The

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2016, the Anglican Church of ...

, a member church of the worldwide

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

, contains thirty-two jurisdictions, consisting of twenty-nine

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

s, one administrative region with diocesan status, one ordinariate (for military chaplaincy), and one national pastoral jurisdiction (for indigenous people). The 29 dioceses and the special administrative area are organised into four

ecclesiastical provinces An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consists ...

. Most dioceses are contained within a single civil province or territory. The six exceptions are the Arctic, Mishamikoweesh, Moosonee, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Ottawa, and Rupert's Land dioceses. Each diocese has a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, four of whom are

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

s as metropolitans of their

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

. Dioceses are self-governing entities, incorporated under the Corporations Act of the civil province or territory in which they are active. Diocesan

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

s generally meet annually and have responsibility for those aspects of church life which do not concern doctrine, discipline, or worship. These latter matters are the purview of the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

of the national church, which meets triennially and at other times delegates its powers to an elected body of

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

, called the Council of General Synod, and to the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Provinces

The

is divided into four

s, each under the jurisdiction of a provincial

and a

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

archbishop. Originally the metropolitans were bishops of particular dioceses within the provinces. In 1893 the metropolitans were granted the title of "archbishop", and they are now elected from among the bishops of each province. *The

Ecclesiastical Province of Canada The Ecclesiastical Province of Canada, founded in 1860, forms one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC). Despite modern use of the name ''Canada'', the ecclesiastical province covers only the former territory of Lo ...

was founded in 1860, originally consisting of the four dioceses in the then civil

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

(Upper and Lower Canada, i.e. modern Ontario and Quebec, respectively) under the metropolitical authority of the Bishop of Montreal. The province was expanded in 1870 and 1871 to include New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In 1913, the Ontario dioceses were split off to form the province of Ontario (see below). The Province was expanded to include the civil province of Newfoundland following its entrance into Confederation in 1949. The province today comprises seven

s. *The Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights (formerly Rupert's Land) was formed in 1875, covering the Prairie Provinces and initially under the metropolitical authority of the Bishop of Rupert's Land. Today it comprises ten dioceses. *The

Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario The Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario is one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada. It was established in 1912 out of six dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada located in the civil Provinces and territories ...

was formed out of the Province of Canada and the Diocese of Moosonee (which had been in the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land) in 1912. Today, it comprises seven dioceses. *The Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon was formed out of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land as the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia in 1914. It was expanded in 1943 (and consequently renamed) to incorporate the Diocese of Yukon, which was transferred from Rupert's Land. The province today comprises five dioceses and one ecclesiastic territory.

Archbishops

The Primate of Canada (who has no diocese) bears the title ''Archbishop'' and is styled ''

The Most Reverend The Most Reverend (abbreviated as The Most Revd or The Most Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. It is a variant of the mor ...

''. The current Primate is

Linda Nicholls Linda Carol Nicholls (born October 25, 1954) is a Canadian Anglican bishop who served as Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada from 2019 until her retirement in 2024. She was previously Bishop of Huron from 2016 to 2019 and a suffragan bishop ...

. The Primate is elected from among all the bishops across the country. The four metropolitans (who all bear the style of ''The Most Reverend'' and the title ''Archbishop'') are: *Canada: David Edwards, Archbishop of Fredericton *Rupert's Land:

Greg Kerr-Wilson Gregory Keith Kerr-Wilson is a Canadian Anglican bishop. Since 2012, he has been bishop of Calgary, and since 2015, he has been archbishop of Calgary and metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights in the Anglican Churc ...

, Archbishop of Calgary *Ontario:

Anne Germond Anne Germond (born 1960) is a Canadian Anglican bishop and the acting Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. Since 10 October 2018, she has been metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario, as well as Archbishop of Algoma and Arc ...

, Archbishop of Algoma *British Columbia and Yukon: John Stephens, Archbishop of New Westminster The National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop has no metropolitical authority, but also bears the style of ''The Most Reverend'' and the title ''Archbishop''. The holder of this office (established as a bishopric in 2005, inaugurated in 2007, and raised to the status of an archbishopric in 2019) has the spiritual leadership of indigenous people nationwide. Mark MacDonald, the first holder of the office, resigned in 2022 as a result of sexual misconduct. Nicholls appointed Bishop Sidney Black as interim National Indigenous Bishop. In December of that year, Bishop Chris Harper of Saskatoon was announced as the new archbishop-elect.

Dioceses and bishops

Notes

External links

Dioceses of the Anglican Church of Canada

References

{{Anglican Church of Canada

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...