort, is released
• Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is released

Births

• January 11 - Jonathan Mandick, Olympic rower
• January 20 - Owen Hargreaves, soccer player
• January 21 - Dany Heatley, hockey player
• April 6 - Auburn Sigurdson, Olympic softballer
• April 19 - Hayden Christensen, actor
• August 9 - Lauren Bay, Olympic softballer
• August 19 - Taylor Pyatt, hockey player
• September 7 - Annie Martin, Olympic beach volleyball player
• September 26 - Kaila Holtz, Olympic softballer
• October 4 - Justin Williams , hockey player

Deaths

• June 28 - Terry Fox, cancer activist
• December 28 - Allan Dwan early film director