Our History
Historical Milestones
- February 1949
- Initial meeting of 13 founders of the church who made the decision to organize a Ukrainian Orthodox Parish in Canada’s capital.
- August 1949
- Meeting of earliest members in the presence of Very Rev. Volodymyr Sluzar of Montreal. Decision made to join the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. Dmytro Kostenuk elected as first Parish President.
- October 1949
- First Liturgy of the congregation held in the Greek Orthodox Church, located at 360 Albert St., attended by Archbishop Mstyslav, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.
- March 1950
- Congregation purchases first church building, the Anglican Church of the Ascension, dating from 1877, at 115 Echo Drive, on the corner of Main Street, overlooking historic Rideau Canal . Cost of the church - $12,000. The cost of modifications was an additional $7,000 and included a central roof dome, a bell tower and a bell imported from Europe.
- August 1950
- Dedication of the first Ukrainian Orthodox c hurch in Ottawa, named in honour of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.
Parish Priests

Fr. John Danyliuk
1950 – 1952

Fr. Orest Iwaniuk
1952 – 1954

Fr. Gregory Kryshtanowych
1954 – 1955

Fr. Myroslav Podolsky
1955 – 1961
Founders and Pioneers
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral honours its founders and pioneers who through their tireless efforts and sacrifice established the Parish in 1949 and continued to support it over many years. The current and future members of this Parish remain forever indebted to the vision and initiative of these founders and pioneers and to other parishioners who provided support in spirit and through their individual efforts.
A Brief History of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, 1918 - 2018
The seed of the Orthodox faith was sown on Canadian land, not my missionaries, but by simple peasants who came from Ukraine searching for a better life and established themselves on the Canadian prairies. It is indeed on this simple but, at the same time, deep faith of the Ukrainian peasants-pioneers that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (UOCC) was established.