See also: 1989 in Canada, other events of 1990, 1991 in Canada and the list of 'years in Canada'.

Incumbents

• Prime Minister - Brian Mulroney
• Governor General - Jeanne Sauvé then Ray Hnatyshyn

• Premier of Alberta - Don Getty
• Premier of British Columbia - Bill Vander Zalm
• Premier of Manitoba - Gary Filmon
• Premier of New Brunswick - Frank McKenna
• Premier of Newfoundland - Clyde Wells
• Premier of Nova Scotia - John Buchanan then Roger Bacon
• Premier of Ontario - David Peterson then Bob Rae
• Premier of Prince Edward Island - Joe Ghiz
• Premier of Quebec - Robert Bourassa
• Premier of Saskatchewan - Grant Devine

Events

• January 5 - 1300 jobs are lost in Newfoundland when Fishery Products International decides to close three plants
• January 15 - Massive cuts to VIA Rail come into effect leading to the cancelation of The Canadian
• January 24 - The Tories introduce legislation that would create the GST, a national sales tax
• January 24 - Jean Charest resigns from cabinet after he was found to have spoken with a judge
• January 29 - Ramon John Hnatyshyn replaces Jeanne Sauvé as Governor General
• February - The federal government announces that it will privatize Petro-Canada; the legislation to do so is introduced in October.
• February 12 - A massive tire fire beigns near Hagersville, Ontario. It takes 15 days to put out.
• March 6 - The National Gallery of Canada buy Barnett Newman's Voice of Fire for 1.8 million causing a storm of controversy
• March 9 - Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord
• March 11 - The Oka crisis begins
• March 15 - The federal government decides that Sikhs could wear a turban while serving as RCMP officers
• March 22 - Canadian arms designer Gerald Bull is assassinated in Brussels, probably by Mossad
• May 12 The Bloc Québécois Party is formed as several MPs lead by Lucien Bouchard quit the Tories and Liberals
• June 12 - Elijah Harper prevents Manitoba accepting Meech Lake
• June 23 - Meech Lake Accord officially dead
• September 6 - Bob Rae's NDP wins a surprise majority in Ontario.
• September 12 - Roger Bacon becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing John Buchanan
• September 26 - Oka crisis ends peacefully
• September 27 - Brian Mulroney temprarily increases the size of the Senate to ensure passage of the GST
• October 1 - Bob Rae become premier of Ontario, replacing David Peterson
• November 1 - Mulroney launches the Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future to get Canadians' input on constitutional reform
• December 17 - The GST becomes law
• Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup four games to one over the Boston Bruins. It is their fifth cup in seven years.
• Doug Flutie returns to Canada to play with the British Columbia Lions
• Canada Post Systems Management Limited founded
• Jean Chrétien elected leader of the opposition Liberals
• Richard Taylor wins the Nobel Prize in Physics for verifying the Quark Theory

Arts and Literature

New Works

• Swann by Carol Shields published
• The Evening News by Arthur Hailey
• A Tenured Professor by John Kenneth Galbraith
• TekWar by William Shatner
• Magic Casement by Dave Duncan
• Golden Fleece by Robert J. Sawyer
• Medicine River by Thomas King
• The Magic Machine: A Handbook of Computer Sorcery by Alexander Dewdney
• Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke
• The Wild Blue Yonder by Audrey Thomas
• L'Oursiade by Antonine Maillet

Awards

• See 1990 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

• Books in Canada First Novel Award: Sandra Birdsell, The Missing Child
• Geoffrey Bilson Award: Kit Pearson , The Sky is Falling
• Gerald Lampert Award: Steven Heighton, Stalin's Carnival
• Marian Engel Award: Carol Shields
• Pat Lowther Award: Patricia Young , The Mad and Beautiful Mothers
• Stephen Leacock Award: W.O. Mitchell, According to Jake and the Kid
• Trillium Book Award: Alice Munro, Friend of My Youth
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Bernice Thurman Hunter

Births

Deaths

• January 7 - Bronko Nagurski, American football player
• March 22 - Gerald Bull, arms expert
• April 11 - Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs
• July 18 - Johnny Wayne, comedian
• August 25 - Morley Callaghan, writer
• November 7 - Hugh MacLennan, writer
• November 16 - Northern Dancer, racehorse
• Robert Markle , painter