Russian Canadians

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.

Percent

Newfoundland and Labrador

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

Source:

Quebec

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 55,230
Single response: 15,800
Multiple response: 39,435
Montréal (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

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

Ontario

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 220,850
Single response: 53,175
Multiple response: 167,675
Toronto (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 139,915
Single response: 40,570
Multiple response: 99,340
Ottawa-Gatineau (CMA - Ontario part)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 15,620
Single response: 3,205
Multiple response: 12,415

Manitoba

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 58,225
Single response: 9,510
Multiple response: 48,720
Winnipeg (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

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

Saskatchewan

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 39,390
Single response: 3,645
Multiple response: 35,745
Saskatoon (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

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

Alberta

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 107,800
Single response: 14,320
Multiple response: 93,480
Calgary (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 37,955
Single response: 6,125
Multiple response: 31,830
Edmonton (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

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

British Columbia

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

Total: 131,060
Single response: 22,145
Multiple response: 108,910
Vancouver (CMA)

Data in this section from Statistics Canada, 2016.

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

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
Inna Korobkina – actress
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
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
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
Adele Wiseman – author
Chloe Stroll - singer-songwriter

Business and other

Bluma Appel – philanthropist, recipient of the Order of Canada and Order of Ontario
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)]
Lawrence Stroll – businessman, part-owner and executive chairman of Aston Martin, and the owner of the Aston Martin F1 Team

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
Tim Moen – former leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada
Tom Nevakshonoff – Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Reynold Rapp – Member of the House of Commons of Canada
John Tory – mayor of Toronto
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 ; 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
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

Sports

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
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
Chuck Kobasew – ice hockey
Lioudmila Kortchaguina – marathon runner
Crazy Leo – rally driver
Andrei Markov – NHL hockey player
Olya Ovtchinnikova – Olympic fencer
Ilya Rozanov - ice hockey
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
Lance Stroll – racing driver competing in Formula One racing for Aston Martin.