Ukrainians in Canada

The war in Ukraine is certainly on everyone’s mind as we watch coverage of the daily horrors taking place on the streets in real time. While we’re all disturbed watching these atrocities, those with Ukrainian roots are especially affected, and many grassroots fundraising efforts have begun by those in the Ukrainian-Canadian community. Richard Halenda of Halenda’s Meats has been particularly motivated to find ways to help the war effort. “My wife’s family and my father were from Ukraine. Many of our staff here at Halenda’s have Ukrainian heritage. And we serve thousands of Ukrainian families because of the ethnic roots of what we make,” Halenda explains. When the fighting started, Halenda and his team felt strongly compelled to help...

The Toronto Star published an op-ed by UCC National President Alexandra Chyczij I am the child of Ukrainian refugees who came to Canada after the Second World War. For the past five weeks, the vivid and horrific imagery of the brutal and criminal Russian attack on Ukraine plays out on our television screens, every hour of every day. For the Ukrainian people it is a nightmare from which they cannot wake. For me, it is déjà vu. My parents and grandparents escaped the Nazi German and Soviet occupations of Ukraine. They fled west to Austria, where as a forced labourer my 14-year-old mother worked in a German munitions factory. She buried her 3-year-old brother and her beloved grandfather in Austrian soil. My family was fortunate to be sponsored to come to Canada and were grateful Canadians for the rest of their lives...

People, mainly women and children, make their way through Medyka border crossing after journeying from war-torn Ukraine on Wednesday in Medyka, Poland. The Polish government has said it may spend 24 billion Euros this year hosting refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, and is seeking more support from the European Union. With more than 4 million Ukrainian refugees, Poland is now the country...

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan stated: “A genocide begins with the killing of one man--not for what he has done, but because of who he is”. This concept reflects the tragic truth of all genocides and the Holodomor is no exception. The Edmonton branch of the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW) established a Holodomor Essay contest in 2020 to help young adults develop a deeper understanding of the HOLODOMOR. The contest encourages junior and senior high school students in the Ukrainian-English Bilingual Programs in the Edmonton area and the Ivan Franko School of Ukrainian Studies to learn more about the HOLODOMOR and why it is important to remember the HOLODOMOR in 2020 and to honour the victims. The Edmonton Branch of the LUCW is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Holodomor Essay Contest. Students earning a first place were awarded $250.00. Second place was awarded $200, third place was awarded $150.00 and fourth place received $100.00 In the junior high school category, all the...

Board members are leaders from the nonprofit and/or for-profit sector who are dedicated to the Shevchenko Foundation’s mission, act in a position of trust for the community, promote excellence, and commit to responsible effective governance. Board members are active advocates and ambassadors for the Foundation and are fully engaged in identifying and securing the financial resources and partnerships necessary to advance our mission. They apply their legal, financial, cultural, business, governance, and entrepreneurial skills and experience to help guide the Foundation in achieving its mission. This is an opportunity for you to use your broad knowledge of the national Ukrainian Canadian community and play a...

For me, Christmas always begins after St. Nicholas Day. As soon as there is tangerine smell in the house, rustle of a package with candies under a pillow, it means that soon we will start to spruce up the house, put-up the Christmas tree, make kutia and prepare for the Holy Supper. Every family has their own Christmas traditions, and ours are not an exception. At our house we put-up the Christmas tree before the New Year. Usually we decorate it with candies, nuts, tinsel and several big glass ornaments, which always remind me of my grandma. Sometime right after New Year I definitely pay a visit the Cathedral – pray, look at a crib with baby Jesus and listen to the organ. This is my personal tradition in commemorating my grandma, with whom we always visited the holy place. As a small girl, I remember the graceful nods of the...

Kutia is always served as the first of the twelve traditional meatless dishes during Christmas Eve. It is typically made with wheatberries that are sweetened with honey and augmented with poppy seeds, dried fruits and nuts. It is eaten from a common dish to symbolize unity and, in some families, a spoonful of kutia is thrown up to the ceiling. If it sticks, a plentiful honey harvest can be expected. One Ukrainian-Canadian is taking Ukrainian dishes to a new level, by sharing recipes of classics like borscht, khrusky, pampushky and perizhky on a free cooking and baking blog www.claudiascookbook.com. Jamie, the website's initiator and main contributor, was inspired by her mother Claudia. Prior to Christmas...

The Cold War in Val-d’Or, A History of the Ukrainian Community in Val-d’Or, Quebec is a mini-history of an ethnocultural community in northwestern Quebec. The story has many similarities to the evolution of immigrant and ethnocultural groups in many one-industry towns in northern Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. This study should be of special interest to the many former residents of Val-d’Or who lived in an isolated resource town in a predominantly francophone milieu. The earliest mention of Ukrainians in Abitibi is their internment in the Spirit Lake Internment Camp during the First World War established near Amos, Quebec. The Sheptytsky Colony established in the late 1920s continued to be farmed by Ukrainians until the 1970s. The mining economy and the local cultural environment shaped this community but also the left-right political rivalry during the Cold War years documented in the surveillance reports prepared by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and found in Library and Archives Canada...

In December 2020 we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Marta Krawciw-Barabash Ukrainian Music Festival. I am certain that Professor Marta Krawciw would have never imagined the Festival as it will proceed this year. The Festival will be held in December, as it has been for several years. In this challenging year, however, not exactly as we had hoped. We still intend to have a memorable and celebratory affair. It will be not only a memorable but also very unique! We have adjusted to the reality of a global pandemic, and are adhering to all the health and distancing rules. Our dedicated volunteers and our talented students and teachers are ready for the challenge! The 50th UMF is going Virtual!..

December 2020 will mark the world premiere of a Ukrainian documentary “UKE: The Untold Story of Hockey Legends,” produced and directed by Volodymyr Mula. Throughout the 100-year existence of the National Hockey League (NHL) there were over fifty Ukrainians who became the League’s champions, by far the largest representation of a nationality. The documentary will showcase the stories of successful NHL hockey players who had Ukrainian roots, including legends such as Wayne Gretzky, Terry Sawchuk, Orest Kindrachuk, Eddie Shack, to name a few...