<P> Capital punishment in Canada dates back to Canada's earliest history, including its period as a French colony and, after 1763, its time as a British colony . From 1867 to the elimination of the death penalty for murder on July 14, 1976, 1,481 people had been sentenced to death, and 710 had been executed . Of those executed, 697 were men and 13 were women . The only method used in Canada for capital punishment of civilians after the end of the French regime was hanging . The last execution in Canada was the double hanging of Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin on December 11, 1962, at Toronto's Don Jail . </P> <P> The death penalty was de facto abolished in Canada in 1963, and Bill C - 84 was enacted in 1976 resulting in the de jure abolition of the death penalty, except for certain military offences committed by members of the Canadian Armed Forces (cowardice, desertion, unlawful surrender, and spying for the enemy) which are prosecuted under the National Defence Act . In 1998, Canada eliminated the death penalty for these military offences as well . </P>

When was the death penalty created in canada