To date there have been 24 Metropolitans of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada. The Province is the oldest (of four) in the Anglican Church of Canada and was founded in 1861. The Province of Canada is now comprised of 7 dioceses:
- Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (founded 1787)
- Quebec (founded 1793)
- Fredericton (founded 1845)
- Montreal (founded 1850)
The single diocese of Newfoundland was founded in 1839 but divided in 1976 into three:
- Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador
- Central Newfoundland
- Western Newfoundland
Metropolitans are elected by provincial synod and are accorded the title of Archbishop (of their diocese) and addressed as “The Most Reverend”.
The Ecclesiastical Province of Canada has a web site which can be accessed for more information.
Metropolitical No. | Dates as Metropolitan | Name |
1st | 1861-1868 | The Rt. Rev. Francis Fulford (1803-1868) Bishop of Montreal (Position of Metropolitan and title of Archbishop not created until 1893) |
2nd | 1869-1878 | The Rt. Rev. Ashton Oxenden (1808-1892) Bishop of Montreal (Position of Metropolitan and title of Archbishop not created until 1893) |
3rd | 1879-1892 | The Rt. John Medley (1804-1892) Bishop of Fredericton (Position of Metropolitan and title of Archbishop not created until 1893) |
4th | 1893-1900 | The Most Rev. John Travers Lewis (1825-1901) Archbishop of Ontario |
5th | 1901-1906 | The Most Rev. William Bennett Bond (1815-1906) Archbishop of Montreal |
6th | 1907-1909 | The Most Rev. Arthur Sweatman (1834-1909) Archbishop of Toronto |
7th | 1909-1912 | The Most Rev. Charles Hamilton (1834-1919) Archbishop of Ottawa (In October 1912 Archbishop Hamilton was elected the first Metropolitan of the new Province of Ontario. He resigned his position as Metropolitan of Canada to take up his new position in the province of Ontario. The election of his successor as Metropolitan of Canada did not take place until February 1915.) |
8th | 1915-1934 | The Most Rev. Clarendon Lamb Worrell (1853-1934) Archbishop of Nova Scotia |
9th | 1934-1938 | The Most Rev. John Andrew Richardson (1868-1938) Archbishop of Fredericton |
10th | 1939-1943 | The Most Rev. John HacKenley (1877-1943) Archbishop of Nova Scotia |
11th | 1944-1960 | The Most Rev. Philip Carrington (1893-1975) Archbishop of Quebec |
12th | 1960-1962 | The Most Rev. John Harkness Dixon (1888-1972) Archbishop of Montreal |
13th | 1963-1972 | The Most Rev. Alexander Henry O’Neil (1907-1997) Archbishop of Fredericton |
14th | 1972-1975 | The Most Rev. William Wallace Davis (1908-1987) Archbishop of Nova Scotia |
15th | 1975-1980 | The Most Rev. Robert Lowder Seaborn (1911-1993) Archbishop of Newfoundland (later Archbishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador) |
16th | 1980-1989 | The Most Rev. Harold Lee Nutter Archbishop of Fredericton |
17th | 1989-1990 | The Most Rev. Reginald Hollis (1932-2010) Archbishop of Montreal |
18th | 1990-1997 | The Most Rev. (Sidney) Stewart Payne Archbishop of Western Newfoundland |
19th | 1997-2002 | The Most Rev. Arthur Gordon Peters Archbishop of Nova Scotia |
20th | 2002-2004 | The Most Rev. Andrew Sandford Hutchison Archbishop of Montreal |
21st | 2004-2009 | The Most Rev. (Alexander) Bruce Stavert Archbishop of Quebec |
22nd | 2009-2014 | The Most Rev. Claude Weston Miller Archbishop of Fredericton |
23rd | 2014-2017 | The Most Rev. Percy (David) Coffin Archbishop of Western Newfoundland |
24th | 2017-2020 | The Most Rev. Ron Cutler Archbishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island |
25th | 2020- | The Most Rev. David Edwards Archbishop of Fredericton |