Russian Canadians Explained

Group:	Russian Canadians
Native Name:	Русские канадцы
Pop:	548,140 (by ancestry, 2021 Census)
Popplace:	Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon Territory, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver

Russian Canadians comprise Canadian citizens of Russian heritage or Russians who immigrated to and reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census, there were 548,140 Canadians who claimed full or partial Russian ancestry. The areas of Canada with the highest percentage population of Russian Canadians are the Prairie Provinces.

Number of Russian Canadians

Data from this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[1]

	Percent
	0.2%
	0.4%
	0.5%
	0.3%
	0.7%
	1.7%
	4.7%
	3.7%
	2.7%
	2.9%
	2.3%
	1.2%
	0.3%

Data from this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

• Total: 622,445.
• Single response: 120,165.
• Multiple response: 502,280.

Provinces and CMAs (census metropolitan areas^[2]) with Russian Canadian populations over 10,000

Quebec

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[3]

• Total: 55,230
• Single response: 15,800
• Multiple response: 39,435

Montréal (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[4]

• Total: 49,275
• Single response: 14,315
• Multiple response: 34,960

Ontario

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[5]

• Total: 220,850
• Single response: 53,175
• Multiple response: 167,675

Toronto (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[6]

• Total: 139,915
• Single response: 40,570
• Multiple response: 99,340

Ottawa-Gatineau (CMA - Ontario part)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[7]

• Total: 15,620 (represents ~90% of total Ottawa-Gatineau CMA)
• Single response: 3,205
• Multiple response: 12,415

Manitoba

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[8]

• Total: 58,225
• Single response: 9,510
• Multiple response: 48,720

Winnipeg (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[9]

• Total: 29,575
• Single response: 3,580
• Multiple response: 26,000

Saskatchewan

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[10]

• Total: 39,390
• Single response: 3,645
• Multiple response: 35,745

Saskatoon (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[11]

• Total: 13,280
• Single response: 1,360
• Multiple response: 11,925

Alberta

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[12]

• Total: 107,800
• Single response: 14,320
• Multiple response: 93,480

Calgary (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[13]

• Total: 37,955
• Single response: 6,125
• Multiple response: 31,830

Edmonton (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[14]

• Total: 28,275
• Single response: 3,325
• Multiple response: 24,945

British Columbia

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[15]

• Total: 131,060
• Single response: 22,145
• Multiple response: 108,910

Vancouver (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.^[16]

• Total: 58,535
• Single response: 11,145
• Multiple response: 47,395

Many British Columbians of Russian descent are Doukhobors, historically concentrated in the West Kootenay and Boundary Country regions.

List of notable Russian Canadians

^[17]

Arts, entertainment and literature

• Harvey Atkin – voice-over actor
• Alex Battler – writer
• Arnold Belkin – painter
• Sasha Clements – actress, Majority Rules!
• Ludmilla Chiriaeff – ballet dancer, choreographer and company director
• Victor Garber – actor, Titanic, Argo, Star Trek
• Natalie Glebova – Miss Universe 2005, Miss Universe Canada 2005
• Anais Granofsky – actress, Degrassi Junior High
• Michelle Gurevich – singer, formerly known as "Chinawoman"
• Boris Hambourg – cellist
• Melissa Hayden – ballet dancer
• Julia Ivanova - documentary filmmaker
• Jessica Parker Kennedy – actress, The Secret Circle, Smallville, Black Sails
• Nadia Litz – actress
• Elena Lobsanova – ballet dancer
• George London – singer
• Eli Mandel – poet
• Catherine Manoukian – violinist
• Niall Matter – actor, Eureka, Stargate Atlantis, Melrose Place, 90210
• Sophie Milman – jazz musician
• Zara Nelsova – cellist^[18]
• Greta Onieogou - actress
• Alex Ozerov - actor
• Kim Yaroshevskaya - actress, voice-over, story-teller and writer
• Sarah Polley – actress and film director, Order of Canada
• Duncan Regehr – writer and actor, Star Trek
• Sasha Roiz – actor
• Aleksei Serebryakov – actor
• Elena Semikina – Miss Universe Canada 2010
• Socalled – musician
• Ksenia Solo – actress, Black Swan^[19]
• Madeline Sonik – writer
• Jessica Trisko – Miss Earth 2007
• Boris Volkoff - ballet master, choreographer, "the father of Canadian ballet"
• Watts – produced for Method Man, Redman, and Snoop Dogg^[20]
• Adele Wiseman – author

Business and other

• Bluma Appel – philanthropist, recipient of the Order of Canada and Order of Ontario
• John Boyarski – recipient of awards for bravery
• Charles Bronfman – billionaire, member of the Bronfman family
• Edgar Bronfman, Sr. – billionaire, member of the Bronfman family
• Saidye Rosner Bronfman – billionaire, member of the Bronfman family, founder of the Seagram Company
• Samuel Bronfman – billionaire, member of the Bronfman family
• Arcadi Gaydamak – businessman
• Ben Hatskin – founder of the Winnipeg Jets
• Gregory Lekhtman – inventor of exercise boots
• Sonia Scurfield – owner of the Calgary Flames in the 1980s and 1990s
• Alex Shnaider – co-founder of the Midland Group, partner in the Trump International Hotel and Tower (Toronto)

Politics

• Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia – Russian Princess and youngest sister of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
• Alex Atamanenko – Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada
• Vasile Balabanov – Imperial Russian émigré
• Martin Dobkin – mayor of Mississauga
• Catherine Doherty – Imperial Russian émigré, social activist, recipient of the Order of Canada
• Siegfried Enns – member of the House of Commons of Canada
• Lois Hole – Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
• George Ignatieff – Canadian diplomat
• Michael Ignatieff – author, journalist, academic, politician
• Ted Lipman – diplomat, ambassador to North Korea, and South Korea
• Tom Nevakshonoff – Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
• Reynold Rapp – Member of the House of Commons of Canada
• John Tory – mayor of Toronto^[21]
• Peter Vasilevich Verigin – Doukhobor leader
• Pyotr Verzilov – activist
• Roman Baber – Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Science

• Gregory Chamitoff – NASA astronaut and engineer
• Michel Chossudovsky – writer and professor of economics at the University of Ottawa
• Andrew Donskov – professor of modern languages at the University of Ottawa; world-renowned Leo Tolstoy expert
• Israel Halperin – mathematician
• Martin Kamen – physicist, member of the Manhattan Project (first nuclear bomb); discovered the synthesis of the isotope carbon-14
• Harry Medovy – pediatrician and academic, Order of Canada
• Pierre Milman – mathematician, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
• Sergei Plekhanov – Professor of Political Science at York University; former deputy director of the Institute for US and Canadian Studies in Russia
• Louis Slotin – physicist, member of the Manhattan Project (first nuclear bomb)
• George Volkoff, OC, MBE, FRSC – physicist who helped discover the existence of neutron stars
• Leonid Ivanovich Strakhovsky - professor, pioneered Slavic studies at the University of Toronto^[22]

Sports

• Nik Antropov – hockey player with the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and the KHL
• Ivan Babikov – Olympic cross-country skier
• Artur Beterbiev – professional boxer
• Patricia Bezzoubenko – rhythmic gymnast
• Boris Blumin – chess grandmaster
• Mark Bluvshtein – chess grandmaster
• Debbie Brill – high-jumper^[23]
• Édouard Carpentier – professional wrestler
• Joshua Ho-Sang – hockey player with the OHL
• Mike Chernoff – ice hockey
• Rob Chernoff – swimmer
• Tim Cheveldae – ice hockey
• Kevin Cheveldayoff – ice hockey
• Yelena Davydova – gymnastics
• Shawn Horcoff – ice hockey
• Igor Ivanov – chess grandmaster
• Pete Knight – rodeo bronc rider
• Lioudmila Kortchaguina – marathon runner
• Crazy Leo – rally driver
• Andrei Markov – NHL hockey player
• Olga Ovtchinnikova – Olympic fencer
• Andrei Rogozine – world champion figure skater
• Mikhail "Misha" Goikhberg – racing driver
• Bobbie Rosenfeld – Olympic gold medalist
• Denis Shapovalov – tennis player
• Igor Tikhomirov – Olympic champion in fencing
• Marina Zoueva – ice dancing coach and choreographer

See also

• Canada–Russia relations
• European Canadians
• Polish Canadians
• Ukrainian Canadians

External links

• Simon Fraser University Digitized Newspapers website – digitized issues of Vestnik (Herald) newspaper, 1941–1993
• Richard A. Pierce – Russians in Canada

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2016 Census of Canada: Topic-based tabulations | Ethnic Origin (247), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census - 20% Sample Data . Statistics Canada . 2020-01-11 . 2020-01-11.
2. Web site: CMA and CA: Detailed definition . 2018-09-17 . 2022-04-26.
3. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Quebec . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
4. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Montréal (CMA) . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
5. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Ontario . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
6. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Toronto (CMA) . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
7. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Ottawa-Gatineau (CMA) . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
8. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Manitoba . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
9. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Winnipeg (CMA) . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
10. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Saskatchewan . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
11. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Saskatoon (CMA) . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
12. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Alberta . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
13. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Calgary (CMA) . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
14. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Edmonton (CMA) . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
15. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, British Columbia . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
16. Web site: Data tables, 2016 Census: Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data, Vancouver (CMA) . Statistics Canada . 2019-06-17 . 2022-04-26.
17. References for the descent and/or birthplace of each individual can be found in their respective articles.
18. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/zara-nelsova "Zara Nelsova"
19. Web site: Ksenia Solo. IMDb.com. 2016-09-30.
20. Web site: Austin "Watts" Garrick [Interview] |publisher=Hiphopcanada.com |date=2007-08-07 |access-date=2014-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509142348/http://www.hiphopcanada.com/2007/08/interview-austin-watts-garrick/ |archive-date=2015-05-09 |url-status=dead ].
21. Web site: John Tory Is Jewish, Claims Israeli Press . Huffingtonpost.ca . 2014-11-07. 2016-09-30.
22. Bowman . H. E. . 1964-01-01 . Leonid Ivanovich Strakhovsky (1898-1963) . Canadian Slavonic Papers . 6 . 1 . 97–98 . 10.1080/00085006.1964.11417879 . 0008-5006.
23. Chernoff. Peter F.. Tarasoff. Koozma J.. Doukhobor stars in the Sports world. Spirit-Wrestlers' Voice: Honoring Doukhobors on the Centenary of Their Migration to Canada in 1899. 1998. 79–92. Legas. en.