Patriarchial Parishes of Russian Orthodox Church in Canada

The first official representation of the Russian Orthodox Church in Canada took place on July 18, 1897, at Wostok, Alberta, 50 miles north-east of Edmonton. The new farming settlement of Slavic immigrants from the provinces of Galicia and Bukovina in Central Europe in the Austro-Hungerian Empire began settling on farming homesteads in the year 1892. Settlement in the Wostok area continued rapidly.

Today, after more then 100 years have passed, the Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Canada continue to serve and lead the Orthodox Christians under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Now in Canada there are 25 parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate. Three of them are in big cities like Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton. 19 parishes are located rurally in the Province of Alberta, and 3 of them in the Province of Saskatchewan. The parishes in Canada are operated by the Administrator of Patriarchal Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Canada in the rank of Archpriest, and also by five priests.