Russian Canadians

Russian Canadians
Русские канадцы
	Russian Canadians as percent of population by province/territory
Total population
	622,445; by ancestry, 2016 Census
Regions with significant populations
	Saskatchewan, Alberta, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver
Languages
	Canadian English; Russian; French;
Religion
	Christianity (mainly Orthodox); Judaism; Irreligion;
Related ethnic groups
	Russian people; Russian Americans; Ukrainian Canadians; Belarusian Canadians;

Russian Canadians comprise Canadian citizens of Russian heritage or Russians who emigrated to and reside in Canada. According to the 2016 Census, there were 622,445 Canadians who claimed full or partial Russian ancestry.^[1] The areas of Canada with the highest percentage population of Russian Canadians are the Prairie Provinces.

Geographical distribution

Data from this section from Statistics Canada, 2021.^[2]

Provinces & territories

Province / Territory	Percent Russians	Total Russians
Alberta	2.3%	97,890
British Columbia	2.5%	121,755
Manitoba	3.7%	48,570
New Brunswick	0.3%	2,600
Newfoundland and Labrador	0.1%	680
Northwest Territories	0.7%	295
Nova Scotia	0.5%	4,490
Nunavut	0.3%	95
Ontario	1.3%	187,460
Prince Edward Island	0.4%	545
Quebec	0.6%	47,195
Saskatchewan	3.3%	35,920
Yukon	1.7%	660
Canada — Total	1.5%	548,140

List of notable Russian Canadians

^[3]

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
Jessica Parker Kennedy – actress, The Secret Circle, Smallville, Black Sails
Ezra Levant – media personality
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^[4]
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^[5]
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^[6]
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^[7]
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^[8]

Sports

Nik Antropov – hockey player with the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and the KHL
Ivan Babikov – Olympic cross-country skier
Patricia Bezzoubenko – rhythmic gymnast
Boris Blumin – chess grandmaster
Mark Bluvshtein – chess grandmaster
Debbie Brill – high-jumper^[9]
Édouard Carpentier – professional wrestler
Joshua Ho-Sang – hockey player with the OHL
Ron Cherkas – football
Mike Chernoff – ice hockey^[9]
Rob Chernoff – swimmer^[9]
Tim Cheveldae – ice hockey^[9]
Kevin Cheveldayoff – ice hockey
Yelena Davydova – gymnastics
Shawn Horcoff – ice hockey
Igor Ivanov – chess grandmaster
Pete Knight – rodeo bronc rider^[9]
Lioudmila Kortchaguina – marathon runner
Jon-Lee Kootnekoff – basketball^[9]
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
Pete Savenkoff – "Iron Man of Fastball"
Denis Shapovalov – tennis player
Igor Tikhomirov – Olympic champion in fencing
Marina Zoueva – ice dancing coach and choreographer

References

^ ^a ^b "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables". statcan.gc.ca. 25 October 2017.
^ https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E
^ References for the descent and/or birthplace of each individual can be found in their respective articles.
^ "Zara Nelsova" Archived May 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Ksenia Solo". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
^ "Austin "Watts" Garrick [Interview]". Hiphopcanada.com. 2007-08-07. Archived from the original on 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
^ "John Tory Is Jewish, Claims Israeli Press". Huffingtonpost.ca. 2014-11-07. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
^ Bowman, H. E. (1964-01-01). "Leonid Ivanovich Strakhovsky (1898-1963)". Canadian Slavonic Papers. 6 (1): 97–98. doi:10.1080/00085006.1964.11417879. ISSN 0008-5006.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Chernoff, Peter F. (1998). Tarasoff, Koozma J. (ed.). "Doukhobor stars in the Sports world". Spirit-Wrestlers' Voice: Honoring Doukhobors on the Centenary of Their Migration to Canada in 1899. Legas: 79–92.

External links

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

[statcan1-1] "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables". statcan.gc.ca. 25 October 2017.

[2] ttps://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E

[3] References for the descent and/or birthplace of each individual can be found in their respective articles.

[4] "Zara Nelsova" Archived May 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

[5] "Ksenia Solo". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.

[6] "Austin "Watts" Garrick [Interview]". Hiphopcanada.com. 2007-08-07. Archived from the original on 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2014-04-24.

[7] "John Tory Is Jewish, Claims Israeli Press". Huffingtonpost.ca. 2014-11-07. Retrieved 2016-09-30.

[8] Bowman, H. E. (1964-01-01). "Leonid Ivanovich Strakhovsky (1898-1963)". Canadian Slavonic Papers. 6 (1): 97–98. doi:10.1080/00085006.1964.11417879. ISSN 0008-5006.

[Chernoff-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Chernoff, Peter F. (1998). Tarasoff, Koozma J. (ed.). "Doukhobor stars in the Sports world". Spirit-Wrestlers' Voice: Honoring Doukhobors on the Centenary of Their Migration to Canada in 1899. Legas: 79–92.

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