1956 in Canada

Incumbents

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 TransCanada 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 9 - Trans Canada Air Lines Flight 810 (9), a DC-4M-2 Northstar, crashes on Mount Slesse near Chilliwack during heavy weather. The plane carried Saskatchewan Roughriders and fans on the their way home from a game in Vancouver. Bodies were not found until the following late summer due to severe terrain and high altitude and unknown location of the crash.
December 14 - John Diefenbaker is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
René Lévesque begins hosting Point de Mire

New Books

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