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on the tour’s website. There are also self-guided
driving and audio tours available to view the
exteriors of the churches — a few can even
be viewed at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage
Village. “They typically have really prominent
rooftops and building materials, they stand out
in the rural agricultural landscape,” Olson says.
“As more newcomers from Europe made east-
central Alberta their home, that’s when Lamont
County experienced a kind of a remarkable
church building boom, and it’s expressive of the
deep Christian faith brought on from the old
world by the settlers.”
Experiences like the Ukrainian Cultural
Heritage Village and Lamont County Church
Tour are dedicated to promoting Ukrainian
heritage — and the ways Ukrainian culture is
still alive and well today throughout Alberta.
“Today we have Ukrainian language schools
in the province, we have universities with
Ukrainian studies courses, we have world-
famous Ukrainian dance groups, we have
choirs, we have all sorts of performing groups
— all of these things help remind us that
we’re Canadian, but also that we’re Ukrainian
Canadian. A lot of this can be traced back to
1971 when the Canadian government adopted
Students visiting St. Nicholas Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church as part of a winter education program
Visitors walking up to St. Nicholas Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
14
XPERIENCE ALBERTA 2 0 2 5 a policy of multiculturalism and the idea of being able to recognize the multiple
ethnicities that make up Canada,” Makowsky says.
There have been five waves of Ukrainian immigration to Canada since 1891,
most recently with the arrival of more than 60,000 newcomers to Alberta since
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Alberta continues to see strong growth of its
Ukrainian population. “The Ukrainian Canadian Congress — Alberta Provincial
Council provides excellent settlement services to make sure people adapt effectively
into life in the area,” Olson says.
Ivan Vozniuk immigrated from Ukraine to Edmonton in 2015. In 2020 he
relocated to a farm in Lamont County to start Supreme Fish, a family-run smoked
seafood and meat processing company similar to the one he owned in Ukraine for
25 years. “It’s a unique business in Alberta and it’s growing every year,” Vozniuk
says. “I love living in Lamont County because it’s just a nice place with very good
people who are very supportive, and it’s a good place to do business.”
Alberta’s Ukrainian community continues to celebrate its culture and
heritage for all in the province to appreciate. “Ukrainians continue to enrich our
community through all of the professional and talented individuals who now
call Alberta home, and we want to provide an opportunity for them to feel part
of this community while they are away from home,” Makowsky says.
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