The first Ukrainian immigrants arrived in Prince George around 1905. In 1950 Father Michael Hawryluk, a parish priest in Alberta, began connecting with Ukrainian communities between Edmonton and Prince George. He visited Prince George to hold a church service for 25 local parishioners in a Roman Catholic Church.
The idea of a permanent church took hold in 1952 after Father Nicholas Diadio celebrated Divine Liturgy with approximately 80 local Ukrainian residents. Soon after, Father Michael Shevchuck arrived as the new church’s first priest and met in homes while they planned for a new building.
In 1959, the church found a permanent home in the old Sacred Heart Catholic Church building, which was moved from Patricia Blvd and Ingledew Street to an empty lot on 7th Avenue and Brunswick Street nearly a kilometer away. The early 1960’s marked the arrival of Father Basil Galarnyk, who would shepherd the new congregation through a period of building and growth.
The congregation purchased the current location on Vanier Drive in 1970. Construction began in 1973. The structure, including the steel beams to support the ten meters wide copper dome, was completed in March 1974, and the brickwork was completed in June 1975. interior finishing continued until the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the main sanctuary in 1977.
The church was designed by architect John Hula. It is built in the Byzantine style in the form of a cross with three domes. It accommodates a congregation of 350. in 1982, artist Boris Makarenko of New York was hired to paint the icons in the sanctuary.
Saint George's Parish 