The New Old Country

▲ 1930: Members of a Ukrainian choir prepare to perform in Toronto. The city’s Ukrainian associations, clubs and benefit societies date back to 1906.

▲ 1954: Ukrainians congregated in a handful of west-end neighbourhoods—the Junction, Queen and Bathurst, Roncesvalles—before settling in Bloor West Village, which remains the heart of the community.

▲ 1969: Maria Hlushko, 22, wins the Miss Canada title at Toronto’s Metro International Caravan. The festival, founded by Ukrainian-Canadian Leon Kossar in 1964, celebrated immigrant culture in the city.

▲ 1975: A high-flying Ukrainian dance ensemble at the Metro International Caravan, which ran until 2004.

▲ 1981: Prominent Ukrainian-Canadians Marge Hunchik, Sophia Romanko and Michael Mutzk gather next to a statue of artist and poet Taras Shevchenko in Oakville to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Ukrainians’ arrival in Canada. It all started when two young farmers came over in 1891 in search of free, fertile land. Their messages home led to the migration of many more Ukrainians.

▲ 1984: Steve Mociak tends to the sausages at his popular deli, Durie Meat Products, one of many Ukrainian-owned shops that dotted Bloor West.

▲1986: An eight-year-old girl named Mindy Semkiw celebrates Ukrainian Christmas in Toronto with the season’s must-have gift, a Cabbage Patch Kids doll.

▲1989: The Runnymede Theatre, also known as the Runny, opened in 1927 and played an integral role in the social life of Bloor West Village for decades. Today, the building is a Shoppers Drug Mart.

▲1994: Four children decorating pysansky, traditional Ukrainian eggs, during the Easter weekend.

Big Heart, Little Ukraine

City

These Torontonians raised millions for Ukraine

Six good Samaritans, thousands of kilometres from the front

City

“All of this is a little surreal”: Six Ukrainian-Canadians on the war

The neighbourhood fixtures who feed, teach and lead their community

Memoir

“We knew we might not see each other again for years”: When this teacher fled Ukraine for Toronto, she had to leave her husband behind

She’s now living with two other Ukrainian families in an old friend’s house in Mississauga

Memoir

“I just want to have breakfast without the fear of bombing”: How a Ukrainian family reconnected with an old friend to escape the war

Twenty years ago, Alla Galych helped two Ukrainian orphans get into university. When Russia attacked, she stepped up again to help them escape

Memoir

“I had half an hour to gather my things and leave”: How a visually impaired retiree made it out of Ukraine

“When I landed in Toronto, someone suddenly ran over and hugged me. I was frightened at first, but then I realized it was my daughter”

Memoir

“I long to see my husband again”: Inside one family’s heartbreaking decision to flee Ukraine

For Anna Gutta-Ustymenko, fleeing to safety also meant leaving her spouse behind

Food & Drink

“If I can do my little part, I’m going to do it”: Toronto chef Jagger Gordon on his humanitarian trip to Ukraine

He’s cooking meals for displaced people and members of the military

Memoir

“We ran for cover as the air raid sirens blared”: A retiree on his week-long journey out of Ukraine

“Our sons were waiting for us when we arrived at Pearson. We started crying as soon as we saw them”

Memoir

“We waited at the border for 20 hours”: A school principal on her harrowing escape from Ukraine

“My mother called every day, begging me to come back to Canada, but I didn’t want to believe that the Russians would actually invade”