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- June 4, 1976 - Canada announces a 200-mile coastal fishing zone.
- July 14, 1976 - House of Commons free vote removes capital punishment from the Criminal Code; replaces it with mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years for all first-degree murders. Capital punishment stays in the Canadian National Defence Act for the most serious military offences, including treason and mutiny. Capital Punishment
- July 17, 1976 - Olympic games open in Montréal under tight security (to July 31).
- September 15, 1976 - Team Canada wins the first Canada Cup.
- November 15, 1976 - René Lévesque and the Parti Québecois win the provincial election. This represents a challenge to the existing federal system because one of the party's stated objectives is an independent Quebec.
- 1976 - T. Eaton Company discontinues catalogue sales after 92 continuous years.
- August 26, 1977 - Parti Québécois government adopts Bill 101 (La Charte de la langue française); French becomes the official language of Québec; children whose mother or father went to English school eligible for English schooling.
- September 6, 1977 - Highway signs are changed to the metric system.
- January 24, 1978 - Remains of a Soviet nuclear-powered satellite crash in Canada's north.
- 1978 - Manufacturers of birth control pills are required to provide labels of health risks for smokers and women over forty.
- 1978 - Sun Life Assurance acknowledges that it moved its head office to Toronto because of Montréal's language laws and political instability.
- May 22, 1979 - 31st general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by Joe Clark, defeat Liberals, led by Pierre Trudeau, and win a minority, despite winning a significantly smaller share of the vote than the Liberals. The Progressive Conservatives won the highest vote share in seven provinces, but the Liberals captured an enormous lead in Quebec.
- September 5, 1979 - Maple Leaf coin goes on sale in Canada, the US and Europe; the first uniquely Canadian gold bullion coin is a runaway success for the Royal Canadian Mint because of its purity.
- November 10, 1979 - Most of Mississauga, Ontario is evacuated to avoid derailed train cars containing chemicals; no fatalities.
- December 13, 1979 - Supreme Court of Canada declares unconstitutional the creation of officially unlilingual legislatures in Manitoba and Québec.
- December 13, 1979 - Joe Clark's Conservatives lose a non-confidence vote on the budget, forcing their resignation.
- January 28, 1980 - Ken Taylor, Canadian ambassador to Iran, becomes an international celebrity for helping six Americans escape Tehran.
- April 12, 1980 - **Terry Fox Starts Marathon of Hope
- May 20, 1980 - **Québec Votes No to Sovereignty-Association Option in Referendum - by a margin of 60% to 40%.
- June 27, 1980 - O Canada is offically adopted as Canada's national anthem.
- July 1, 1980 - **O Canada Proclaimed as Canada's National Anthem
- October 28, 1980 - Pierre Trudeau unveils the National Energy Program (NEP), with an expanded role for Petro-Canada.
- February 18, 1980 - Pierre Trudeau leads Liberals to victory over Joe Clark's Progressive Conservatives with a majority in the [32nd general election]].
- 1980 - Canada boycotts Moscow Olympic games due to the invasion of Afghanistan.
- 1980 - Supreme Court of Canada recognizes the equal distribution of assets in failed common-law relationships.
- February 14, 1981 - **Ad Hoc Women and the Constitution Conference
- June 29, 1981 - Terry Fox dies of cancer in the middle of his cross-Canada Marathon of Hope; his example eventually raises about 25 million dollars.
- September 23, 1981 - Québec bans public signs in English.
- November 5, 1981 - Pierre Trudeau signs constitutional accord with nine premiers, after a late night Kitchen Cabinet meeting involving Justice Minister Jean Chrétien, Ontario Attorney-General Roy McMurtry and Saskatchewan Justice Minister Roy Romanow; they agree on a method to repatriate Canada's constitution, with an amending formula and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms; René Lévesque abstains, arguing that the proposed Constitution Act does not guarantee Québec's French-only language policy.
- February 15, 1982 - Drilling Rig Ocean Ranger sinks in a storm off Grand Banks of Newfoundland, 84 drowned.
- March 4, 1982 - Bertha Wilson is the First woman appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
- March 8, 1982 - Canada Act Passed: Patriation of Constitution
- April 7, 1982 - Québec government demand for a veto over constitutional change is rejected.
- April 17, 1982 - **Queen Elizabeth Signs The Canada Act 1982 Into Law
- April 17, 1982 - The Constitution Act, 1982 (enacted by the British Parliament) comes into force; the Act is based on the Accord signed in November 1981. In addition to entrenching the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and an amending formula, the Act affirms the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada, thereby giving constitutional status to these rights.
- April 17, 1982 - First Electoral Rights in Constitution, The right to vote and the right to be a candidate in an election are enshrined in the Constitution with the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- April 17, 1982 - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Comes Into Effect.
- February 1, 1983 - Pay TV begins operation.
- June 2, 1983 - Fire Aboard Air Canada DC9 Flight 797, Cincinnati, Ohio, 23 killed, including singer Stan Rogers
- July 23, 1983 - The Gimli Glider - Air Canada 767 runs out of fuel in midair and makes an emergency glide landing at the Gimli, Manitoba airstrip; due to metric confusion and fuel metering problems.
- December 23, 1983 - Jeanne Sauvé is appointed the first female Governor General.
- 1983 - Public outcry opposes the government's approval of U.S. cruise missile testing in the west.
- June 30, 1984 - John Turner succeeds Pierre Trudeau as Liberal leader and prime minister.
- September 4, 1984 - 33rd general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney, defeat Liberals, led by prime minister John Turner and win the most seats in Canadian history (an even larger majority than that achieved by John Diefenbaker in 1958). The election is both the best showing ever for the Progressive Conservatives (211 seats), and the worst showing ever for the Liberals (40 seats).
- September 9, 1984 - Pope John Paul II starts visit to Canada (to [[September 20, 1984).
- October 5, 1984 - **Marc Garneau the First Canadian in Space on the U.S. shuttle Challenger.
- 1985 - U.S. ice-breaker Polar Sea challenges Canada's Arctic sovereignty by travelling through the Northwest Passage.
- December 2, 1985 - Brian Mulroney and U.S. president Ronald Reagan declare mutual support for orbital Strategic Defense Initiatives (Star Wars) and Free Trade at the Shamrock Summit (so-named for their mutual Irish backgrounds) in Québec City.
- 1985 - Ontario Liberals under David Peterson end forty years of Conservative Premiership.
- 1985 - Lincoln Alexander becomes Ontario's first black lieutenant-governor.
- December 12, 1985 - Arrow Air charter Flight 128 DC8 crashes at Gander, Newfoundland, 256 killed
- June 23, 1985 - **Air India Bombing - Air India Flight 182, Terrorist bomb blows up Boeing 747 off Ireland; 280 Canadians aboard - 329 killed
- January 31, 1986 - Canadian dollar hits an all-time low of 70.2 U.S. cents on money markets.
- May 2, 1986 - Expo '86 opens in Vancouver (to Oct. 13).
- May 22, 1986 - U.S. imposes tariffs on some imported Canadian wood products.
- August 5, 1986 - Canada adopts sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies.
- August 11, 1986 - Tamil refugees from Sri lanka found drifting off the coast of Newfoundland.
- October 6, 1986 - Canada receives a United Nations award for sheltering world refugees.
- 1986 - Canadian John Polanyi shares the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
- February 8, 1986 - VIA Rail and CN trains collide, Hinton, Alberta, 26 killed
- April 30, 1987 - Brian Mulroney and the provincial Premiers agree in principle to the Meech Lake Accord designed to bring Québec into the new Constitution.
- July 31, 1987 - Tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 and injuring hundreds.
- August 30, 1987 - Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson sets a new world record for the 100-metre dash; susiciions arise later that it was steroid fueled.
- October 3, 1987 - Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement is reached, but still requires ratification.
- 1987 - House of Commons debates and defeats on a free vote a motion to reintroduce capital punishment. Capital Punishment
- 1988 - Supreme Court of Canada strikes down existing legislation against abortion as unconstitutional (Jan. 28).
- February 13, 1988 - Winter Olympics open in Calgary.
- September 9, 1988 - David See-Chai Lam, born in Hong Kong, becomes British Columbia lieutenant-governor.
- September 24, 1988 - Ben Johnson sets a world record and wins the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics in Korea; testing positive for steroids, he is stripped of his medal two days later.
- December 15, 1988 - Supreme Court of Canada strikes down Québec's French-only sign law; finding a loophole (the "notwithstanding" clause) in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the province reinstates the law (Dec. 21).
- 1988 - Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon slows the ratification of the Meech Lake Accord in reaction to Québec's move.
- December, 1988 - Free Trade Agreement passes the House of Commons and the Senate.
- 1988 - 34th general election, Brian Mulroney is re-elected with a second majority, contending with a stronger performance from John Turner, and a better third-party showing from Ed Broadbent's New Democrats, winning that party's highest result ever (43 seats).
- January 1, 1989 - Free Trade Agreement Goes Into Effect
- 1989 - Heather Erxleben becomes Canada's first acknowledged female combat soldier.
- 1989 - One-dollar bills are replaced by the one-dollar coin, popularly called the "loonie."
- December 2, 1989 - First Federal Woman Party Leader, Audrey McLaughlin elected leader of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP), replacing Ed Broadbent; first woman to lead a federal political party.
- December 6, 1989 - **Gunman Kills 14 Women Students in Montréal Massacre - Marc Lépine kills fourteen female engineering students at the Université de Montréal's École Polytechnique Montréal, Québec
- March 11, 1990 - The Oka Crisis begins at Kanesetake, Quebec.
- 1990 - Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells slows down the signing of the Meech Lake Accord.
- June 22, 1990 - Elijah Harper, an aboriginal member of the Manitoba legislative, deals the Meech Lake Accord a fatal blow with his absolute refusal to accept Québec as Canada's principal, if not only, "distinct society". The deadline for adoption of the Meech Lake Accord thus expires as the Manitoba and Newfoundland legislative assemblies fail to ratify the Accord.
- July 25, 1990 - Formation of the Bloc Québecois by disenchanted Québec politicians after failure of the Meech Lake Accord.
- September, 1990 - Bob Rae upsets David Peterson and, with a surprising majority, becomes Ontario's first NDP Premier.
- December, 1990 - Senate finally passes the unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST), a national valued added tax, to replace the invisible Manufacturers' Sales Tax that was penalizing Canadian companies.
- January 1, 1991 - Goods and Services Tax (GST) comes into effect.
- January 15, 1991 - Canadian forces join the multinational forces in the battle to drive Saddam Hussein's Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
- 1991 - British Columbia premier Bill Van Der Zalm resigns in the midst of a real estate scandal.
- May, 1991 - George Erasmus, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, resigns at the end of his second term; succeeded by Ovide Mercredi, whose popularity earns him the nickname of "eleventh premier."
- 1991 - Another committee crosses the country soliciting citizens' opinions on proposed constitutional reforms.
- 1991 - David Schindler of the University of Alberta wins the first international Stockholm Water Prize for environmental research.
- November, 1991 - Six Nations man is the first to be allowed to make a traditional native oath instead of swearing on the Bible, in a Brantford, Ontario courtroom.
- 1991 - Tungavik sign an agreement with Ottawa to create a new, quasi-independent Inuit territory in the eastern Arctic.
- 1992 - The Miss Canada pageant is scrapped.
- 1992 - Roberta Bondar is Canada's First female astronaut in orbit.
- January, 1992 - Ontario lawyers vote no longer to swear an oath to the Queen.
- June, 1992 - Canada is the first country to sign the international bio-diversity convention at the Earth Summit in Brazil.
- 1992 - Although the players are all American or Caribbean, the Toronto Blue Jays become the first nominally Canadian team to win baseball's World Series.
- August 28, 1992 - First Ministers reach unanimous agreement on the Charlottetown Accord, a wide-ranging package of proposed constitutional amendments on subjects such as a Canada Clause, Senate reform, aboriginal self-government and the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces.
- October 26, 1992 - Canadians vote "no" in a referendum seeking popular support for the Charlottetown Agreement, intended as a corrective to the Canadian Constitution in the wake of the failed Meech Lake Accord. The overall vote has 54.3% voting no and 45.7% voting yes. On a provincial basis, the accord is rejected in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
- 1992 - First Special Measures for Disabled Canadians put into Canada Elections Act to ensure voting access for people with disabilities.
- May 9, 1992 - Westray Coal Mine Explosion at Plymouth, Nova Scotia - 26 killed
- 1993 - Catherine Callbeck the first woman to be elected Premier, in Prince Edward Island.
- March, 1993 - Environmental activists cause minor damage to government buildings in Victoria, BC, during a demonstration.
- 1993 - First Canadians Allowed to Vote Outside Canada, First qualified voters living outside Canada allowed to vote by special mail-in ballot in their home riding.
- 1993 - First Prisoners, Judges and Persons With Mental Disabilities Allowed to Vote - Federally appointed judges, persons with mental disabilities and persons serving prison terms of less than two years obtain the right to vote.
- June, 1993 - Kim Campbell replaces Brian Mulroney as the head of the Progressive Conservatives, becoming Canada's first woman Prime Minister.
- July, 1993 - Section of northwest B.C. set aside as a world heritage conservation site. Protesters block loggers' access to ancient forests near Clayoquot Sound; to August, 1993.
- October 23, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series for the second year in a row.
- October 25, 1993 - 35th general election, Liberals, led by Liberal Jean Chrétien, defeat Progressive Conservatives, led by prime minister Kim Campbell, with a majority. The election changes the political landscape as ex-Mulroney cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard's separatist Bloc Québécois become the official opposition, and the upstart right-wing western protest Reform Party, led by Preston Manning, becomes the third party. Meanwhile Audrey McLaughlin's New Democrats and Campbell's Progressive Conservatives both have their worst electoral results ever, with 9 and 2 seats, respectively.
- October 25, 1993 - Kim Campbell's Progressive Conservative Party, in power for nine years, is reduced to a mere two seats -- less than is required to be considered an official party.
- 1994 - The Canadian pilot of a Korean airliner that crashed is arrested for endangering the lives of his passengers.
- 1994 - Cigarette taxes are lowered in an attempt to reduce smuggling.
- 1994 - Trade barriers between provinces are reduced.
- 1994 - Inuit of Northern Québec arrange for self-government.
- September 12, 1994 - Parti Québecois narrowly elected in the Quebec provincial election and promises to hold a second referendum on Quebec secession.
- October 30, 1995 - In the Quebec Referendum on secession, the NO side wins by a vote of 50.6% to 49.4%. Premier Jacques Parizeau explains the narrow failure of the sovereignty referendum with some ill-advised remarks regarding non-francophones and la vote ethnique; he is soon replaced by Lucien Bouchard.
- September 4, 1995 - Kettle and Stony Point Protestors Occupy Ipperwash Park|; protester Dudley George killed on September 6, 1995.
- October, 1995 - Alexa McDonough is elected leader of the federal NDP.
- November, 1995 - Intruder breaks into the Prime Minister's residence at 24 Sussex Drive; driven off by Jean Chrétien's wife Aline Chrétien.
- December 11, 1995 - The House of Commons passes a resolution recognizing that Quebec is a distinct society within Canada.
- 1995 - The Canadian Airborne Regiment is disbanded in the midst of public outcries over hazing rituals.
- 1995 - Newfoundland takes control of [Roman Catholic]] and other religious schools.
- 1995 - Québec Cree and Inuit hold their own referenda and reject separation from Canada.
- February 2, 1996 - An Act Respecting Constitutional Amendments , Bill C-110 of the Parliament of Canada, receives royal assent. The Act effectively provides a veto for Quebec, Ontario, and the Western and Atlantic regions over constitutional amendments that provinces cannot otherwise opt-out of or veto directly.
- February 15, 1996 - Nisga'a Treaty approved by Nisga'a Tribal Council; calls for grant of $190 million and communal ownership of, and self-government over, 1,930 sq km of land in the Nass River valley in northwestern BC.
- February, 1996 - Royal Canadian Mint unveils two-dollar Polar Bear coin.
- June 21, 1996 - **National Aboriginal Day First Celebrated
- July 19, 1996 - **Flooding Devastates Saguenay Region, as torrential rains burst dams, dikes and embankments, destroying 22,488 homes, leaving 10,000 homeless and killing 10 people.
- July 27, 1996 - Sprinter Donovan Bailey wins the 100 Metres at the Atlanta Summer Olympics in a new world record time; his gold medal sets off an outburst of national pride.
- July, 1996 - Opening of major international AIDS conference in Vancouver, BC.
- 1996 - Permanent Register of Voters - Amendments to the Canada Elections Act create a permanent register of Canadians qualified as electors, and eliminate door-to-door enumeration for federal elections, referendums and by-elections. The general election and by-election period is shortened to a minimum of 36 days, and the hours of voting on polling day are staggered and extended so that a majority of results will be available at approximately the same time across the country.
- 1996 - Major land-claim agreement is made with the Nisg'a of B.C.
- 1996 - Mike Harcourt, plagued by allegations that fundraisers diverted charity funds to the NDP, is succeeded by Glen Clark as Premier of B.C.
- 1996 - Somalia inquiry gets underway.
- 1996 - Federal legislation attempts to ban discrimination against homosexuals.
- 1997 - Opening of Confederation Bridge, a thirteen kilometre span connecting Prince Edward Island to the mainland.
- May, 1997 - Massive flooding approaches Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- 1997 - 36th general election, Liberals, led by Jean Chrétien, are re-elected with a second majority. Preston Manning becomes opposition leader. The Progressive Conservatives, hoping to regain their place as the natural alternative to the Liberals under Jean Charest win nearly as many votes as Manning's Reform Party, but only one-third as many seats.
- 1997 - Disputes over salmon fishing lead to tension between the U.S. and Canada in the Pacific Northwest.
- 1997 - Ontario teachers stage walkout to protest policies of the Harris government.
- September 14, 1997 - The Premiers and Territorial Leaders, except Quebec, unanimously agree on a framework for open public consultations with Canadians on strengthening the Canadian federation.
- November 13, 1997 - **Larry Walker National League Baseball's MVP
- November 14, 1997 - Murder in Victoria draws attention to growing violence among teenaged girls.
- December, 1997 - Supreme Court of Canada rules that natives' oral history is legitimate in making land claims in BC
- January 5, 1998 - **Start of Ice Storm that hits Québec, Ontario and New Brunswick; to January 9, 1998; 28 deaths in Canada; 19 deaths in USA, many from hypothermia.
- January, 1998 - Federal government issues a formal apology to native peoples for past injustices like the residential school system.
- April, 1998 - Native loggers protest restrictions in the forests of New Brunswick.
- 1998 - Controversy surrounds the Nisga'a treaty in British Columbia, including some measure of self-government.
- July, 1998 - Canadian Human Rights Tribunal concludes that the Public Service Alliance of Canada has a right to call for pay equity.
- September 2, 1998 - Swissair Flight 111 MD11 crashes off Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia (Flight 111) - 229 killed
- 1998 - Commons votes to change Canadian National Defence Act to remove death penalty and bring military law in line with civil law; replaced with life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole before 25 years.Capital Punishment
- August, 1999 - Several successive waves of illegal immigrants arrive on the shores of BC.
- April 1, 1999 - **The Creation of Nunavut
- 1999 - B.C. interior native peoples log in defiance of government authorities.
- September, 1999 - East coast native peoples fish in defiance of government authorities.
