History

During the first decade of the last century, after attending to their basic needs, recent immigrants from Ukraine turned their attention to the education of their children.

At that time, a number of teachers and students of Ukrainian origin formed a student society. They were very concerned about the economic and cultural well-being of their fellow Ukrainian-Canadians. They had decided to establish a Ukrainian based institution in Saskatoon.

In 1916, a fundraising campaign for the establishment of such a facility was launched. The campaign was highly successful and in June 1916, a call for students went out. These student would attend public, secondary, Normal Schools (teachers' college) and university. Both sexes would be accepted.

The institute would offer Ukrainian language, history and literature classes. An underlying principle of the institution was 'To be a good Canadian citizen, it was desirable to maintain one's origin and national culture'.

Later that year the institute was opened in rented premises and named in honour of Petro Mohyla, an outstanding educationalist and dignitary of the Orthodox Church in Kyiv. There were 35 students in this non-sectarian institution.

In 1917, the Petro Mohyla Institute was incorporated. That year, the number of students increased to 70. The next major decision was to purchase and remodel a suitable building to house the institute. A building was obtained and served as the institute to the end of 1964.

During these years, the mix of students shifted gradually from a predominance of public and high school to the present situation where virtually all are pursuing university or other post-secondary education.

 

For a more thorough history, please read A History of St. Petro Mohyla Institute, compiled by Albert Kachkowski.