Historian Stella Hryniuk Hopes the War in Ukraine Inspires Ukrainian Canadians to Build A Strong Future Here

Canada is home to 1.4 million people of Ukrainian descent – the world's second-largest Ukrainian diaspora, comprising nearly 4 per cent of the population, making them the largest Slavic group in Canada.

Ukrainian immigrants and their descendants have left a profound mark on the development of Canada. How did this happen, and what does it mean for Canada? Dr. Stella Hryniuk helps sort things out in answering this and other questions.

Dr. Hryniuk, a professor of history at the University of Manitoba says that there were a number of waves of Ukrainians who came to Canada, each for somewhat different reasons. Early on, it was a place where they could have land; later there were other reasons, such as war, domination by other powers and now, of course, because of Russia's abominable war against Ukraine.

Because of their numbers, she said, Ukrainian Canadians were a strong force in the Canadian federation. When, in the sixties, there was a desire to create a new social policy, particularly because of Quebec's pressure to have more self-determination, even sovereignty, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau decided at first to make English and French the dominate languages and culture. It was the Ukrainian Canadian Congress that was an important force in making Canada a multicultural society, instead.

Dr. Hryniuk's hope is that the new wave of Ukrainians coming now will help to strengthen the Ukrainian Canadian  community and the society as a whole. She suggests a number of ways that this can be done, including keeping the language and culture alive through the generations, by building institutions such as schools and churches, and by producing scholars that add to the the world's knowledge base, among others.

“The policy of multiculturalism was a key moment for Ukrainians. It shaped Ukrainian's presence, their view of themselves and their relationship with Canada as a whole”, says University of Manitoba history professor Stella Hryniuk.