Canada is moving to recognize September as Ukrainian Heritage Month following unanimous approval of legislation in the House of Commons honouring the country's 1.3 million Canadians of Ukrainian ancestry.Blacklock's Reporter says Bill S-210 received unanimous support from MPs, establishing an annual observance recognizing Ukrainian contributions to Canada and the country's longstanding ties to Ukraine.Liberal MP Yvan Baker (Etobicoke Centre, Ont.), who sponsored the legislation in the Commons, said the designation carries particular significance as Ukraine continues to fight Russia's invasion.“We need to support Ukraine,” said Baker, chair of the Canada-Ukraine Friendship Group.He described Canada's continued support for Ukraine as “the moral thing to do.”Baker, whose grandparents immigrated to Canada from Bukovina following the Second World War, warned that a Russian victory in Ukraine could have consequences extending well beyond Eastern Europe.“If Russia succeeds in Ukraine it is not going to stop there,” Baker told MPs during second reading debate.“Canadians, Americans and Europeans will be next. We will be defending ourselves against Russian aggression.”Baker argued Canada must continue providing assistance to Ukraine rather than risk greater financial and military consequences in the future.“We either pay a smaller price now to help Ukraine win, or we pay a much larger price later in Canadian dollars and Canadian lives,” he said.“That is why we must stand with the Ukraine people now until they win.”Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Canadian assistance to Ukraine has reached $22.6 billion.The total includes $13.9 billion in loans, credits and guarantees described as non-repayable, along with more than $1 billion in assistance for Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Canada.The legislation previously passed the Senate unanimously on October 1, 2025..Former Nova Scotia senator Stan Kutcher, who introduced the bill, said the designation would demonstrate Canada's commitment to Ukraine during the war and its eventual reconstruction.“Many Ukrainians who are experiencing the horrors of war see this bill as a beacon of hope, a signal that Canada can be counted on to help end this war with a victory for Ukraine and assist in the rebuilding that will be necessary when peace returns,” Kutcher told senators.Kutcher, whose parents were Ukrainian refugees who came to Canada after the Second World War, also described the personal toll of the conflict on families with relatives still living in Ukraine.“Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is check my WhatsApp to see if my family there has survived the night,” he said.“Ukraine is not only fighting for itself, but to uphold the values that the democracies of this world hold dear.”The designation adds Ukrainian Heritage Month to several commemorative observances previously approved by Parliament.Those include Mennonite Heritage Week, Gender Equality Week and British Home Child Day.Canada is home to one of the world's largest Ukrainian diaspora communities, with approximately 1.3 million residents reporting Ukrainian ancestry.Statistics Canada figures from the 2021 Census show approximately 100,000 Canadians identified Ukrainian as their mother tongue.A 2022 Statistics Canada report, Mother Tongue By Geography, identified major Ukrainian-speaking populations in Greater Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary and Saskatoon.The figures included approximately 50,000 Ukrainian speakers in Greater Toronto, 18,000 in Edmonton, 15,000 in Winnipeg, 7,000 in Calgary and 6,000 in Saskatoon.September was selected for the annual observance to commemorate the arrival of the first known Ukrainian homesteaders in Canada.The settlers arrived in the Langenburg area of Saskatchewan in 1891, beginning a wave of Ukrainian immigration that would help shape communities across the Prairies and other parts of the country.The legislation recognizes that history while highlighting the continuing cultural, economic and social contributions of Ukrainian Canadians.With unanimous support in both chambers of Parliament, the bill establishes September as a month dedicated to celebrating Ukrainian heritage and Canada's ties to the Ukrainian people.
