See also: 1986 in Canada, other events of 1987, 1988 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Brian Mulroney
• Governor General - Jeanne Sauvé

• Premier of Alberta - Don Getty
• Premier of British Columbia - Bill Vander Zalm
• Premier of Manitoba - Howard Pawley
• Premier of New Brunswick - Richard Hatfield then Frank McKenna
• Premier of Newfoundland - Brian Peckford
• Premier of Nova Scotia - John Buchanan
• Premier of Ontario - David Peterson
• Premier of Prince Edward Island - Joe Ghiz
• Premier of Quebec - Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan - Grant Devine

Events

• January 1 - Frobisher Bay changes its name to Iqaluit
• April 30 - Provincial premiers agree to Meech Lake Accord
• May 22 - Rick Hansen returns home to Vancouver after his Man in Motion world tour
• July 3 - Quebec City becomes the first city in North America to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• July 31 - A tornado in Edmonton, Alberta kills twenty-seven
• August 30 - Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson sets a new world record in the 100 metre dash
• September 10 - Ontario election: David Peterson's Liberals win a majority
• September 20 - Pope John Paul II visits the Northwest Territories
• October - Canadian and American negotiators reach agreement on the Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement
• October 27 - Frank McKenna becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Richard Hatfield
• November 12 - Dennis Patterson becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Nick Sibbeston
• November 27 - Rock band Cowboy Junkies record their most famous album, The Trinity Session, at Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity
• The Reform Party of Canada is founded

Arts and Literature

New Works:

• Michael Ignatieff - The Russian Album
• Irving Layton - Fortunate Exile
• Dave Duncan - A Rose-Red City
• Steve McCaffery - Evoba
• Mordecai Richler - Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur
• Donald Jack - This One's On Me
• Farley Mowat - Virunga: The Passion Of Dian Fossey
• Antonine Maillet - Margot la folle
• William Bell - Metal Head

Awards:

• See 1987 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Karen Lawrence , The Life of Helen Alone
• Gerald Lampert Award: Rosemary Sullivan , The Space a Name Makes
• Marian Engel Award: Audrey Thomas
• Pat Lowther Award: Heather Spears , How to Read Faces
• Stephen Leacock Award: W.P. Kinsella, The Fencepost Chronicles
• Trillium Book Award: Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Robert Munch

Births

• August 7 - Sidney Crosby, hockey player

Deaths

• September 11 - Lorne Greene, actor
• November 1 - René Lévesque, separatist premier of Quebec