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