Although the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada was formally established in 1918, its roots can be traced back to the 1890s and the early years of Ukrainian settlement in the Canadian West. Both Orthodox Bukovynians and disenchanted Ukrainian Greek Catholics from Galicia played key roles in founding a distinctly Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada. However, the new church was also the result of intense political and confessional rivalries involving the Russian Orthodox Mission, Greek Catholic clerics, the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and various Protestant denominations. All of these were vying, in often bitter struggles, for the allegiance of immigrants from Ukraine at a time when the settlers were desperate for spiritual leadership in their adopted land.
Jars Balan is the author of numerous scholarly and journalistic articles on the history of Ukrainians in Canada. Since 2000 he has been the Administrative Coordinator of the Kule Ukrainian Canadian Studies Centre at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, and is also currently serving as the institute's Director.