Saint Gregory of Nyssa
Orthodox Church

The term Orthodox means both ‘correct doctrine’ and ‘right worship (glory)’. Since at least the 4th century Christian writers and councils have used it to describe Christian doctrine and life in conformity with the apostolic teaching concerning Jesus Christ and the Church. Those communities, which have received and maintained the apostolic tradition, and consequently share a common worship, doctrine and ministry, recognize each other as Orthodox. This is the case with four of the ancient Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem) as well as the many other national self-governing (autocephalous) churches and their daughter churches (Russia, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, North America, Sinai, Finland, Japan, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova) in communion with them. Orthodox in this sense contrasts with Roman Catholic and Protestant, and represents the ancient, traditional Christian Church. Although Orthodoxy is often thought of as something “eastern” (and indeed the roots of Christianity are Eastern Mediterranian, what we commonly know as "The Holy Land") it is in fact the universal, apostolic faith. Western Europe was Orthodox for a thousand years, and Orthodox believers throughout the world revere the saints and accomplishments of this Orthodoxy of the first millennium in the west. This century has seen major demographic changes, which have reintroduced Orthodoxy to the west and in the new world, and demonstrated that the Orthodox Christian faith is for all peoples, everywhere. Orthodoxy is above all a way of life, the daily living out of the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ, shaped and tested through generations of personal and direct experience of the Holy Spirit poured out in the life of the Church. Our task is to make this rich heritage a living reality and a real possibility in Canada today

The Archdiocese ot Canada is part of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Our Archbishop, His Eminence Irénée of Ottawa and all Canada, is a member of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the OCA. The Primate of the OCA is His Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of all America and Canada. The first Orthodox communities in North America were founded by Russian missionaries in Alaska, over 200 years ago. In 1970, the autocephaly (self-governing status) of the OCA, as daughter and successor of the original Russian mission and administration, was officially recognized and affirmed by the Russian Orthodox Church. Today the OCA has thirteen dioceses and almost 600 parishes found throughout Canada, the United States and Mexico. The OCA is a member of "The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America" and works together on international, national and local levels with Russian, Greek, Antiochian, Serbian, Ukrainian and other national Orthodox churches. The OCA is committed to theological education. It maintains three seminaries: St Vladimir’s (New York), St Tikhon’s (Pennsylvania) and St Herman’s (Alaska). Canadian students have recently been enabled to study in Canada at St Andrew’s seminary (Ukrainian) in Winnipeg Manitoba. Several of this centuries noted theologians have been deans of our theological schools: Frs Georges Florovsky, Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorf (St Vladimir’s), and the holy Bishop St Nikolai of Zica (St Tikhon’s).

The Archdiocese of Canada was incorporated in 1903 by Archbishop Tikhon (later elected Patriarch of Moscow and recently canonized), following a decade of missionary work in western Canada. The first groups of Orthodox immigrants in Canada were from the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. Both Slavs and Arabs were cared for by the administration of the Russian Mission based in the United States. After the First World War and the Russian Revolution, the Russian mission was unable to meet the needs of the large numbers of newly arrived immigrants from traditionally Orthodox lands. These new groups establised communities connected with their mother churches in Europe and the Middle East. Today there are over 600 Orthodox communities in Canada of various national backgrounds. The Archdiocese of Canada consists of 70 of the 95 parishes and monastic communities of the Orthodox Church in America in Canada (the remaining OCA parishes are members of our Romanian and Bulgarian dioceses based in the United States). Although several Archdiocese parishes remain predominantly Russian, Ukrainian or Romanian in character, we also have an increasing number of multi-ethnic parishes using English or French and committed to living out the Orthodox faith here in Canada. Our Bishop is assisted in his work by regional Deans and an Archdiocesan Council of clergy and laity elected at the triennial Archdiocesan Assembly. The Archdiocese has offices in both western and eastern Canada. The Archdiocese of Canada is a member of the Canadian Council of Orthodox Bishops (CCOB).