Canada: Church Chronology

1829 • Upper Canada (Ontario)Carrying 64 recently printed pages of the Book of Mormon, Solomon Chamberlin preached about the restored gospel in Upper Canada.

June 1832 • Ernestown, Upper Canada (Ontario)Six missionaries traveled to Upper Canada to preach. In Ernestown, many listened to the message of the restored gospel, and a small group of believers established a branch.

July 1, 1833 • Kirtland, Ohio, USAJames and Philomelia Lake and their children were the first convert family to leave Upper Canada, in the company of Brigham Young, to gather to the main body of the Church in Kirtland, Ohio.

1832–1836 • Upper Canada (Ontario)Many of the prominent figures of the early Church, including Joseph Smith and Lucy Mack Smith, preached in Upper Canada. In 1836, while preaching near Toronto, Parley P. Pratt taught and baptized a small group of Christians seeking a return to the New Testament church. This group included Leonora and John Taylor, as well as Mary, Joseph, and Mercy Fielding.

November 18, 1843 • Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanadaWith the organization of the Halifax Branch, John Skerry was the first to be ordained an elder and serve as president of the branch.

1847–1857 • Canada and the United StatesMany of the more than 2,000 Canadians who had joined the Church migrated to the western United States to settle among the Saints.

September 1857 • CanadaAmid the tensions of the Utah War, Church leaders recalled all missionaries from Canada. Formal public preaching was discontinued.

March–April 1887 • Alberta District, Northwest Territories (Alberta), CanadaCharles Ora Card led a band of Latter-day Saints fleeing the restrictions the 1882 Edmunds Act placed on their practice of plural marriage. The group established the community of Lee’s Creek (later Cardston) in southern Alberta.

June 1887–October 1888 • Lee’s Creek, AlbertaThe Lee’s Creek Branch was organized, the first meetinghouse was erected and dedicated, and the branch was reorganized as the Card Ward, the first in Canada, as part of the Cache Stake headquartered in Logan, Utah.

November 1888 • Ottawa, OntarioCharles O. Card traveled with apostles Francis M. Lyman and John W. Taylor to Ottawa, where they met with officials of the Canadian government, including prime minister John A. Macdonald.

November 1889 • CardstonWilford Woodruff, President of the Church, and his counselors, George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, visited the Saints in Cardston.

1893–1904 • OntarioMissionaries from the Eastern States Mission preached intermittently, but no baptisms took place until 1904.

June 9, 1895 • Cardston, AlbertaThe Alberta Stake, the first outside the United States, was organized, with Charles O. Card as president.

1907 • Toronto, OntarioAs converts joined the Church and quickly moved to Utah, Church units struggled to survive. Beginning in 1907, a Sunday School was organized in Toronto, but classes were not held regularly until 1912.

May 29, 1910 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaThe Winnipeg Branch was organized, with Herbert H. Denner, baptized only two weeks earlier, as president.

February 12, 1911 • Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaThe Vancouver Branch was organized, with Edward Neill as president.

1912–1913 • TorontoCottage meetings held every night of the week led to the organization of a permanent Sunday School with local leaders until a branch was finally established.

April 5, 1914 • TorontoThe Toronto Sunday School was organized as a branch. Edith Kennedy served as organist and Ada Mill as Sunday School secretary and treasurer.

August 30, 1914 • WinnipegThe first Church-sponsored meetinghouse outside of Alberta, Canada, was built mostly by local members. It was dedicated by Elder Orson F. Whitney of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

April 22, 1919 • Eastern CanadaThe Canadian Mission, headquartered in Toronto, was organized, with Margaret Fife Smith Jensen and Nephi Jensen presiding. The mission oversaw preaching activity in Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Saints at the dedication of the Cardston Alberta Temple

August 26, 1923 • Cardston

The Alberta (later Cardston Alberta) Temple, the first outside the United States, was dedicated by Church President Heber J. Grant.

September 16, 1928 • Montreal, Quebec, CanadaThe Montreal Branch was organized, with James McCance as president. This branch was primarily English-speaking.

1934 • Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, CanadaBranches were organized in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

July 17, 1941 • Edmonton, AlbertaThe Western Canadian Mission was organized, with 30-year-old Walter Miller as president. In October 1942, Afton Ingersoll married Walter and joined him in presiding over the mission, which eventually oversaw preaching throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territories.

February 6, 1957 • St. John’s, Newfoundland, CanadaThe St. John’s Branch was organized, with Wilbur Q. Moses as president.

August 14, 1960 • TorontoThe Toronto Stake was organized, with William M. Davies Jr. as president, Janet Boucher as Relief Society president, and Ona Marie Templeman as Primary president. It was the first stake in Canada outside of Alberta.

October 15, 1963 • Whitehorse, Yukon TerritoryThe Whitehorse Branch was organized, with Norman J. Drayton as president. Liola Symchych was sustained as Relief Society president.

June 7, 1964 • MontrealThe Montreal Second Branch, the first French-speaking branch in Canada, was organized.

December 21, 1969 • Summerside, Prince Edward Island, CanadaThe Summerside Branch was organized, with Ralph S. Waugh as president.

May 10, 1975 • MontrealThe Tung Fong Branch, the first Chinese language branch in Canada, was organized, with Chu-Jen Chia as president.

June 18, 1978 • MontrealThe Montreal Quebec Stake, the first French-speaking stake in North America, was organized, with Gérard C. Pelchat as president.

May 15, 1983 • Yellowknife, Northwest TerritoriesThe Yellowknife Branch was organized. Covering approximately 805,000 kilometers (500,000 square miles), it covered more area than any other branch in the Church at the time.

January 27, 1985 • CanadaCanadian Saints raised C$250,000 in a special fast for victims of the famine in Ethiopia. Matching contributions from the provincial government of Alberta and the Canadian federal government led to a total donation of C$1 million to the Canadian Red Cross for the efforts in Ethiopia.

April 7, 1984 • Salt Lake City, Utah, USAArdeth G. Kapp, a native of Cardston, Alberta, was named as Young Women General President. She remained president until 1992 and oversaw the creation and implementation of the Young Women Values and Personal Progress programs.

March 31, 1990 • Salt Lake CityElaine L. Jack, a native of Cardston, Alberta, was sustained as Relief Society General President. President Jack served in this position until 1997 and oversaw the implementation of a global initiative to encourage literacy.

August 25, 1990 • TorontoThe Toronto Ontario Temple was dedicated.

November 14, 1999 • Nova Scotia and SaskatchewanThe Halifax Nova Scotia and Regina Saskatchewan Temples were dedicated.

December 11, 1999 • EdmontonThe Edmonton Alberta Temple was dedicated.

June 4, 2000 • MontrealThe Montreal Quebec Temple was dedicated.

May 2, 2010 • VancouverThe Vancouver British Columbia Temple was dedicated.

October 28, 2012 • Calgary, AlbertaThe Calgary Alberta Temple was dedicated.

October 31, 2021 • WinnipegThe Winnipeg Manitoba Temple was dedicated.