A New Life, An Old Tradition
Ottawa welcomed thousands of Ukrainian refugees after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 — and four years later, many of those families are still here, building lives in a city that became their unexpected home.
This Orthodox Easter weekend, Ukrainian Canadians across Ottawa gathered to mark one of the most sacred dates in their cultural calendar. But for those who arrived as refugees, the holiday carries an emotional weight that goes far beyond tradition.
"My soul's still there," one Ottawa resident told CBC, capturing what many in the community feel: physically safe in Canada, but emotionally tethered to a country still at war.
Roots Planted, Hearts Divided
In the weeks after the invasion, Ottawa saw a remarkable surge in community organizing. Local churches — particularly Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic parishes — became anchors for the arriving diaspora. Volunteer networks, settlement agencies, and existing Ukrainian-Canadian families rallied to help newcomers find housing, enroll children in school, and navigate bureaucracy in an unfamiliar language.
Four years on, many of those temporary arrangements have become permanent realities. Children who arrived not speaking a word of English are now fluent. Parents who took survival jobs have found careers. Apartments that felt temporary have filled with furniture, photos, and the quiet markers of a life being lived.
Yet the question of return remains ever-present. Ukraine is still at war. Hometowns have been bombed, family members scattered, and the future remains deeply uncertain. For many Ottawa Ukrainians, Easter is a moment to pause — to light a candle, eat paska bread, and feel, however briefly, connected to something that hasn't been destroyed.
Community and Continuity
Ottawa's Ukrainian community was already one of the most established in Canada before 2022. The city has long had active cultural organizations, language schools, and churches that have preserved Ukrainian identity across generations. That existing infrastructure proved invaluable when the wave of newcomers arrived.
Local parishes this Easter reportedly saw larger-than-usual congregations — a sign both of the community's growth and of how much these rituals matter to people living far from home under difficult circumstances.
Settlement agencies in Ottawa note that while some Ukrainians have returned to their home country as conditions allowed, the majority of those who came in 2022 have chosen to stay — at least for now. Many cite safety concerns, children's schooling, and the simple reality that rebuilding a life twice is an enormous undertaking.
Looking Forward
For Ottawa's Ukrainian community, Orthodox Easter 2026 is both a celebration and a reflection. It's a moment to honour what they carried with them — language, faith, food, memory — and to reckon with how much has changed.
The war grinds on. But in Ottawa, in church halls and family kitchens, Ukrainians are doing what communities have always done in the face of upheaval: gathering, eating, praying, and holding on to one another.
"My soul's still there," one woman said. But her life — her children, her routines, her neighbours — is here now, in Ottawa.
Source: CBC Ottawa. Read the original story at cbc.ca.
