The men's C-1 1000 metres was a competition in canoeing at the 1956 Summer Olympics. The C-1 event is raced by single-man sprint canoes. The final took place on December 1.
Ten competitors entered, but one withdrew prior to the event. With only nine competitors, a final was held.
| Rank | Canoer | Country | Time | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left athlete | Leon Rotman | 5:05.3 | ||||
| align=left athlete | István Hernek | 5:06.2 | ||||
| align=left athlete | Gennady Bukharin | 5:12.7 | ||||
| 4 | align=left athlete | Karel Hradil | 5:15.9 | |||
| 5 | align=left athlete | Franz Johannsen | 5:18.6 | |||
| 6 | align=left athlete | Werner Wettersten | 5:28.0 | |||
| 7 | align=left athlete | Bryan Harper | 5:37.6 | |||
| 8 | align=left athlete | George Bossy | 5:39.4 | |||
| 9. | align=left athlete | William Schuette | 5:47.7 |