In 1979, RPM magazine published a chart for top-performing singles in the easy listening or adult contemporary categories in Canada. The chart, entitled Adult Oriented Playlist, has undergone numerous name changes, becoming Contemporary Adult in 1981 and became Adult Contemporary in 1984 until the magazine's final publication in November 2000. In 1979, thirty-six singles reached number one in the chart, which contains 50 positions. The first number-one in 1978 was "Time Passages" by British singer-songwriter Al Stewart, continuing from the 1978 charts, and the last was "Babe" by the American rock band Styx. Seventeen acts have their first number-one in the chart in 1979: the Village People, Alicia Bridges, Chic, Nicolette Larson, Boney M., the Pointer Sisters, Gloria Gaynor, the Doobie Brothers, Amii Stewart, Blondie, Suzi Quatro, Chris Norman, Peaches & Herb, Anita Ward, Rex Smith, Herb Alpert and Styx. Three Canadian acts, Anne Murray, Paul Anka and Frank Mills had at least one number-one that year.
Anne Murray had the most number-one singles in 1979, with "I Just Fall in Love Again" (four weeks), "Shadows in the Moonlight" (two weeks) and "Broken Hearted Me" (two weeks), and also had the most weeks at number one, totalling six weeks. American disco singer Gloria Gaynor also had a four-week number-one chart run with "I Will Survive".
An asterisk (*) indicates an unpublished weekly chart due to the special double issues RPM publishes for the year-end top singles charts.