See also:
1985 in Canada,
other events of 1986,
1987 in Canada and the
list of 'years in Canada'.
Incumbents
See 1986 Canadian incumbents for more
Events
- January 22 - An investigation determines that a bomb caused the crash of Air India flight 182
- January 31 - The Canadian dollar hits an all-time low of 70.2 U.S. cents on international money markets
- February 8 - 23 people are killed when a VIA Rail train collides with a CN Rail train near Hinton, Alberta
- March 15 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,Wembley,England, Canada beat England 3-1.
- May 1 - Shirley Carr becomes the first female head of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
- May 2 - Joe Ghiz becomes premier of Prince Edward Island, replacing James Lee
- May 2 - The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia opens.
- May 8 - Alberta election: Don Getty's PCs win a fifth consecutive majority, but a smaller majority than before
- May 24 - In Calgary, the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup against the Calgary Flames
- May 25 - An attempt is made to assassinate Malkiat Singh Sidhu a cabinet minister in the Indian province of Punjab in Vancouver
- June 19 - The new Competition Act comes into force
- June 20 - Jean Drapeau resigns as mayor of Montreal
- August 5 - Canada adopts sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies
- August 6 - Bill Vander Zalm becomes premier of British Columbia, replacing Bill Bennett
- August 11 - Tamil refugees are found drifting off the coast of Newfoundland
- September 30 - Canadian MPs elect the Speaker by secret ballot for the first time.
- October 6 - Canada receives a United Nations award for sheltering refugees
- October 20 - Saskatchewan election: Grant Devine's PCs win a second consecutive majority
- December 8 - The University of Toronto's John C. Polanyi shares the Nobel Prize for chemistry for the development of the chemical laser
- Negotiators begin work on what would eventually be the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement
- The birds series of Canadian banknotes is released
- Supreme Court rules on the RWDSU v. Dolphin Delivery Ltd. case
- Conrad Black buys The Daily Telegraph
- Dinosaur fossils are found in Parsboro, Nova Scotia
Arts and Literature
- New Works:
- Awards:
- New Music:
- New Movies:
Births
Deaths
