Acknowledgements | Preface | Saskatchewan Before Provincehood l Saskatchewan Populations & Premiers
1905 | 1915 | 1925 | 1935 | 1945 | 1955 | 1965 | 1975 | 1985 | 1995

Golden Jubilee skating carnival
location unknown, 1955

Macdonald Brier
Regina, 1955

Public health nurse giving polio shot
Thunderchild Reserve, 1958

School buses
Lang, c. 1960

Medicare protesters at the Legislative Building
Regina, 1962

Community lumber yard
La Loche, 1964

1955

• Saskatchewan marks its Golden Jubilee with hundreds of celebrations. The events honour the pioneers, many of whom are still living. Regina hosts the Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men’s curling championship. Hometown favourites, the Campbells of Avonlea, claim victory.
  
• University Hospital opens in Saskatoon after eight years of construction. A teaching hospital linked to the College of Medicine at the University, it is the leading medical facility in the province.
  
• The Museum of Natural History opens a new building in Regina, a legacy of the province’s 50th anniversary.

1956

• The province begins an ambitious plan to build a system of all-weather roads. Saskatchewan has more miles of road than any province in Canada.
  
• This is the peak year for rural electrification. Lights go on in hundreds of farms, and yard lights dot the countryside.
  
• The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour is founded.

1957

• The Trans-Canada Highway through Saskatchewan is complete. Saskatchewan is the first province to finish its section.
  
• Completion of the Trans-Canada microwave-relay system through Saskatchewan means that viewers can watch live television broadcasts from eastern Canada.
  
• Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative politician John G. Diefenbaker becomes Prime Minister of Canada. Raised on a farm near Borden, Diefenbaker graduated with a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan and practised in Wakaw and Prince Albert. First elected to Parliament in 1940, Diefenbaker will represent the federal riding of Prince Albert from 1953 to 1979.

1958

• The Union of Saskatchewan Indians becomes the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians.
  
• A mine near Saskatoon produces Canada’s first potash; however, flooding forces the mine to close. Water problems plague another mine development at Esterhazy.

1959

• Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit Saskatchewan. The tour includes the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon.
  
• Boundary Dam near Estevan and the Queen Elizabeth power generating station in Saskatoon are commissioned by Saskatchewan Power Corporation. The Queen officiates at the Saskatoon opening.
  
• The Ernie Richardson rink from Regina wins the first of four Macdonald Brier Canadian men’s curling championships.
  
• A ceremony drawing nearly 15,000 people marks the beginning of the South Saskatchewan River project 25 kilometres downstream from Elbow. The earth-filled dam, which will take years to complete, will be one of the largest in the world.

1960

• Treaty Indians get the right to vote in federal and provincial elections.
  
• The government begins a major effort to modernize farms. The Family Farm Improvement Act provides financial assistance to install water and sewage systems on farms.
  
• The Interprovincial Steel and Pipe Corporation (IPSCO) is founded in Regina. It is western Canada’s first steel mill.

1961

• A ten-day heat wave in early June hits Saskatchewan. High temperatures and little rain add up to the hottest and driest month ever recorded in Western Canada.
  
• The rural electrification program, begun in 1949, is essentially complete.
  
• The Joyce McKee rink from Saskatoon wins the first Canadian women’s curling championship.

1962

• Saskatchewan implements Medicare. The Medical Care Insurance Act provides tax-funded medical care to all Saskatchewan residents. Doctors withdraw services for 23 days to demonstrate their opposition to the scheme, but some concessions from the government end the strike. A few years later, the Saskatchewan plan will be a model for a similar nationwide program.
  
• The International Minerals & Chemicals Corporation potash mine at Esterhazy goes into production. The Blairmore Formation, a layer of water and sand far below the earth’s surface, had caused flooding of the mine shaft. Huge cast-iron rings, some five metres in diameter, were put in place to keep the water out. This Saskatchewan engineering innovation, known as the Blairmore Ring, marked the real beginning of the potash industry in Saskatchewan. The Esterhazy mine will become the largest potash mine in the world.
  

1963

• The University of Saskatchewan begins construction of its new Regina campus south of Wascana Lake.
  
• The E.B. Campbell generating station, on the Saskatchewan River northeast of Nipawin, goes into service.

1964

• Saskatchewan permits separate tax-supported Catholic secondary schools. Education tax dollars can now be directed to either the public or the separate high school system as had been the case with elementary schools since 1905.
  
• The largest linear accelerator in the world opens at the University of Saskatchewan. It keeps the University at the forefront of nuclear physics research.
  
• The Hanson Lake Road is officially opened. Beginning in Smeaton and ending at Creighton, the 322 kilometre highway is an important link between Prince Albert and Flin Flon, Manitoba.