Canada
31 profiles with fame based in Canada
Canadians with Russian and Soviet roots
Canada received major waves of emigration from the Russian Empire and Soviet Union — including Jewish families fleeing persecution, Doukhobor and Mennonite religious communities, and the post-1991 professional diaspora.
This page documents notable Canadians — in entertainment, business, science, and sport — whose family roots lie in the Russian world.
Chrystia Freeland
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister
Michael Ignatieff
Canadian statesman, grandson of a tsarist minister
Pamela Anderson
Baywatch icon with Mennonite roots in the Russian Empire
Seth Rogen
Canadian comedy star with roots in the Russian Empire
William Shatner
Captain Kirk, rooted in the Russian Empire
Brandon Cronenberg
Body horror's second generation
Chilly Gonzales
Montreal-born pianist and Grammy winner; Guinness record for the longest solo concert
Dan Levy
Schitt's Creek co-creator, descendant of emigrants from Russian-ruled Poland
David Cronenberg
Canadian film director of The Fly, Dead Ringers and A History of Violence, born in Toronto
David Steinberg
Canadian comedy legend with Russian-Romanian Jewish roots who defined 1960s irreverent humour
Denis Shapovalov
Canadian tennis player born in Tel Aviv to a mother from Soviet Ukraine — 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist
Drake (Aubrey Graham)
Canadian rapper and singer whose mother is a Canadian Ashkenazi Jew
Eugene Levy
SCTV comedy legend with Russian-Bulgarian Jewish roots who found global fame in Schitt's Creek
Geddy Lee
Bassist, keyboardist and singer of Rush; grandson of a family from Wierzbnik in Congress Poland
Howie Mandel
Canadian comedian and Deal or No Deal host with Eastern European Jewish roots
Ilya Samsonov
Magnitogorsk-born NHL goaltender who became a Toronto Maple Leafs starter
Ivan Reitman
Czech-born Canadian director with Russian roots who produced Animal House and directed Ghostbusters
Ksenia Solo
Riga-born Canadian actress who starred in Lost Girl and Black Swan
Leonard Cohen
Montreal poet and songwriter of Hallelujah; his paternal grandfather emigrated from Suwałki, Russian Empire
Lorne Michaels
Toronto-born creator of Saturday Night Live — his parents came from Russia
Mark Adler
Canadian film composer with Polish-Russian Jewish roots who scored The Artist and Life of Pi
Nikita Zadorov
Moscow-born NHL defenceman who has played for multiple teams across a decade in the league
Peaches (Merrill Nisker)
Toronto-born electronic punk provocateur with Polish-Russian Jewish roots — Berlin-based avant-garde icon
Peter Van Loan
Canadian Conservative MP whose family traces to Estonia and Russia — former House Leader
Rick Moranis
Ghostbusters' Louis Tully — his grandparents came from Russia and Ukraine
Rustem Karimov
Russian-Tatar co-founder of 1Password — the world's most trusted password manager
Sasha Sokolov
Born in Ottawa to Soviet spy parents — became Russia's most avant-garde novelist and escaped the USSR in a wetsuit
Saul Rubinek
Canadian actor born in a German DP camp to Polish-Russian Jewish survivors — Unforgiven, Warehouse 13
Victor Garber
Canadian actor with Russian-Jewish roots who starred in Titanic, Alias, and won multiple Tony Awards
Vitalik Buterin
The Russian-born mind who reinvented money
Ildar Shar
Toronto entrepreneur, co-founder of StackAdapt and founder of FirstPrinciples