1944 in Canada

Events from the year 1944 in Canada.

Events

• March 20 - Henry Duncan Graham Crerar becomes chief of the Canadian Army
• June 6 - World War II: The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division lands at Juno Beach, part of the Invasion of Normandy
• June 15 - Saskatchewan election: Tommy Douglas's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation wins a landslide majority, defeating William John Patterson's Liberals
• July 10 - Tommy Douglas becomes premier of Saskatchewan, replacing William Patterson
• July 23 - The 1st Canadian Army is activated in Normandy, becoming the largest combat force to ever be placed under Canadian command.
• August 1 - The House of Commons approves the Family Allowance Act
• August 8 - Alberta election: Ernest Manning's Alberta Social Credit Party wins a third consecutive majority
• August 17 - World War II: The Canadian Army liberates Falaise
• August 30 - Maurice Duplessis becomes Premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Adélard Godbout
• October 1 - The Battle of the Scheldt estuary begins
• October 21 - Smokey Smith earns the Victoria Cross on the Savio River in Italy.
• December 24 - HMCS Clayoquot sunk off Halifax by a German U-boat
• Conscription Crisis of 1944

Births

January to June

• January 6 - John Efford, politician
• March 15 - Francis Mankiewicz, film director, screenwriter and producer (d.1993)
• March 26 - Benjamin Chee Chee, artist (d.1977)
• March 29 - Terry Jacks, singer, songwriter, record producer and environmentalist
• April 12 - Glen Cummings, politician
• April 17 - Bobby Curtola, singer
• May 20 - Elinor Caplan, politician and businesswoman
• May 28 - Rita MacNeil, singer-songwriter
• June 1 - Aileen Carroll, politician
• June 29 - Bob Kilger, politician
• June 29 - Charlie Watt, Senator

July to September

• July 5 - Norma McCormick, politician
• July 5 - Robbie Robertson, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• July 30 - Mendelson Joe, singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter
• August 11 - Alexa McDonough, politician
• August 18 - David Newman, politician
• August 25 - Conrad Black, historian, columnist and publisher, appealing a fraud conviction in the United States
• September 3 - Brian Linehan, television host (d.2004)
• September 20 - Phil Fontaine, Aboriginal Canadian leader
• September 30 - bpNichol, poet (d.1988)
• September 30 - Diane Dufresne, singer and painter

October to December

• November 17 -Lorne Michaels, television producer, writer and comedian
• December 4 - Anna McGarrigle, singer-songwriter
• December 12 - Peter Goldring, politician
• December 16 - Judy Sgro, politician
• December 16 - Mike Radcliffe, politician
• December 19 - Zal Yanovsky, rock musician (d.2002)
• December 24 - Daniel Johnson, Jr., politician and 25th Premier of Quebec
• December 24 - Dan Miller, politician and 32nd Premier of British Columbia

Full date unknown

• Jorge Zontal, artist and co-founder of the artistic collective General Idea (b.1994)

Deaths

January to June

• January 9 - John Wesley Dafoe, journalist and author (b.1866)

Stephen Leacock

• February 6 - Arthur Sauvé, politician (b.1874)
• March 9 - Roy Brown, World War I flying ace (b.1893)
• March 28 - Stephen Leacock, writer and economist (b.1869)

July to December

• July 27 - Clifford William Robinson, lawyer, businessman, politician and 11th Premier of New Brunswick (b.1866)
• September 5 - Gustave Biéler, Special Operations Executive agent during World War II (b.1904)
• September 9 - John Stuart Foster, physicist (b.1890)
• September 14 - John Kenneth Macalister, World War II hero (b.1914)
• September 14 - Frank Pickersgill, World War II hero (b.1915)
• September 14 - Roméo Sabourin, World War II hero (b.1923)
• September 27 - Aimee Semple McPherson, evangelist (b.1890)
• October 1 - William Mulock, politician and Minister (b.1844)
• November 3 - Jack Miner, conservationist (b.1865)
• November 26 - Henry Cockshutt, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (b.1868)