Our Story

SOAR-Montreal joined the SOAR family in September 2013. It now forms part of a worlwide network of charities of 117 chapters. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Armenians who had escaped persecution from the Armenian Genocide settled in communities in southern Ontario. Thousands of Armenians likewise made their way to Canada after federal immigration policies became less restrictive during the 1950s, and in the early 1990s, some Armenians immigrated to Canada after disintegration of the Soviet Union. Montreal, with more than 20,000 Armenians, is the center for two Armenian Apostolic Prelacies governing not just the Montreal community, but all Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) communities throughout Canada: the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada (representing the See of Holy Echmiadzin), with parishes at St. Gregory the Illuminator (in Outremont) and Holy Cross Armenian Church (in Laval); and the Armenian Prelacy of Canada (representing the Holy See of Cilicia), with parishes at Sourp Hagop Cathedral (in Montreal) and Sourp Kevork Armenian Apostolic Church (in Laval). The Armenian community in Montreal has two full-time Armenian schools, the Sourp Hagop Armenian School and the Armén-Québec Alex Manoogian School. Laval is the home of the Armenian Catholic Ecole Notre-Dame de Nareg School.