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 2017, the Anglican Church co ...

, a member church of the worldwide

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

, 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, pro ...

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 with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of severa ...

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

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, 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 Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

. 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 ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

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 ...

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 () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

, called the Council of General Synod, and to the

Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada (referred to in older documents as the Primate of All Canada or the Primate of Canada "Thirty-seven Welfare Organisations Ask Your Help!", Federation for Community Service. ca 1934-6.) is the primate of ...

Provinces

The

is divided into four

s, each under the jurisdiction of a provincial

and a metropolitan 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. Despite modern use of the name ''Canada'', the ecclesiastical province covers only the former territory of Lower Can ...

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 North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

(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 Rupert's Land The Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land, founded in 1875, forms one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada. Territorial evolution The territory covered by the province is roughly coterminous with the western por ...

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 province of Ontario, and ...

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 The Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon is one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada. It was founded in 1914 as the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia, but changed its name in 1943 when the D ...

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 is a style applied to certain religious figures, primarily within the historic denominations of Christianity, but occasionally in some more modern traditions also. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend". Anglic ...

''. The current Primate is

Linda Nicholls Linda Carol Nicholls (born 1954) is a Canadian Anglican bishop who has served as Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada since 2019. She was previously Bishop of Huron from 2016 to 2019 and a suffragan bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto ...

. 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 Kerr-Wilson is a bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada. He is the current Archbishop of Calgary. Kerr-Wilson is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and Nashotah House Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the priest ...

, Archbishop of Calgary *Ontario:

Anne Germond Anne Germond (born 1960) is a South African-born Anglican bishop in Canada. Since 10 October 2018, she has served as Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario, as well as Archbishop of Algoma and Archbishop of Moosonee, in the Ang ...

, Archbishop of Algoma and Moosonee *British Columbia and Yukon:

Lynne McNaughton Lynne McNaughton is the tenth bishop of Kootenay, a diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada, and is the 13th metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon. Early life and education Archbishop McNaughton was born ...

, Archbishop of Kootenay 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 ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...