1 March 1633 

After three years of English occupation, Samuel de Champlain is reinstated as the commander of New France.

2 March 2011 

HMCS Charlottetown heads for Libya to provide humanitarian assistance.

5 March 1891 

John A. Macdonald leads the Conservatives to victory in what would be his final general election; he dies just three months later.

6 March 1945 

Operation Spring Awakening, the last major German offensive of the Second World War, begins.’

7 March 1951

Two companies from 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry launch an assault on Hill 532 in South Korea.

8 March 2001 

The Royal Canadian Navy begins allowing women to serve on submarines.

9 March 1915 

Redford Mulock is the first Canadian to qualify as a pilot in the British Royal Naval Air Service.

10 March 1992 

Citing his “unique and historic role,” the House of Commons declares Métis leader Louis Riel a founder of Manitoba.

11 March 1876 

North West Mounted Police sub-constable John Nash is accidentally killed while on duty near Fort Macleod, Alta. He is the first person commemorated in the RCMP Honour Roll for those killed in the line of duty.

12 March 1930 

First World War ace Billy Barker dies in a plane crash near Ottawa.

13 March 1971 

FLQ member Paul Rose is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Quebec politician Pierre Laporte; he is later released after a report reveals he was not present at the crime. 

17 March 1945 

HMCS Guysborough is torpedoed and sunk by U-868 in the Bay of Biscay off France, resulting in 51 casualties. 

20 March 2009 

Four soldiers are killed, eight wounded in roadside bombings near Kandahar.

21 March 1918 

The entire German army attacks the British front between St. Quentin and Arras with a heavy artillery bombardment of explosives and gas.

24 March 1945 

The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion drops behind enemy lines in Germany as part of the crossing of the Rhine River.

28 March 1918

The anti-conscription Easter Riots begin in Quebec City and culminate in Canadian soldiers firing at civilians, killing four and injuring dozens. 

30 March 1951

RCAF Flt. Lt. Omer Lévesque is the first British Commonwealth pilot to shoot down a German Focke-Wulf Fw-190.