Digital Literacy: Exploring Russian and Ukrainian History in Canada

Historica Canada is a charitable organization that offers programs in both official languages that you can use to explore, learn, reflect on our history, and consider what it means to be Canadian.

The history of Russian and Ukrainian people in Canada is older than the country itself. In the 1790s, Russian fur traders operated among the islands of Haida Gwaii and along the Northwest Coast. One hundred years later, on 7 September 1891, Ivan Pylypiw and Wasyl Eleniak landed at Montreal, becoming the first recorded Ukrainians in Canada. Today, Russian and Ukrainian ethnicities rank among Canada’s top 25 most-cited ethnic origins, according to the 2021 census. These two communities are so intricately woven into the fabric of Canadian society that on a typical day they would go unnoticed. These days, however, are not typical. On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his decision to invade Ukraine, placing Russian and Ukrainian Canadians at the forefront of people’s minds. For example, in the months following Putin’s decision, the Canadian government enforced economic sanctions against Russia, and many Canadians across the country raised blue and yellow flags in displays of solidarity with Ukraine. Sanctions against the Russian government, however, quickly evolved into broader restrictions on Russian people. The Canadian Hockey League, for example, banned Russian and Belarusian players from their import draft. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra cancelled a performance by Alexander Malofeev, a Russian piano prodigy, despite his vocal criticism of Putin’s actions. And in Calgary, vandals splashed red paint across the doors of the All Saints Russian Orthodox Church.

In response to this Russophobia and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict more generally, Historica Canada decided to spotlight the history of both communities in this country. While these histories are unique, both groups have made invaluable contributions to Canada and Canadian culture. The first major waves of Russian and Ukrainian immigration to Canada took place in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as Russian Doukhobors escaped persecution and Ukrainian peasants sought better opportunities. In the waves that followed, Russians and Ukrainians continued to find refuge here. For example, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Canadians welcomed Russian Jews escaping their former nation’s antisemitic policies — much in the same way Canada is currently welcoming Ukrainian refugees. However, their new home was not always welcoming. Certain policies prevented the Doukhobors, for example, from living communally, and during the First World War the Canadian government forced thousands of Ukrainian Canadians into internment camps. Despite this, Russians and Ukrainians persevered to make Canada a more inclusive country, not just for members of their own communities but for all Canadians. This digital magazine features five stories of notable Russian and Ukrainian Canadians who worked toward this end. It also includes two timelines that tell the story of each community in Canada. Links to the full-length biographies on The Canadian Encyclopedia are provided throughout.

Illustrator bio: Illustrations for this project were created by Dmitry Bondarenko. Bondarenko lives and works in Toronto’s East End. Born in the USSR to parents of mixed Russian and Ukrainian heritage, his early years were split between dour Moscow suburbs and sunny rural Poltava. In 1992, Bodarenko immigrated to Canada, maintaining a strong connection to both the Ukrainian and Russian sides of his family.

Ukrainian Canadian History and Settlement

1894

7 September 1891 F irst Ukrainian Immigrants Arrive in Halifax There was likely sporadic

First Ukrainian Block Settlement Founded in Edna/ Star, Alberta In 1892, a small group of immigrants organized by Ivan Pylypow arrived in Winnipeg from Nebyliw, Ukraine. Two years later, the families of Mykola Tychkowsky and Antin Paish left the group to settle east of Edmonton at Edna (now Star). It was Canada’s first and soon largest Ukrainian block settlement. The fertile land with sufficient streams made it perfect for farming, while an abundance of trees provided building material for homes and barns. Pylypow moved to Edna a year later. The settlement grew as more people arrived from Galicia and Bukovyna.

immigration of Ukrainians to Canada as early as 1812. But the first recorded Ukrainian immigrants to Canada were Ivan Pylypow and Wasyl Eleniak, farmers from Galicia. Encouraged by German friends who had settled in Canada, they came in September 1891 seeking a suitable area for settlement.

Russian Canadian History and Settlement

Bronfman Family Arrives in Canada

1889

1874 Russians Immigrate to Canada Throughout much of the 19th century, Canadian and Russian policies restricted immigration to Canada. The first large group of immigrants to come from Russia weren’t ethnically Russian at all, but German Mennonites. Approximately 7,000 emigrated to Canada, settling in Manitoba over the course of the 1870s.

1882 Jews Immigrate from Russia

One of the most influential Canadian families from Russia, the Bronfmans , fled anti- Jewish pogroms in late 19th-century Imperial Russia. Though the family was from modern-day Moldova, Samuel Bronfman was born as the family fled Russia. Initially establishing themselves in the Prairies, the Bronfman family emerged from poverty to become successful hotel owners and operators. Samuel Bronfman later moved to Montreal and started his distillery empire, Seagram’s.

Jews were persecuted in Russia. They were regularly subjected to pogroms and harsh treatment. Jewish communities first established themselves mainly in urban areas of Canada, namely in Montreal and Toronto. One of the earliest waves of Russian Jewish immigration to Canada occurred in the 1880s.

14 October 1899 In 1897, a group of settlers from Bukovyna established homes in Gardenton, Manitoba. St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Canada’s first permanent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was consecrated there in 1899. It is designed in the three-chamber style typical of small churches in northern Bukovyna. Recognized as both a Manitoba Provincial Heritage Site and a National Historic Site, it is the oldest existing Ukrainian church in Canada. Opening of First Permanent Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada

April 1897 Founding of Settlement Block in Dauphin, Manitoba In 1896, Dr. Jósef Olesków arrived near Dauphin Lake, Manitoba. He determined that it would be perfect for a group of 30 families that he was organizing to move to Canada from Bukovyna and Galicia. They arrived in 1897 and worked with the railway and at sawmills to save money to establish farms. A growing number of Ukrainian settlers survived bitterly cold winters and an 1899 prairie fire that took many homes and barns. By 1913, the predominantly Ukrainian community had become the government seat and commercial centre for the Northern Judicial District.

First Ukrainian Canadian Newspaper Published

12 November 1903

A multilingual teacher, businessman and town councillor, Cyril Genik (born 1857 in Galicia; died 1925 in Winnipeg) was tasked by Dr. Jósef Olesków with bringing a second contingent of settlers to Canada later in 1896. Genik settled in Winnipeg. In 1896, he was hired as an immigration agent, making him the first full-time Ukrainian Canadian in the federal civil service. He also started Canada’s first Ukrainian-language newspaper — Kanadyiskyi farmer (Canadian farmer) — in 1903. Known in the Ukrainian Canadian community as “the Czar of Canada,” Genik was named a Person of National Historic Significance in 1995.

7,500 Doukhobors Settle in Canada

1899

1897 First Russian Orthodox Church in Canada What is likely the very first Russian Orthodox church in Canada was established in the settlement of Stary Wostok in Alberta. This small settlement was composed of Russians who had emigrated from Western Ukraine. The church’s establishment dates back to 1897 when the land was applied for.

Doukhobors were a persecuted religious minority in Russia. They were pacifists and also rejected the Tsarist government and the Orthodox Church. Doukhobor immigration to Canada was assisted by people who opposed the persecution they faced. British and American Quakers, anarchists, Canadian interior minister Clifford Sifton and even Leo Tolstoy all played a role in assisting about 7,500 Doukhobors to emigrate to Canada around the turn of the 20th century. Many settled in Saskatchewan.

22 August 1914

War Measures Act Adopted by Parliament, Leading to Internment of Ukrainian Canadians

17 April 1913 First Ukrainian Canadian Elected to Provincial Office Ukrainian Canadians originally entered politics at the municipal level. They came to control elected and administrative organizations in rural areas. The first Ukrainian elected to a provincial legislature was Andrew Shandro (born 3 April 1886; died 13 January 1942). Shandro arrived in Edmonton with his family in 1889. In April 1913, he was elected to the Alberta legislature as a Liberal for the riding of Whitford. He also served in the First World War and retained his seat in the 1917 election due to legislation that allowed service members to be acclaimed. He won his seat again in 1921 but lost in 1926.

During the First World War, approximately 80,000 people, most of them Ukrainian Canadians from provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were forced to register as “enemy aliens,” report to the police on a regular basis and carry government-issued identity papers at all times. Those naturalized for less than 15 years lost the right to vote. The Canadian government also imprisoned 8,579 Ukrainian Canadians — men, women and children — in internment camps across the country. ( See Ukrainian Internment in Canada.) Many of the men were used as labour in the country’s frontier wilderness, particularly in national parks such as Banff. Personal wealth and property were confiscated.

1908 Peter Verigin establishes Doukhobor community in BC When they first immigrated to Canada, Russian Doukhobors lived communally in Saskatchewan. However, in the early 1900s, the Canadian government changed homesteading regulations. No longer were the Doukhobors allowed to collectively own their land. In addition, when asked to pledge an oath of allegiance to the Crown — a condition for the final granting of homestead titles — the Doukhobors refused and their homestead entries were cancelled. As a result, in 1908, 5,000 to 6,000 Doukhobors followed their leader, Peter Verigin, to southern British Columbia. Here they lived on land held under Verigin’s name.

Filip Konowal Awarded Victoria Cross by King George V

15 October 1917

10 March 1916 Bilingual Schools

Some 10,000 Ukrainian Canadians who did not come from Austro-Hungarian provinces (or who lied and said they didn’t) enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces during the First World War. The most notable was Filip Konowal. Identified as Russian upon immigrating to Canada and therefore never interned, Konowal was decorated for his actions in the Battle for Hill 70. Tasked with clearing a series of tunnels and bunkers, Konowal single-handedly killed at least 16 German soldiers while suffering gunshot wounds to his face, jaw and neck. Shortly after Konowal recovered at a hospital in Britain, King George V personally awarded him the Victoria Cross, saying: “Your exploit is one of the most daring and heroic in the history of my army. For this, accept my thanks.”

Abolished in Manitoba Criticized for slowing the assimilation of Ukrainian children, bilingual schools (in English and Ukrainian) were abolished in Manitoba in 1916, despite Ukrainian opposition. Saskatchewan followed suit in 1918. The schools were never allowed in Alberta. After the First World War, community-run schools expanded rapidly to preserve Ukrainian language and culture. Pioneer institutes also produced many community leaders. Ukrainian Canadians sustained a robust culture, including literature, folk music, church music and folk dance.

Former Minister Sifton Praises Immigration of “Stalwart Peasants”

1 March 1922

Sir Clifford Sifton was the federal minister of the interior and superintendent-general of Indian Affairs from 1896 until 1905. He initiated the program that raised the number of immigrants to Canada from around 16,000 to more than 140,000 per year. He specifically sought Central and Eastern European farm families. In 1922, when asked about bringing so many non-British settlers to Canada, Sifton said, “I think a stalwart peasant in a sheep-skin coat, born on the soil, whose forefathers have been farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife and a half-dozen children, is good quality.”

5 January 1911

Russians Immigrate after the Russian Revolution

1917

Israel Halperin Born Israel Halperin was born to Russian Jewish immigrants. In addition to being a brilliant mathematician, Halperin also worked to free those who were imprisoned by their government due to their political views or activism. When he learned the details of a particular case, he wrote polite but firm letters to the prisoner’s head of government and published them in the media. Halperin’s efforts helped to free Russian scientists Yuri Orlov and Anatoly (Natan) Sharansky, Uruguayan scientist José Luis Massera, and Myanmar’s Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.

In 1917, the Russian Revolution overthrew the Tsarist government. The revolution was followed by a bitter civil war that lasted for many years. The country was devastated. It is estimated that about 1 million Russians immigrated to Canada as a consequence of these events. Though many of these immigrants traditionally worked in agriculture or industry, Canada’s resource economy required them to try new professions, such as mining and logging.

First Ukrainian Canadian Member of Parliament is Elected

14 September 1926

Michael Luchkovich (born 13 November 1892; died 21 April 1973) was born in the United States to Ukrainian immigrants who moved to Edmonton. In the 1926 federal election, Luchkovich was a candidate in Vegreville for the United Farmers of Alberta . He became the first Ukrainian Canadian to be elected to Parliament. A vigorous defender of minority rights, Luchkovich spoke out against the Holodomor in 1932–33. He was also a founding member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. He ran for the CCF in the 1935 election but was defeated. He went on to write many books and translated many others into Ukrainian. Manoly Lupul Born Manoly Robert Lupul was a professor at the University of Alberta specializing in Ukrainian Canadian history, multiculturalism and the education of ethnic minorities in Western Canada. He helped establish and served as the first director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. A strong advocate for multiculturalism in Canada, he was instrumental in the creation of Ukrainian-English bilingual education programs in the Prairie provinces.

14 August 1927

1 October 1923 Kim Yaroshevskaya Born

Kim Yaroshevskaya was an orphan by the age of seven. She quickly realized that imagination could rescue people from harsh realities. Yaroshevskaya immigrated to Canada at the age of 10. She went on to enrich the lives and stimulate the imaginations of several generations of children with her roles on French-language children’s television shows. She played the living doll Fanfreluche ( Fafouin , La Boîte à Surprise , Fanfreluche ) and the grandmother on the cult classic Passe-Partout .

Birth of NHL Superstar Wayne Gretzky A second-generation Ukrainian Canadian, Wayne Gretzky is the NHL’s all-time leader in goals, assists and points. Considered by many to be the greatest hockey player of all time, “the Great One” held or shared 61 NHL records when he retired in 1999 after 20 seasons. Other notable Ukrainian Canadian hockey players include Terry Sawchuk, who won the Vezina Trophy four times and holds the record for most shutouts (103), and Dale Hawerchuk, who scored 100 points or more in six seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. 20 June 1956 First Ukrainian Canadian Woman Elected to Provincial Office Mary John Batten earned a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan. After winning the Saskatchewan Liberal Party’s nomination in Humboldt, she won the riding in the 1956 election. She was re-elected in 1960. Batten left politics in 1964 to become the first woman in Saskatchewan (and only the second in Canada) to serve as a federal judge . In 1983, she became Saskatchewan’s first female chief justice. 21 January 1961

1924 Boris Babkin Appointed Professor at Dalhousie University Like many Russian intellectuals and academics, Boris Babkin (1877– 1950) fled his home after the revolution and subsequent civil war. Babkin notably resumed his career in gastroenterology (medicine of the digestive system) at Dalhousie and McGill universities. Though there were concerns about spreading communism, Russian intellectuals contributed important work in many professional and academic fields.

1928

1931

Paraskeva Clark Immigrates

George Ignatieff arrives in Canada Count Paul Ignatieff was the last education minister in the government of Tsar Nicholas II. His four sons, including George Ignatieff, arrived in Canada in 1928. George would

Paraskeva Clark lived through the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war before she left for Paris. There, she met a Canadian accountant and eventually immigrated to Canada in 1931. Like many artists who moved to Canada, her upbringing and artistic tradition helped transform Canadian arts and culture. Clark rejected the landscapes that had become popularized in Canada thanks to the Group of Seven. Instead, early on, she pursued portraits and still lifes, often featuring strong women.

later become an important Canadian diplomat, acting as Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and to the UN Security Council.

29 October 1924 Peter Verigin Assassinated

Doukhobor leader, Peter Verigin, died along with several others in a mysterious train explosion. Many believe it was a targeted assassination.

Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies is Established

The “Father of Multiculturalism” is Appointed to the Senate

4 February 1963

July 1976

Paul Yuzyk was born in Pinto, Saskatchewan. His parents had immigrated from Ukraine. Yuzyk became a teacher, then a University of Manitoba professor of History and Slavic Studies. He wrote books on Ukrainian Canadian history and culture. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker appointed Yuzyk to the Senate . Yuzyk later rejected Lester B. Pearson’s concept of bilingualism and biculturalism and successfully introduced the idea of a multicultural country. The “father of multiculturalism” played a central role in making Canada the first country in the world to adopt a multiculturalism policy, in 1971.

The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) was established in July 1976 at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Arts. It gathers, preserves and disseminates scholarship regarding Ukraine and Ukrainians in Canada and around the world. It has offices in Edmonton, Toronto and Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1976, the CIUS Press has published books on Ukrainian history and Ukrainians in Canada. The CIUS also publishes the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine , which began in 2001.

First Ukrainian Canadian Woman Appointed to Senate

27 September 1979

Martha Palamarek Bielish (born 20 October 1915; died 18 May 2010) of Smoky Lake, Alberta , became the first woman of Ukrainian background to be appointed to the Senate. A former farmer and school trustee and an advocate for women’s rights, Palamarek Bielish was also the first female senator from Alberta. She was appointed 50 years after the Famous Five from that province won the right for women to be recognized as “persons.” ( See Persons Case.)

1942 Federation of Russian Canadians Established Like many immigrant communities in Canada, Russian immigrants founded associations across Canada to provide communal support networks. Left-leaning Russian farmer-worker clubs were popular in Canada in the 1930s. These clubs drew the suspicion of the Canadian government, which eventually ordered them closed. After the Soviet Union joined the Allies to fight Hitler, the Federation of Russian Canadians reappeared in 1942. At its height, the group had its own national newspaper, 15 branches across the country and over 4,000 members.

5 September 1945

Igor Gouzenko Defects to canada Igor Gouzenko was a Russian intelligence officer working at the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa. He knew that the Soviet embassy spied on its allies — including Canada. Choosing to defect to Canada, he stole documents from the embassy. The evidence he provided proved the existence of a spy ring among Canadian communists. The Canadian government eventually took him in and moved him and his family to Camp X, a top-secret spy training school near Whitby, Ontario. Some claim Gouzenko’s defection marks the beginning of the Cold War.

19 December 1983 Laurence Decore is Made a Member of the Order of Canada Laurence Decore (born 28 June 1940; died 6 November 1999) was born in Vegreville, Alberta. He was an Edmonton alderman from 1974 to 1983 and the city’s mayor from 1983 to 1988. Decore was appointed to the Order of Canada for his vast community service. He also co-authored section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , which enshrined multiculturalism in Canada’s constitution.

1948 Russian Immigration Increases after Second World War Russian immigration to Canada noticeably increased after the Second World War, though not from Russia directly. Many new Russian immigrants came from other European countries where they had settled after the Russian Revolution. They left for Canada looking for a better life after the Second World War. They were joined by Russian wartime prisoners enslaved by the Nazis.

1950 Russian-Canadian Cultural Aid Society Established The Russian-Canadian Cultural Aid Society was founded in Toronto in 1950. Unlike earlier Russian Canadian organizations, the RCCAS was vehemently anti-Communist. It reflected the politics of recent émigrés, as well as attitudes in Canada. The RCCAS sought to promote and preserve Russian culture and traditions in Canada. It also assisted Russian immigrants to integrate into Canadian society.

10 June 1948

Grand Duchess Olga Arrives in Montreal

One prominent Russian who came to Canada after the Second World War is Grand Duchess Olga, the sister of Tsar Nicholas II. Olga made her way to Canada on the Empress of Canada , a Canadian Pacific steamship. She eventually settled on a farm near Milton, Ontario with her family, where she also painted watercolours.

1 December 1991 Ukraine Votes for Independence In a national referendum with 84 per cent turnout, 90 per cent of Ukrainian voters cast a ballot for Ukraine to declare independence from the USSR. The Soviet Union split into 15 independent countries following its formal dissolution on 31 December 1991. Canada was the first Western country to recognize Ukraine’s independence. In 1994, Ukraine surrendered its nuclear weapons to Russia in exchange for a guarantee that its border would always be respected. By the end of the century, economic hardships had led to 23,000 people leaving Ukraine for Canada. After 2001, roughly 2,500 immigrated per year.

25 November 2005 In 2005, Parliament passed the Internment of Persons of Ukrainian Origin Recognition Act to acknowledge and atone for its treatment of Ukrainian Canadians during the First World War. In 2008, the government established the $10 million Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund to finance projects to educate Canadians on the subject. Federal Government Atones for Internment

1953

Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté Settles in Winnipeg Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté was a Russian-born artistic luminary who left an important mark on Canadian culture and society. After leaving Russia and living in several European countries, she came to Winnipeg in 1953 with her husband. She created the Manitoba Symphony and the Symphony-Concerto for Piano and Orchestra to mark the respective centennials of Manitoba and Canada.

1973

1957 RCMP Removes Children from the Sons of Freedom Movement The Sons of Freedom were an extreme sect of the Doukhobors. They refused any involvement with the state whatsoever, including registering births and deaths. They also resisted sending any of their children to school. In the mid 1950s, British Columbia took children away from the movement. Authorities sent them to a residential school. Children were harshly treated and prohibited from speaking Russian, the only language they knew. Years later, these children sought compensation for their treatment by the government.

Old Believers Sect Immigrates to Alberta

The Old Believers are a sect of the Russian Orthodox community. They follow the ancient traditions and beliefs introduced to Rus (medieval Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) by the Greeks of Byzantium. Like the Doukhobors who came before them, the Old Believers sought refuge in Canada, fleeing persecution for their religious beliefs. They established small agricultural communities in Northern Alberta in the mid-1970s.

22 August 2014 On the 100th anniversary of Parliament’s adoption of the War Measures Act , the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the federal government unveiled 100 commemorative plaques about internment across the country. In 2013, Parks Canada opened a permanent exhibit — Enemy Aliens, Prisoners of War: Canada’s First World War Internment Operations, 1914–1920 — in Banff National Park to increase public awareness of internment. 100th Anniversary of War Measures Act is

Russia Invades Ukraine, Sparking Humanitarian Crisis

24 February 2022

10 May 2016

2016 Census Figures

After annexing Crimea in 2014 and fighting for control of the Donbas region ever since, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. By 8 March, the resulting refugee crisis was the biggest in Europe since the Second World War. By 25 October, more than 7.7 million people had fled Ukraine. Between 1 January and 16 October, 105,651 Ukrainians arrived in Canada. The Canadian government received 628,492 temporary resident applications, as well as 60,000 applications for a special three-year visa created specifically for the crisis. The Canadian government pledged to take in an “unlimited” number of Ukrainian refugees.

By 2016, Canada was home to the second-largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world, behind Russia. Approximately 1.36 million Canadians, 3.8 per cent of the population, have Ukrainian heritage, making them Canada’s 11th-largest ethnic group. As of 2016, 51 per cent of Ukrainian Canadians, nearly 700,000, lived in the Prairie provinces, where they comprised 11 per cent of the population; 27.7 per cent lived in Ontario, 16.8 per cent in British Columbia and 3 per cent in Quebec.

1991

Russian Jews Immigrate as Soviet Union Collapses There was an effective ban on emigration from the Soviet Union beginning in the 1920s and lasting until the country’s dissolution in 1991. As the USSR began to collapse in the mid-1980s, emigration policies began to ease. Faced with anti Semitism, Soviet Jews began to emigrate in large numbers to various countries, including Canada. By 1996, about 20,000 Jewish people from the former Soviet Union lived in Canada. They settled mainly in Montreal and Toronto, cities that had large Russian and Jewish populations.

10 December 2008

Michael Ignatieff Becomes Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff, the grandson of Count Paul Ignatieff, who was the last education minister under Tsar Nicholas II, is one of the most prominent Russian Canadians of all time. He led the Liberal Party of Canada from 2008 to 2011, when it formed the official opposition. Ignatieff had a long and distinguished career across much of the English-speaking world as a history professor and journalist.