Crown

• Monarch – Elizabeth II^[1]

Federal government

• Governor General – Jeanne Sauvé^[2]
• Prime Minister – Brian Mulroney
• Chief Justice – Brian Dickson (Manitoba)
• Parliament – 33rd

Provincial governments

Territorial governments

January to March

• January 26 – Frank Miller elected leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party replacing Bill Davis.^[3]
• January 30 – The federal government relaxes laws requiring businesses to use the metric system.
• February 8 – Frank Miller becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Bill Davis after the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership election.
• February 11 – The federal and Newfoundland governments sign the Atlantic Accord paving the way for joint development of Newfoundland's offshore oil and gas reserves.
• February 12 – Minister of National Defence Robert Coates resigns after it is revealed that he visited a strip-club while on government business in Germany.
• February 13 – Denis Lortie is found guilty of murder for his attack at the Quebec Parliament Building that killed three.
• February 28 – Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel is found guilty of publishing false news and fomenting racial intolerance.
• March – Willard Phelps becomes premier of Yukon, replacing Chris Pearson.
• March – At the so-called Shamrock Summit between Prime Minister Mulroney and US President Ronald Reagan the two agree on cooperation on missile defence and free trade.
• March 12 – Heavily armed Armenian militants storm the Turkish embassy in Ottawa. They kill a security guard and hold a dozen people hostage for four hours.
• March 21 – Rick Hansen launches his Man in Motion world tour to raise money for spinal cord research.
• March 29 – 10 are killed after two military planes collide near CFB Edmonton.

April to June

• April 24 - The Supreme Court of Canada rules the Lord's Day Act violates Canadians' freedom of religion.
• May - Tony Penikett becomes government leader of Yukon, replacing Willard Phelps.
• May 2 - Ontario election: Frank Miller's PCs win a minority, but David Peterson's Liberals will form a coalition with the NDP, forcing Miller to resign.
• May 9 - The Supreme Court rules that orders in council are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• May 31 - A tornado in Barrie, Ontario, kills twelve as part of the 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak.
• June 20 – René Lévesque announces his intention to resign as premier of Quebec.
• June 23 - Air India Flight 182 explodes en route from Montreal to London; Sikh terrorists are blamed.
• June 26 - David Peterson becomes premier of Ontario, replacing Frank Miller.

July to December

• July 1 - The first cell phone call is made in Canada, between Toronto mayor Art Eggleton and Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau.^[4]
• September 1 - The wreck of the RMS Titanic is found off the coast of Newfoundland.
• September 6 - The Canadian Encyclopedia is launched.
• September 17 - The Tunagate scandal erupts.
• September 20 - Lincoln Alexander becomes the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, the first Black person to hold a vice-regal position in Canada.
• September 25 - The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology opens in Drumheller, Alberta.
• October 3 - Pierre-Marc Johnson becomes premier of Quebec, replacing René Lévesque.
• November 1 - Don Getty becomes premier of Alberta, replacing Peter Lougheed.
• November 5 - Nick Sibbeston becomes government leader of the Northwest Territories, replacing Richard Nerysoo.
• December 2 - In the Quebec election, Robert Bourassa's Liberals gain a majority, defeating the Parti Québécois.
• December 12 - Robert Bourassa becomes premier of Quebec for the second time, replacing Pierre-Marc Johnson.
• December 12 - The worst airplane accident in Canadian history occurs when Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes on take-off from Gander International Airport; 256 people are killed.
• December 23 - Nahanni earthquake, largest of a number earthquakes occurs in Nahanni region of NWT.
• Corel is founded in Ottawa.

Unknown

• The Mulroney government establishes the Court Challenges Program.

New books

• Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale
• Colin Thatcher: Backrooms: A Story of Politics
• Brian Moore: Black Robe
• Erín Moure: Domestic Fuel
• Farley Mowat: My Discovery of America

Awards

• See 1985 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
• Books in Canada First Novel Award: G. Ursell, Perdue, or How the West Was Lost
• Gerald Lampert Award: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation
• Pat Lowther Award: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation
• Stephen Leacock Award: Ted Allan, Love Is a Long Shot
• Vicky Metcalf Award: Edith Fowke

Television

• The last episode of The Friendly Giant on CBC Television
• The first episode of the children's series The Raccoons on CBC Television

Music

• February 10 - A supergroup of Canadian musicians, Northern Lights, gathers to record the charity single Tears Are Not Enough for famine relief in Ethiopia.

January to June

• January 30 – F. R. Scott, poet, intellectual and constitutional expert (b. 1899)
• February 2 – Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux, musician and composer (b. 1938)
• February 5 – Georges-Émile Lapalme, politician (b. 1907)
• February 16 – Marian Engel, novelist (b. 1933)
• March 17 – Athole Shearer, actress (b. 1900)
• April 17 – Walter Weir, politician and 15th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1929)
• April 21 – Foster Hewitt, radio pioneer (b. 1902)
• April 22 – Jacques Ferron, physician and author, founder of the Parti Rhinocéros (b. 1921)

July to December

• July 3 – Frank J. Selke, ice hockey manager (b. 1893)
• August 20 – Donald O. Hebb, psychologist (b. 1904)
• September 6 – Isabel Meighen, wife of Arthur Meighen, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1883)
• October 28 – Eric Coy, discus thrower and shot putter (b. 1914)

Full date unknown

• June – Kenneth Zeller, teacher and librarian (b. 1945)