Alberta-Ukraine Genealogy Project Launched, August 13, 2006

Edmonton [Alberta, Canada]... An innovative and exciting new project has been launched by Alberta Community Development, which will provide new opportunities for families interested in exploring their past in Alberta and Ukraine.

The Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project has evolved from the signing of Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation between the Government of Alberta and the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (August 2004), the Lviv Oblast (September 2005), and Premier Klein's trip to Ukraine in June 2006.

This project has received a three-year financial commitment totaling $200,000 from the Government of Alberta. This support will assist in the establishment of genealogical research offices in Lviv and Edmonton to provide a link between archival institutions and record depositories in Western Ukraine and those in Alberta. It will provide a foundation for opening doors for families interested in learning about their past in Ukraine and Alberta, and assist in re-uniting families where contact may have been disrupted during Soviet time. It will also strengthen affiliations between Alberta and archival institutions and record depositories in Western Ukraine, particularly in the oblasts of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, and Lviv.

The Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project will generate finding aids, registers, and documents for accessing over the internet by students working on school projects, amateur genealogists, or anyone researching their family histories. It will also coordinate a research service for those who are unable to undertake such work themselves.

The Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project will also include a consortium of partners in both Alberta and Western Ukraine, who will assist in projects that convert archival finding aids, registers, and other print information into electronic form for accessing through the Internet. In Alberta, the consortium includes:

  1. The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village and its Friends of the Ukrainian Village Society
  2. The Provincial Archives of Alberta and its Friends Society
  3. The Alberta Genealogical Society and its Ukrainian Special Interest Group
  4. The Basilian Fathers Museum in Mundare
  5. The Ukrainian Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta.
  6. The Ukrainian Genealogical and Historical Society of Canada

Work in both offices is well underway. The project is managed by Radomir Bilash, and the Alberta office coordinator is David Makowsky. The name of the coordinator of the Lviv office is yet to be announced.

For more information, please contact David at the Alberta genealogical research office at (780) 431-2324. Those [in Alberta] calling outside of Edmonton may call toll-free 310-0000 then (780) 431-2324, or write to

Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project
Old St Stephen's College
8820 - 112 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2P8
CANADA