Every September 7, we celebrate Ukrainian Heritage Day in Ontario and how for over 125 years, people of Ukrainian descent have called Ontario their home. Their contributions span communities across Ontario and are reflected in Canada’s economic, political, social and cultural life.

Before 2022, Ontario has been home to more than 336,000 Ukrainian Canadians. Since Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine, over 80,000 Ukrainian citizens and returning Canadian permanent residents of Ukrainian origin have arrived in Canada.

This year, SVI would like to thank the people of Ontario who have welcomed Ukrainians into their homes, institutions, and communities during this difficult time.

We want to thank everyone who continues celebrating Ukrainian heritage and traditions and supporting Ukraine.

Canada is home to the world's third-largest Ukrainian population — some 1.36 million people, of whom more than 330,000 live in Ontario. Major Ukrainian communities can be found in Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Oshawa, Ottawa-Hull, St. Catharines-Niagara, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Toronto, and Windsor.

Ukrainian Ontarians have continued to make a significant contribution to Canada since the first immigrants arrived from Ukraine in 1891. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Ontario Provincial Council is the voice of Ontario’s Ukrainian community, bringing together its eight branches and a wealth of community organizations from across the province.

If any musical instrument can be said to embody the soul of the Ukrainian people, it is the bandura. Centuries ago, the bandura featured 5 to 12 strings, but it evolved into the now-familiar version featuring 56 to 68 strings which are plucked with both hands. The bandura can be played as a solo instrument, often accompanying a vocalist, but it is most often found in an ensemble.

Zoloti Struny

Zoloti Struny (the Vera Zelinksa Ukrainian Youth Bandura Capella) is a Mississauga–based ensemble dedicated to playing Ukraine’s national instrument. Follow this link to enjoy close-up views of the bandura in group and individual performances.

Find out more about the Zoloti Struny

Canadian Bandurist Capella

The Canadian Bandurist Capella was established in 2001, originally as the Toronto Bandurist Capella, and is one of the premier bandura ensembles in North America. Here, its bandurists and vocalists perform a light-hearted Ukrainian folksong.

Find out more about the Canadian Bandurist Capella

CUiSINE

Ukrainian cuisine reflects generations of regional traditions, and it is nothing if not delicious. Incorporating ingredients both fresh and preserved, Ukrainian dishes often involve complex preparation and cooking techniques.  

My Baba’s Varennyky

Ukrainian cookbooks can be purchased online at:

OR BORROW THEM AT:

A taste of Ukrainian cuisine: 

• Borshch (beet soup)

• Chasnykovi Pampushky (yeast buns with garlic and dill, often served with borshch)

• Deruny (potato pancakes)

• Holubtsi (cabbage rolls)

• Kapusniak (sauerkraut-based soup with meat, mushrooms, and vegetables) 

• Kasha (buckwheat porridge flavoured with onion)

• Kholodets (meat-filled aspic) 

• Kovbasa (spiced beef or pork sausage, often smoked)

• Kurka Kyivska (Chicken Kyiv)

• Kvas (beverage of fermented rye bread, water, and yeast, sometimes flavoured with fruit, raisins, or honey)

• Medivnyk (honey cake)

• Nachynka (baked cornmeal with seasonings)

• Nalysnyky (thin pancakes filled with sweetened cottage cheese or a savoury filling)

• Okroshka (meat and vegetable soup with a fermented base)

• Oseledtsi (pickled herring)

• Pampushky (yeast doughnuts with powdered sugar)

• Paska (rich Easter bread)

• Patychky (seasoned, breaded pork or beef on a skewer) 

• Pechenia (roasted beef, lamb, pork, or veal, occasionally stuffed with fruit or grains)

• Pidpenky (dried mushrooms, often cooked in a gravy of onions, garlic, seasoning, and sour cream) 

• Pyrizhky (pastry with sweet or savoury filling)

• Syrnyk (cheesecake)

• Torte (cake, often layered with cream and fruit fillings and made with ground nuts instead of flour) 

• Varennia (fruit jam)

• Varenyky (dumplings filled with potato, cottage cheese, sauerkraut, mushrooms, cherries, or blueberries)

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“Vyshyvanka” (Ukrainian embroidery) is intricate, symbolic, and steeped in tradition. It adorns folk and formal wear, and it plays an indispensable role in most religious and social occasions. “Vyshyvanka Day” (Embroidery Day) is celebrated internationally on the third Thursday of each May. People proudly wear their embroidered clothing to work, to school, or while going about their regular activities. In some cities, including Toronto, vyshyvanka-wearers gather and parade their finery along main streets.

Television channel Ukraine presents traditional embroidery patterns from various regions of Ukraine.

Bozena Hrycyna, of Ottawa, presents a workshop on the “rushnyk” (embroidered ritual cloth).

UATV English explores the evolution of Ukrainian embroidery onto the runways of high-fashion houses in Europe.

Pysanky are jewel-like Ukrainian Easter eggs created with the wax-resist “batik” method of dying. Pysanky are “written,” not painted. The words “pysanky” (plural) and “pysanka,” (singular) are derived from the Ukrainian word “pysaty,” meaning “to write.” The ancient artform has attracted practitioners of varied cultural backgrounds around the world. Ontario is home to many master pysanka writers, some who use traditional designs and motifs, and others who bring a modern interpretation to their creations.

Canada’s first national internment operations took place during the First World War, between 1914 and 1920. More than 8,500 men, along with women and children, were interned by the Canadian government, which acted under the authority of the War Measures Act. 

Most internees were recent immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman empires, and mainly from the western Ukrainian regions of Galicia and Bukovyna. Some were Canadian-born or naturalized British subjects. They were held in 24 receiving stations and internment camps across the country — from Nanaimo, BC, to Halifax, NS. Many were used for labour in the country’s frontier wilderness. Personal wealth and property were confiscated and much of it was never returned.

source: thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

SVI is the only Ukrainian residence in Ontario for post-secondary students, strategically located adjacent to the University of Toronto, and blocks from the subway system, various colleges, and other educational institutions. SVI welcomes students of all backgrounds from around the world.

The annual, three-day Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival is North America’s largest Ukrainian festival, drawing upwards of 700,000 visitors of diverse backgrounds from as far away as Australia, Brazil, and Iceland.

The Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Ontario Branch, is a jewel located in downtown Toronto. Nudging up to the Bloor Street Culture Corridor, it houses some 6,000 artifacts from Ukraine and the Ukrainian Canadian diaspora, including priceless antique embroidered apparel from the many diverse regions of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre

With an eye towards the future the UCRDC is undertaking new projects, designing fresh exhibits and perpetuating its role as a dynamic resource centre within and beyond the Ukrainian Canadian community. The Centre continues to enhance its archival collection of audio and video oral history, unpublished memoirs and photographs.

For more information visit: www.ucrdc.org