Provincial MapTo date there have been 12 Metropolitans of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon.  The Province is the youngest (of four) in the Anglican Church of Canada and was founded in 1914 as the Province of British Columbia.  The Province of British Columbia and Yukon is now comprised of 5 dioceses:

  • British Columbia (founded 1859)
  • Caledonia (founded 1879)
  • New Westminster (founded 1879)
  • Yukon (founded as Selkirk in 1891 and name changed to Yukon in 1941, originally in Province of Rupert’s Land but transferred to Province of British Columbia in 1941)
  • Kootenay (founded 1899)
  • Territory of the People (founded 2002)

Metropolitans are elected by provincial synod and are accorded the title of Archbishop (of their diocese) and addressed as “The Most Reverend”.

Metropolitical No. Dates as Metropolitan Name
1st 1915-1924 The Most Rev. Frederick Herbert Du Vernet (1860-1924)Archbishop of Caledonia
2nd 1925-1940 The Most Rev. Adam Urias De Pencier (1866-1949)
Archbishop of New Westminster
3rd 1942-1951 The Most Rev. Walter Robert Adams (1877-1957)
Archbishop of Kootenay
4th 1952-1969 The Most Rev. Harold Eustace Sexton (1888-1972)
Archbishop of British Columbia
5th 1969-1971 The Most Rev. Godfrey Philip Gower (1899-1992)
Archbishop of New Westminster
6th 1971-1973 The Most Rev. Ralph Stanley Dean (1913-1987)
Archbishop of Cariboo
(Acting Metropolitan) 1973-1975 The Most Rev. John Timothy Frame
Bishop of Yukon
7th 1975-1980 The Most Rev. (Thomas) David Somerville
Archbishop of New Westminster
8th 1981-1993 The Most Rev. Douglas Walter Hambidge
Archbishop of New Westminster
9th 1994-2004 The Most Rev. David Perry Crawley
Archbishop of Kootenay
10th 2005-2009 The Most Rev. Terrence Owen Buckle
Archbishop of Yukon
11th 2009-2018 The Most Rev. John E. Privett
Archbishop of Kootenay
12th 2018-2021 The Most Rev. Melissa Skelton
Archbishop of New Westminster
13th 2021- The Most Rev. Lynne McNaughton
Archbishop of Kootenay