The first Ukrainians in Canada appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. But the mass migration of Ukrainians began in 1891, when on September 19 (September 7, old style), after a 22-day journey on the steamship "Oregon", Ivan Pylypiw and Vasyl Eleniak (according to various sources — Eleniak or Ilyniak) from the Carpathian village of Nebyliv arrived in Canada. They decided on such an overseas adventure because of rumors about "free land" — at that time in Canada you could get up to 65 hectares for $10.
Pylypiw and Eleniak later became wealthy farmers and founded the largest Ukrainian settlement in Canada at Edna Star, now the city of Chipman in the Canadian province of Alberta. Eleniak later became the mayor of Chipman.
Pylypiw lived for 77 years and died in 1936, Eleniak outlived his former companion by 20 years.
Monument to Pylypiw and Eleniak in the village of Nebyliv, Rozhnyativsky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region.
A large-scale flow of immigrants from Galicia, Bukovyna, Lemko and Transcarpathia to Canada occurred in the second half of the 1890s. This was initiated by Lviv agronomist Yosyp Oleskiv, who launched a real propaganda campaign: he printed brochures, articles and advertisements in newspapers, toured Ukrainian cities and villages with lectures. And since 1896, Ukrainians have been leaving for Canada in whole groups.
Newspaper advertisement from the 1890s. A morgue is an obsolete unit of land area, 1 morgue was equal to 0.57 hectares.
The first wave of immigration lasted until 1914, before the start of World War I. Almost 170 000 Ukrainians settled the virgin lands in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Quebec. They worked in the fields from spring to fall, and in the winter they went to work in the cities.
Later, Ukrainians in Canada began to be called "Uke" and even distinguished by their place of origin. For example, the term "Galicians" became common among Canadians.
By the 1920s, cities and towns with duplicate names of regions, cities and towns in Ukraine had appeared in Canada. In such settlements, Ukrainians built their own churches, schools and even institutes.
Graduates of the Peter Mohyla Institute in the vicinity of the municipality of Saint-Julien, province of Quebec. 1920.
Petro Rupchan left for Canada in 1905, settled in eastern Saskatchewan, and in 1914 opened his own pottery.
The second wave of Ukrainian migration to Canada lasted from the 1920s until the start of World War II in 1939, the third from 1947 to the 1960s, and the fourth began in 1989.
Ukrainians from Winnipeg organize performances by folklore groups, and the funds raised are donated to the needs of the military. October 1940.
Among prominent Canadians are hundreds of famous politicians, athletes, artists, scientists, and businessmen who have Ukrainian roots.
Erica Maya Yelyniak is a model and actress, one of the stars of the TV series “Baywatch”. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Vasyl Eleniak, a pioneer of Ukrainian migration to Canada.
Speaking of ethnic Ukrainians who have achieved success in the Canadian political arena, we can recall William Havrylyak, who was elected mayor of Edmonton three times, the current premier of the province of Alberta, Edward Stelmakh, as well as Roman Hnatyshyn, who served as Governor General of Canada from 1990 to 1995. And in current Canadian politics, there are many representatives of Ukrainian origin.
For example, Chrystia Freeland, who has held key positions in the government since 2015. She was the head of the Foreign Ministry, became the first woman to hold the position of Minister of Finance in 2020, and later headed the Ministry of Transport and Internal Trade.
Recently, Chrystia Freeland reported that she was leaving the government and plans to leave federal politics. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney asked her to become Canadaʼs special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Manitobaʼs Minister of Education, a descendant of Ukrainian immigrants, Ben Hanushchak (far right) with students from Winnipeg during a protest against the imprisonment in the USSR of Ukrainian writer Valentyn Moroz. August 6, 1974.
The Ukrainian diaspora in Canada is one of the largest in the world. According to the latest census, ethnic Ukrainians make up almost 4% of Canadaʼs population.