1925 in Canada

Events from the year 1925 in Canada.

Incumbents

Crown

• Monarch – George V<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Federal government

• Governor General – Julian Byng
• Prime Minister – William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Chief Justice – Francis Alexander Anglin (Ontario)
• Parliament – 14th (until 5 September)

Provincial governments

Lieutenant governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta – Robert Brett (until October 29) then William Egbert
• Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia – Walter Cameron Nichol
• Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba – James Albert Manning Aikins
• Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick – William Frederick Todd
• Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia – MacCallum Grant (until January 12) then James Robson Douglas (January 12 to September 14) then James Cranswick Tory
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario – Henry Cockshutt
• Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island – Frank Richard Heartz
• Lieutenant Governor of Quebec – Narcisse Pérodeau
• Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan – Henry William Newlands

Premiers

• Premier of Alberta – Herbert Greenfield (until November 23) then John Edward Brownlee
• Premier of British Columbia – John Oliver
• Premier of Manitoba – John Bracken
• Premier of New Brunswick – Peter Veniot (until September 14) then John Baxter
• Premier of Nova Scotia – Ernest Howard Armstrong (until July 16) then Edgar Nelson Rhodes
• Premier of Ontario – George Howard Ferguson
• Premier of Prince Edward Island – James D. Stewart
• Premier of Quebec – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
• Premier of Saskatchewan – Charles Avery Dunning

Territorial governments

Commissioners

• Gold Commissioner of Yukon – George P. MacKenzie (until April 1) then Percy Reid
• Commissioner of Northwest Territories – William Wallace Cory

Events

• February 5 – Post Office workers are brought under civil service regulations.
• February 24 – The Lake of the Woods Treaty works out joint Canadian-American control of the Lake of the Woods.
• April 13 – Women win the right to vote in Newfoundland.
• May 28 – Roddick Gates unveiled in Montreal.
• June 2 – 1925 Saskatchewan general election: Charles Dunning's Liberals win a sixth consecutive majority
• June 10 – The United Church of Canada opens for services.
• June 11 – Coal miner William Davis was killed by police in the culmination of a long Cape Breton Island strike.
• June 23 – First ascent of Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada.
• June 26 – A strike of miners in Drumheller, Alberta ends in violent confrontations.
• July 16 – Edgar Rhodes becomes premier of Nova Scotia, replacing Ernest Armstrong.
• September 14 – John Baxter becomes premier of New Brunswick, replacing Peter Veniot
• October 29 – Federal election: Arthur Meighen's Conservatives win a plurality (116 seats), defeating Mackenzie King's Liberals (99 seats). However, King does not resign as prime minister; he will try to govern with a minority government with the support of smaller parties and independent MPs (30 seats)
• November 23 – John Brownlee becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Charles Stewart
• The Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League, later the Royal Canadian Legion, is formed by the amalgamation of several veterans' organizations, such as the Great War Veterans Association.
• The federal divorce law was changed to allow a woman to divorce her husband on the same grounds that a man could divorce his wife – simple adultery. Before this, a woman had to prove adultery in conjunction with other acts such as "sodomy" or bestiality in order to initiate a divorce.<ref>Moira Armour and Pat Stanton, Canadian Women in History: A Chronology (Toronto: Green Dragon Press, 1990)</ref>

Arts and literature

• October 1 – The Vancouver School of Applied and Decorative Arts opened its doors.

Sport

• March 23 and 25 – The South Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Regina Pats win their first Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association's Toronto Aura Lee 7 to 3 in a 2-game aggregate played in Arena Gardens in Toronto
• March 30 – The Western Canada Hockey League's Victoria Cougars win their only Stanley Cup by defeating the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens 3 games to 1. The deciding game was played at Vancouver's Denman Arena. The Cougars are the last non-NHL team to win the Stanley Cup, as they would soon become the Detroit Red Wings
• December 5 – The Ottawa Senators win their first Grey Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Tammany Tigers 24 to 1 in the 13th Grey Cup played at Ottawa's Lansdowne Park

Births

January to June

• January 26 – Claude Ryan, politician (d. 2004)
• February 1 – Hugh Horner, politician, physician and surgeon (d. 1997)
• February 7 – Hans Schmidt, professional wrestler (d. 2012)
• March 2 – Bernard Jean, lawyer and politician, member (1960–1970) and Speaker (1963–1966) of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick (d. 2012)
• March 23 – Wilson Duff, anthropologist (d. 1976)
• March 25 – Daniel Yanofsky, chess player, Canada's first chess grandmaster (d. 2000)
• March 26 – Ben Mondor, baseball executive (Pawtucket Red Sox) (d. 2010)
• April 1 – Tobie Steinhouse, artist
• April 4 – Claude Wagner, judge and politician (d. 1979)
• April 11 – Pierre Péladeau, businessman (d. 1997)
• May 18 – Robin Blaser, author and poet (d. 2009)

July to September

• July 21 – Johnny Peirson, ice hockey player (d. 2021)
• July 25 – Charmion King, actress (d. 2007)

File:Oscar Peterson.jpg

Oscar Peterson

• July 29 – Ted Lindsay, ice hockey player (d. 2019)
• August 2 – William Andres, politician (d. 2010)
• August 11 – Floyd Curry, ice hockey player (d. 2006)
• August 15 – Oscar Peterson, jazz pianist and composer (d. 2007)
• August 22 – Terry Donahue, female professional baseball player (d. 2019)
• September 4 – Calvin Ruck, anti-racism activist and Senator (d. 2004)
• September 11 – Harry Somers, composer (d. 1999)
• September 24 – Dan Heap, politician (d. 2014)

October to December

• October 2 – Wren Blair, hockey coach and manager (Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins) (d. 2013)
• October 6 – Bud Olson, politician, Minister and Senator (d. 2002)
• October 12 – Denis Lazure, politician (d. 2008)
• October 21 – Peter Dickinson, architect (d. 1961)
• October 21 – Louis Robichaud, lawyer, politician and 25th Premier of New Brunswick (d. 2005)
• November 8 – Allan Lawrence, politician and Minister (d. 2008)
• November 10 – Doris Anderson, author, journalist and women's rights activist (d. 2007)
• November 12 – Agnes Nanogak, illustrator (d. 2001)
• December 5 – Dave Broadfoot, comedian (d. 2016)
• December 25 – Robert Layton, politician (d. 2002)
• December 29 – Colleen Thibaudeau, poet and short-story writer (d. 2012)

Deaths

January to June

• January 25 – Charles-Eusèbe Dionne, naturalist and taxidermist (b. 1845)
• March 3 – William Pugsley, lawyer, politician and 10th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1850)
• March 16 – Richard Butler, editor, publisher, journalist and U.S. vice-consul (b. 1834)
• May 4 – James Cunningham, merchant and politician (b. 1834)
• May 25 – Margaret Mick, prison guard, first female Canadian peace officer to be killed in the line of duty (b. 1860)
• June 18 – William Brymner, art teacher and painter (b. 1855)

July to December

• August 15 – Adam Beck, politician and hydro-electricity advocate (b. 1857)
• September 6 – George Henry Bradbury, politician (b. 1859)
• November 2 – James Alexander Lougheed, businessman and politician (b. 1854)

See also

• List of Canadian films

Historical documents

Rabbi claims only way to international peace is through righteousness<ref>Joseph S. Kornfeld, "Great Britain and America in the Service of the World" The Empire Club of Canada Addresses, pgs. 59-63. Accessed 4 May 2020</ref>

Charles Saunders' search for Prairies-hardy variety of wheat leads to Marquis, "which has meant millions of dollars to this country<ref>Address of L.H. Newman (March 26, 1925), [House] Select Standing Committee on Agriculture and Colonization[;] Addresses Delivered before the Committee, pgs. 25-6. Accessed 19 October 2020</ref>

Stephen Leacock resents requirement that works of authors seeking Canadian copyright must be printed in Canada<ref>Testimony of Stephen Leacock (March 10, 1925), Special Committee, Bill No. 2 re Copyright Act, pgs. 23-5. Accessed 19 October 2020</ref>

Radio station CKAC of La Presse claims to encourage expat Québécois/e to return and to keep farmers on their farms<ref>Testimony of J.N. Cartier (March 17, 1925), Special Committee, Bill No. 2 re Copyright Act, pgs. 126-7. Accessed 19 October 2020</ref>

United Church of Canada Basis of Union accommodates doctrines of three Protestant denominations<ref>"Doctrine," Subscription to the Basis of Union by the Members of the First General Council of the United Church of Canada (PDF pg. 3). Accessed 4 May 2020</ref>

PM King blames loss of election and his seat on big interests' money and Liberal Party's lack of organization<ref>Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King; 1925 (October 29), pg. 190. Accessed 4 May 2020</ref>

"There are many women who have rebelled against femininity, donned men's clothes, and followed masculine callings with success"<ref>"Women Who Lived as Men" The [St. John's] Evening Telegram (May 7, 1925), The Newfoundland and Labrador Queer Archive. Accessed 13 April 2025</ref>

Minnie Bell Sharp, first New Brunswick female candidate for MP, runs on soldiers, mothers and other issues<ref>Minnie Bell Adney, "THE Conservative Candidate; 'By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them.'" Accessed 4 May 2020</ref>

With transition from Czar to Soviets in Russia, Doukhobors split on returning there from Canada<ref>"Doukhobors in Canada" Protocol No. 13 (February 16, 1925), Standing Committee on Immigration, Council of Labour and Defence, U.S.S.R. Accessed 4 May 2020</ref>

Film: safety consciousness is needed in electrical lineman's work<ref>Province of Ontario Pictures, "Someone at Home" (1925), Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 22 September 2024</ref>

Film: log drivers in northern Ontario<ref>Province of Ontario Pictures, "The Drive" (1925), Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 22 September 2024</ref>

Film: production and use of stone blocks from quarry to masonry work on Ontario government building<ref>"A Story of Stone" (1925), Library and Archives Canada. Accessed 22 September 2024</ref>

Newlywed Mountie writes of his new home life in Dawson City, Yukon<ref>Letter of Claude Tidd (August 23, 1925), Yukon Archives. Accessed 4 May 2020</ref>

Beautiful brochure for Empress of France round-the-world cruise to see "costumes, crafts and civilizations of fifty different races"<ref>Canadian Pacific Railway Company, "Empress of France to the Gateway Ports of the World(;) Around the World Cruise 1925" Accessed 4 May 2020 (See also "Canadian Pacific Cruises 1927-1928: Round the World & Mediterranean")</ref>

Photo: open-air observation car, British Columbia mountains<ref>Angelica Archipenko, "Aussichtswagen; British Columbia" Photograph Album of Travel through Canada, 1925, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Accessed 1 January 2025</ref>